The film stars Chris Thile, Gabe Witcher, Noam Pikelny, Chris Eldridge, Paul Kowert and Greg Garrison and features interviews with a number of notable musicians including Yo-Yo Ma, John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Jerry Douglas, bassist Edgar Meyer and Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek.

The filmmakers followed the band during their first tour as Punch Brothers starting in the United Kingdom including performances at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Scotland and Bush Hall in London, England.

Joe Leydon of Variety called the film "most fascinating as it tactfully charts the sort of artistic and philosophical differences that can eventually undermine any group endeavor, even among seemingly like-minded collaborators.

[8] Dustin Ogdin wrote for No Depression "HTGAB is not just a film of concert footage or a "behind the scenes" clip collection"; it is a portrait of the creative process.".

Slant Magazine writer Joseph Jon Lanthier noted that "One can’t speak of Mark Meatto’s documentary profile, How to Grow a Band, without starting squarely with Thile, because the movie is unsurprisingly devoted to peddling the up-and-comer as something daring, something new.".