Their style has been described as "bluegrass instrumentation and spontaneity in the strictures of modern classical"[1] as well as "American country-classical chamber music".

In an interview with the Nashville City Paper, Thile described the formation of the band: 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.

The band's name comes from the critical line of an earworm jingle that is the centerpiece of Mark Twain's short story "A Literary Nightmare".

What they formed was a type of group that American Songwriter magazine calls "A 21st century version of the Bluegrass Boys.

"[8] On November 8, 2008, the band announced on their website that they had parted ways with bass player Greg Garrison.

Paul Kowert, who studied under Edgar Meyer at the Curtis Institute of Music, took Garrison's place as bass player.

[9] Antifogmatic, Punch Brothers' second album, was released on June 15, 2010 and features both traditional bluegrass and newgrass styles on the ten-track listing.

It was filmed over a two-year period and, according to its website, "explores the tensions between individual talents and group identity, art and commerce, youth and wisdom".

[16][17] Rice's Church Street Blues was a solo folk reinterpretation of many classic songs, and the Punch Brothers said of their own reinterpretations "No record (or musician) has had a greater impact on us, and we felt compelled to cover it in its entirety, with the objective of interacting with it in the same spirit of respect-fueled adventure that Tony brought to each of its pre-existing songs.”[15] The songs were recorded in November 2020, just weeks before Rice's death at age 69.