A night with a mandolin

Anne, Darian, Allison, and I are headed out to the Living Room to watch Chris Thile play his fire hot mandolin. He's currently playing with the band Punch Brothers. I believe tonight is a solo show, but I wouldn't be the slighest bit dissappointed if his band were there.

I first heard of Thile around 2002 as part of the progressive folk group Nickel Creek. I immediately purchased the album - self titled Nickel Creek - and love it. I rarely, if ever, buy cds. But this was a time in my life when I was really into folk music - I had been living in Ithaca, NY, which is ripe with the genre. On Sunday nights I would go to Bound for Glory, which took place on Cornell's campus. Each week, Phil Shapiro, from WVBR, would host a live production with acts, local as well as out-of-staters. It was a good crowd - easily 60 people each Sunday.

I miss those Sunday nights. Seemed like a great community - not woven entirely of Cornell people, but members of the community who have been living there for decades and have grown old, had families, and danced around the may-pole together.

Anyway, tonight should be fun. Though it does have a start time of 11p.m. and is on the Lower East Side. Tomorrow morning will sting. But Thile is a phenom and it'll be well worth the sacrifice of sleep.