Thile is a great-great-grandson of Baseball Hall of Famer Sam Thompson.
His earliest memories of music are listening to Stan Getz's "The Girl from Ipanema" before he even turned one year old. When he was two, his family started going to That Pizza Place, where he listened to John Moore's band Bluegrass Etc. When Thile was four, his family moved to Idyllwild, California.
Thile began playing the mandolin at the age of five, taking occasional lessons from John Moore. At age eight, Chris' family and the Watkins family formed Nickel Creek. The band performed at many California bluegrass festivals, and as a result Chris had to be home-schooled. At age twelve, he won the prestigious national mandolin championship at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas
The three members of Nickel Creek met in Carlsbad, California at That Pizza Place in 1989, whilst listening to weekly bluegrass shows with their parents.
Soon they were taking lessons from the same instructor, playing festivals, and even recording albums. Their first, Little Cowpoke, was released in 1994. Nickel Creek has gone on to record several more albums, including their self-titled debut album and This Side, which went platinum and won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. In 2005, Nickel Creek released Why Should the Fire Die?, which received massive critical acclaim and sold 250,000 units.
Thile has released other solo albums, including the intricate Not All Who Wander Are Lost, released in 2001, and Deceiver in 2004 (in which he wrote, composed, sang, and played every part), and How To Grow A Woman From The Ground in 2006.
In 2006, Thile formed the How to Grow a Band. Band members are: Chris Thile (mandolin), Gabe Witcher (fiddle/violin), Chris Eldridge (guitar), Paul Kowert (bass), and Noam Pikelny (banjo). Bryan Sutton has also filled in on guitar when necessary.
In 2007, the band officially changed its name first to "The Tensions Mountain Boys" and then "Punch Brothers."
Source: http://artists.letssingit.com/chris-thile-r6hk4/biography
