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Portrait of Chris Thile

Chris Thile

(1981) Musician United States

115 quotes in 341 categories

A cocktail and an oyster after a park by the water captures Chris Thile’s love for simple pleasures that inspire music. He stresses that performing live is essential and that the human voice draws strong reactions. He also encourages musicians to explore many styles and enjoys being part of a great string band.

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Chris Thile is a musician from the United States, best known for Thanks for listening.

Quick Facts About Chris Thile

Born: February 20, 1981
Nationality: United States
Profession: Musician
Notable works: Thanks for listening
Spouse: Claire Coffee

About Chris Thile

Christopher Scott Thile is an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and radio personality, best known for his work in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive bluegrass quintet Punch Brothers. He is a 2012 MacArthur Fellow. From 2016 to its cancellation in 2020, he hosted the radio variety show Live from Here.

Awards & Honors

MacArthur Fellows Program Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

Quotes by Chris Thile

I celebrate three holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Telluride.

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I consider it a great honor to be part of the dissemination of hearable art.

Art

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Tradition matters. To me it's not a limiting force; it's a springboard.

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If I was any happier, you'd think I was on crack.

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I obviously love music very, very much.

Love

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Kill your television. Throw it out the darn window. Watch PBS in a bar.

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There are two genres of music: there's good music and there's bad music.

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I'm always going to need to play in front of people.

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I'd say playing with a group or playing solo are equally rewarding, but in a different way.

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There is a certain immortality in the change that another person effects on another person.

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I think there's probably really wonderful music that has been lost due to the lack of preservation methods way back in the…

Day

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Coffee is pretty big in my life. It shows up in my lyrics a bunch, the same way the ocean does. It's…

Coffee

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Everything in our lives is encouraging us to turn inward with all the technology that we have available to us.

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Generally speaking, I think one has to take reviews with a grain of salt, unless you know who the person is and…

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My thesis statement would be—Bach didn't write Baroque music. He wrote great music.

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The minute you make a record because you think somebody's going to play it on the radio is the minute you ought…

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Great music is the only genre that actually matters, and the members of that club are far more similar to each other…

Genre

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I'm a massive tennis fan! I love it to bits. I wish I could play, but I am worried that the muscles…

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It's like wine and food, or coffee and a pastry - coffee's awesome and a chocolate croissant is awesome, and together, they're…

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Really the greatest music I've ever heard I've hated the first time I heard it. It's been abrasive at first; it's been…

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The real question is, do you root for the fox in that song? Or are you horrified that the goose and the…

Death

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If you're sitting there going, 'Well, these particular genres are the only genres I like,' that's like saying, 'I only like books…

Books

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I was two years old when I saw the mandolin for the first time, and I just loved it. I just loved…

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Having small children, you start thinking about how everything in your life revolves around doing the best you can for this little…

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The fact that I'm a fifth of Punch Brothers... that's lucky for me because I feel like I get to operate in…

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Ever since I became better acquainted with classical music, I've wanted to try my hand at longer forms, but I could never…

Classical music

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I was raised fundamentalist Christian, and now I'm not that. It was not an act of rebellion or anything. For me, it…

Christian

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The name 'Clara' is significant in my life. When I was an adolescent and started thinking about my place in the world…

Daughter

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It's very hard to make grand, romantic gestures on a mandolin, and there are times, particularly when playing Bach, that you long…

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I love music so much. It's like the one thing I'm good at.

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The greatest creators are as hungry to consume as they are to create.

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I guess I am working pretty much all the time.

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The purists are small in number but, you know hardy of voice.

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Different people need different things.

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We don't have any genre-based allegiances.

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I've performed in concert halls thousands and thousands of times in my life.

Concert

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Since I was little, I've always put a lot of pressure on myself.

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I am an incorrigible coffee geek. I make espresso.

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I'm obsessed with the idea of genrelessness and generationlessness.

Idea

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My life conforms to music, not the other way around.

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Chris Thile by topic

Music (43) Song (22) People (15) Love (15) Time (14) Life (10)