Sleep With One Eye Open by Chris Thile and Michael Daves, released on Nonesuch in 2011, brought two virtuoso string players together for a program of pre-bluegrass and early country duets rooted in the brother-duet tradition. Thile, the mandolinist known from Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers, and guitarist Daves constructed an album that looked backward to the raw acoustic music of the 1920s and 1930s — to the Monroe Brothers, the Louvin Brothers, and earlier duet singers — while performing it with technical precision and genuine emotional investment. The album stands apart from contemporary bluegrass in its deliberate historical focus, serving less as a genre record than as a deeply researched act of musical archaeology delivered with uncommon skill.
Tracklist
- 1 Rabbit in the Log alt version 2:39
- 2 Cry Cry Darling alt version 3:02
- 3 Loneliness and Desperation alt version 2:25
- 4 Tennessee Blues alt version 4:04
- 5 20-20 Vision alt version 3:13
- 6 You're Running Wild 2:33
- 7 Ookpik Waltz alt version 4:07
- 8 My Little Girl in Tennessee alt version 2:49
- 9 Sleep with One Eye Open 3:16
- 10 Rain and Snow alt version 3:31
- 11 Mississippi Waltz alt version 2:46
- 12 Bury Me Beneath the Willow alt version 3:46
- 13 Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms alt version 3:10
- 14 Billy in the Lowground 3:14
- 15 It Takes One to Know One alt version 3:15
- 16 If I Should Wander Back Tonight alt version 3:48