The Punch Brothers is the bluegrass band bringing the genre into the 21st century with the soft instrumentation, lyrics telling a story, and a bit of spontaneity clearly defining it in modern terms. Punch Brothers tickets are always a great time for audiences into bluegrass and even folk.

The band quickly formed in 2006 around Chris Thile, a mandolin player who began his musical career with Nickel Creek in California. Thile formed what would become known as the Punch Brothers in the wake of the break up of his acoustic trio Nickel Creek. The band originally went by the name How to Grow a Band. Under this first name the group recorded and released How to Grow a Woman from the Ground. The album was the first unofficial album for the group and the fifth for Thile.

Eventually, the band changed its name to the Tensions Mountain Boys in 2007 and finally became the Punch Brothers later in the year. Thile played with Gabe Witcher, Bryan Sutton, Greg Garrison, and Noam Pikelny initially.