We’re headed home from Europe today and wanted to update you on some new dates!  We’ve added another string of East Coast dates in April. Starting at Mountain Stage in Morgantown, WV on April 15, this new leg include stops in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Nashville and more! Jesca Hoop will join us from April 17-27. Mountain Stage is on-sale now, and tickets for most of these newly added dates go on sale this weekend. You can check our tour page for the full list of shows. We begin the Stateside 2012 tour this Friday in Baton Rouge with Loudon Wainwright III.  Tickets are still available for most dates, but some are limited so if you’re planning to come to a show, be sure to get yours soon.

We’d also like to remind you of the pre-order for our new album, Who’s Feeling Young Now?, which was launched last week.  The album is available in both CD and vinyl formats, can be bundled with a special tee, and each order comes with a custom 5-coaster set illustrated by the great Matthew Diffee.  To give you another taste of the album, which will be out on February 14th, we have just released the second album preview video, featuring the new track “Clara.”  You can watch the video and pre-order Who’s Feeling Young Now? at punchbrothers.com.

Best,

Punch Brothers HQ

Howdy, Punchkateers!

From the Two for Joy Cafe (not coffee shop, mind you) in Amsterdam, I bid y’all (English for “y’aal”) a very happy Tuesday!  And what better way to celebrate this third-est of all days of the week than by pre-ordering your copy, be it on gargantuan* or compact disk, of our new album Who’s Feeling Young Now? Now, this begs the question: who’s feeling young now?  Well, as it happens, Paul Kowert is.

This also begs the question: what enticements have we, your Punch Brothers, commissioned to secure your pre-order?  A set of five beautiful paper coasters, illustrated by New Yorker cartoonist extraordinaire Matt Diffee, depicting Noam Pikelny in various states of repose?  No!  Rather a set of five beautiful Diffee-illustrated coasters depicting all five Punch Brothers engaged in various youthful activities!  Better still, the first 2500 sets WILL BE SIGNED!!!  BY US!!!!!!  AND TENNIS GREAT, MARTINA HINGIS!!!!!!!!!  This just in: Ms. Hingis is probably too busy drinking hot cocoa and checking the string tension on her rackets to sign even one set of said coasters, I’m terribly sorry.

To lessen this great disappointment, we’re offering every pre-orderer a free download of “Movement and Location,” which critics have described as being the most moving and locating song on Who’s Feeling Young Now? Also, the technologically-savvy (Dutch for “savvy”) pre-orderers among you will be able to download the entire record on Valentine’s Day (better known internationally as Punch Brothers’ New Record Comes Out Day).**  I’m off to De Kas for a traditional third-est day (Pickles calls it Tuesday) of the week lunch…hope to see you soon!
Like maybe at one of our upcoming shows.

* Gargantuan Disk = Vinyl

** For a more professional presentation of the pre-order (and for actual pre-ordering), make a bee-line for punchbrothers.com

Proost!

Chris T.

Howdy friends!

Pickles, here, with some news that’ll surely change your life. I must ask, who’s feeling young now? Whoa there, that’s not a yes or no question. It’s actually the name of our new album, which will be available everywhere on February 14, 2012!  We recorded Who’s Feeling Young Now? this fall at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, TN, with the supremely talented Jacquire King producing and engineering.

Those of you who aren’t elite ninja-hackers will have to wait until February to get the full record. However, the opening track, “Movement and Location,” is available now as a free download above.  An exclusive album pre-order will launch on our site in January, barring any apocalyptic Y2K scenarios.  More on all of that soon!

The album features a couple covers, namely “Kid A” by the Swedish instrumental legends Radiohead, and “Flippen” by VÄSEN, a band which needs no introduction.   Very excited to announce that two of the songs on the new album are co-writes with our friend Josh Ritter (“Hundred Dollars” and “New York City”).  Here’s the full track-list:

1. Movement and Location
2. This Girl
3. No Concern of Yours
4. Who’s Feeling Young Now?
5. Clara
6. Flippen
7. Patchwork Girlfriend
8. Hundred Dollars
9. Soon Or Never
10. New York City
11. Kid A
12. Don’t Get Married Without Me

To celebrate the release of Who’s Feeling Young Now?, we’ll be on tour in the States in February and March.  The newly announced tour begins with two-nights back to back at the Somerville Theatre near Boston on February 23rd and 24th and ends just down the road in Denver at the Bluebird Theatre.  We’ll also make stops in Chicago, Minneapolis, Toronto, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and that’s not all!  If you act now, special guest Aoife O’Donovan will be joining us, opening the show for this full run of dates. You might know Aoife from her appearance on The Goat Rodeo Sessions,  Thile’s critically acclaimed collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma. But it’s more likely that you know and love Aoife from her guest vocals on my chart topping banjo record, Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail, which has surprisingly been neck & neck sales-wise with the Goat Rodeo in the Pikelny household. See below for the list of dates and ticket details.  Tickets are selling fast, I’m told, so get your act together this time and avoid living a life filled with regret.

We’re also embarking on a European tour next month.  No big deal, it’s only been three years since our last shows in Europe. As those of you across the pond might say, “It ain’t no thang.”  We’ll make stops in London for a headline show at Bush Hall. And then we’re we’ll be opening for Amos Lee in Amsterdam, Paris, and London again. On January 20th, we’ll play a set with Nonesuch labelmates the Carolina Chocolate Drops at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Scotland.  Both shows in Amsterdam are sold out, but otherwise tickets are still available.

Happy Holidays!

Best,
Noam

So I said like, “Right you are, my dear Pickles!  All e-mail-blast-writing and no fitful sleep makes Jack a dull air-traveler,” and here we are: he fitfully sleeping, you and I having this little chat.

But anyway, I thought it was real big of you to help keep Punch Brothers in good coffee and cocktails this year like you done, and well, I got you A NEW CAR (only by “I” I mean “Critter, Arco, Pickles, Gabbers, and I” and by “NEW CAR” I mean “NEW RECORD THAT WE MADE OUR OWN SELVES”)!!!  We’ll follow up soon with more info about the album, like title, track-list, release date, and more, so please stay tuned.  Critter just returned to his seat two rows ahead of me looking somewhat dejected.  I bet the pilot just told him that no, we can’t stop for Salsa Verde flavored Doritos brand corn chips.

Hey, also, we’re gonna play a ton of shows next year in support of the new record and you should really think about coming (and dragging those you hold dear) to at least a couple of them.  The newly announced dates start with a two-night stand at Somerville Theatre right near Boston on February 23rd and 24th.  We’ll make stops in Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, and more great North American cities (see the tour page for the full list of dates and ticket details).  Special guest Aoife O’Donovan will join us for this full run of dates.  Tickets for most shows go on sale Friday!

Just a reminder that in addition to the North American dates, we’ll be returning to Europe for a series of shows in January.  We’ve planned stops in London for a headline show at Bush Hall on 1/18, plus Amsterdam (1/16 and 1/17), Paris (1/19), and London again (1/21) all with Amos Lee.  On January 20th, we’ll play a set with Carolina Chocolate Drops at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Scotland.  Tickets for the Amsterdam shows with Amos Lee are sold out, but tickets are available for all other shows.

And, last but certainly not least, don’t forget that Noam (Pickles) hits the road later this week.  Tickets are still available for all shows, but are limited in some places, so get yours now!  Noam will be joined by Aoife O’Donovan (vocals), Gabe Witcher (fiddle), Chris Eldridge (guitar), Jesse Cobb (mandolin) and Mark Schatz (bass).

Well this sure has been nice!  I’ve gotta go because the flight attendants are starting to get that anti-electronic-devices gleam in their collective eye, and besides, Gabbers needs help giving mustaches to the poor, bare-upper-lipped people of American Way magazine…

Fondly,

Chris, Noam, Critter, Paul, and Gabe

We just wrapped up recording the new Punch Brothers album, which will be out sometime next year!  In the meantime, we have some exciting news on the touring front.  First, we’ll be returning to Europe for a series of shows in January.  We’ll make stops in London for a headline show at Bush Hall on 1/18, plus Amsterdam (1/16 and 1/17), Paris (1/19), and London again (1/21) all with Amos Lee.  On January 20th, we’ll play a set with Carolina Chocolate Drops at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Scotland.  Tickets for the Amsterdam shows with Amos Lee are sold out, but tickets are available for all other shows.  See the tour page for a full list and details.  And, in case you missed the announcement, we’re embarking on a run opening for Paul Simon starting November 4th.  Tickets are still available for most dates.

Lots happening in the non-Punch Brothers world.  Both Noam and Chris Thile celebrated new releases today.  As previously discussed, Chris recently collaborated on Yo-Yo Ma’s new project, The Goat Rodeo Sessions, which also features Stuart Duncan and Edgar Meyer.  The album is also out today and available at Amazon and iTunes.  The guys will appear on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno show TONIGHT on NBC, so be sure to tune in at 11:35 ET.

Noam’s new solo album, Beat The Devil and Carry A Rail, was released today by Compass Records.  Both the CD and a special album tee are available now at NoamPikelny.com.  In case you missed it, Funny or Die premiered a special behind-the-scenes video called “Bluegrass Diva” (featuring Ed Helms and Steve Martin) here.  In addition to Noam’s previously announced dates, we’ve added a second Rockwood Music Hall show on December 15th. Tickets are now available for the later show (10:30pm) as well as the previously announced early show (8:00pm).  All of the upcoming December shows include the touring line-up of Aoife O’Donovan (vocals), Gabe Witcher (fiddle), Chris Eldridge (guitar), Jesse Cobb (mandolin) and Mark Schatz (bass). Visit NoamPikelny.com for details.