Christopher Scott Thile (/ˈθiːli/;[3] born February 20, 1981) is an American mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and radio personality, best known for his work in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive bluegrass quintet Punch Brothers.

[5][6][7] The three members of Nickel Creek met in 1989 at Carlsbad, California's That Pizza Place, listening to weekly bluegrass shows with their parents.

[9] Thile has also released solo albums, including Not All Who Wander Are Lost (2001) and 2004's Deceiver, on which he wrote, composed, sang, and played every part.

His earliest memories of music are listening to Stan Getz's recording of "The Girl from Ipanema" before he even turned one year old.

The album featured guest appearances from several well-known instrumentalists such as Stuart Duncan, Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Jerry Douglas, and Bryan Sutton.

Also in 2003, Thile joined Mark O'Connor for his double CD set "Thirty-Year Retrospective" which was nominated for a Grammy.

In August 2006, Nickel Creek announced that at the end of the year, they would no longer be recording together as a group, and their tour scheduled through 2007 would be their last for an indefinite period of time.

In an interview with the Nashville City Paper, Thile described the band's formation: We got together one night just to drop a ton of money, drink too much wine, eat steaks, and commiserate about our failed relationships.

I knew I wanted to have a band with Gabe [Witcher], but I didn't know if it would be a rock ensemble, an ambitious acoustic classical thing or a bluegrass group.

On November 5, 2010, the band performed "Rye Whiskey" on the Late Show with David Letterman with Steve Martin guesting on banjo.

In August 2008, Thile and bassist Edgar Meyer announced the release date of the duo's planned debut album.

[23] Commenting on the collaboration, Thile said "Edgar is one of the biggest influences on my musical life, and now I'm in a duo with him and writing songs with him.

[26] Also in 2014, Thile reunited with Nickel Creek to release a new album called A Dotted Line in celebration of their 25th anniversary.

He has also appeared on a number of other artists' recordings, including Béla Fleck's Perpetual Motion, playing arrangements of Baroque, Impressionist, Classical and other styles of music with Fleck and Edgar Meyer; Jam Session, with Mark O'Connor, Frank Vignola, Bryan Sutton, and Jon Burr; the Dixie Chicks' Home, Kate Rusby's Awkward Annie, Julie Fowlis's Cuilidh, Dolly Parton's Little Sparrow, Dierks Bentley's Up on the Ridge, Jacob Collier's "Djesse Vol.

[29][30][31][32] In 2011, he recorded The Goat Rodeo Sessions with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, bassist Edgar Meyer and fiddle player Stuart Duncan.

[33] On October 25, 2011, he appeared on the Tonight Show as a member of the Yo-Yo Ma and Friends musical act.

[37] In 2024, Thile provided the singing voice and mandolin performance of Wendell in the Country Bear Musical Jamboree at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

Thile made his first appearance on Garrison Keillor's radio show A Prairie Home Companion in 1996, at age 15 and has returned numerous times—as a solo artist, with Nickel Creek, and with Punch Brothers.

[38] On July 21, 2015, Keillor officially announced that he was leaving the show and that Thile would succeed him as permanent host in 2016.

On December 16, 2017, at the Town Hall theater in New York, Thile announced that the show would be renamed Live from Here.