"How to Grow a Woman From the Ground," released in September 2006 on Sugar Hill Records (SUG-CD 4017) under Chris Thile's name, launched the ensemble that became Punch Brothers — featuring Thile (mandolin) alongside Chris Eldridge (guitar), Gabe Witcher (fiddle), Greg Garrison (bass), and Noam Pikelny (banjo). The five-piece had been billed as "The How to Grow a Band" before settling on Punch Brothers the following year. The album earned Thile a Grammy nomination and is widely regarded as the founding document of the new-acoustic progressive bluegrass movement, incorporating jazz harmony, classical structural ambition, and indie-rock songwriting into an acoustic string-band format. Its title comes from a Mark Twain essay, signaling the literary sensibility that would characterize the group's subsequent work.
Tracklist
- 1 Watch 'At Breakdown 4:14
- 2 Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground 3:07
- 3 Stay Away 3:56
- 4 O Santo De Polvora 2:38
- 5 Wayside (Back In Time) 2:45
- 6 You're An Angel, And I'm Gonna Cry 2:58
- 7 How To Grow A Woman From The Ground 5:09
- 8 The Beekeeper 4:07
- 9 Brakeman’s Blues alt version 3:42
- 10 If The Sea Was Whiskey 2:44
- 11 Cazadero alt version 4:53
- 12 Heart In A Cage 4:23
- 13 I'm Yours If You Want Me 3:49
- 14 The Eleventh Reel 3:28
