Chris Eldridge

Chris Eldridge is a Grammy Award winning American guitarist and singer. He is a member of Punch Brothers and frequently performs in a duo with fellow guitarist Julian Lage. He was the guitarist in the house band on Prairie Home Companion/Live From Here from 2016-2020. He was also a founding member of the bluegrass band The Infamous Stringdusters. His father is noted banjoist Ben Eldridge of the Seldom Scene.

Chris Eldridge
OriginFredericksburg, Virginia
GenresProgressive bluegrass
Bluegrass
Instrument(s)Guitar
Years active2000-present
LabelsNonesuch Records
Websitehttp://www.chriseldridge.net/

Biography

Although initially drawn to electric guitar, Eldridge began developing an acoustic career by his mid-teens, largely due to his father, a founding member of the seminal bluegrass group The Seldom Scene. Eldridge later studied at Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with legendary guitarist Tony Rice. After graduating, he joined the Seldom Scene with whom he received a Grammy nomination in 2007.[1] In 2005 he founded a critically acclaimed bluegrass group, The Infamous Stringdusters. At the 2007 International Bluegrass Music Association awards Eldridge and his Stringdusters bandmates won Emerging artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year for their debut album, Fork in the Road.[2]

In 2005 mandolinist Chris Thile, recruited Eldridge, along with banjoist Noam Pikelny, violinist Gabe Witcher, and bassist Greg Garrison, to start working on an ambitious project fusing bluegrass instrumentation with the rigor of classical composition. Eventually the musicians decided to form a band, Punch Brothers. Their debut album in 2008, Punch, has been described as "bluegrass instrumentation and spontaneity in the strictures of modern classical"[3] as well as "American country-classical chamber music".[4] Punch Brothers has released 6 full length albums and 2 EPs.

Eldridge appeared in the 2013 Coen brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis as Mike Timlin, the deceased duet partner of Llewyn Davis. Eldridge can be seen alongside Oscar Isaac several times throughout the movie on the front and back covers of Timlin and Davis' album, "If We Had Wings." Eldridge and Punch Brothers appeared throughout the movie's soundtrack.[5]

Eldridge was featured in the exhibit, "American Currents: The Music of 2018" at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, TN.[6]

In 2019 Eldridge won the Instrumentalist of the Year award at the Americana Music Honors & Awards.[7]

In 2020 he was named Visiting Associate Professor of Contemporary American Acoustic Music at Oberlin.[8]

In 2023 he released an eponymous album with a new bluegrass supergroup called Mighty Poplar. Other members of the band include Noam Pikelny, Andrew Marlin, Alex Hargreaves and Greg Garrison.[9]

Eldridge is a nine-time Grammy Award nominee, winning once in 2019 for Best Folk Album.[1]

Discography

Punch Brothers
Year Title Label
2008 Punch Nonesuch
2010 Antifogmatic Nonesuch
2012 Who's Feeling Young Now? Nonesuch
2012 Ahoy! (EP) Nonesuch
2015 The Phosphorescent Blues Nonesuch
2015 The Wireless (EP) Nonesuch
2018 All Ashore Nonesuch
2022 Hell on Church Street Nonesuch

Mighty Poplar
Year Title Label
2023 Mighty Poplar Free Dirt Records

Julian Lage & Chris Eldridge
Year Title Label
2013 Close to Picture (EP) Modern Lore
2014 Avalon Modern Lore
2017 Mount Royal Free Dirt Records

The Infamous Stringdusters
Year Title Label
2006 The Infamous Stringdusters (EP) Sugar Hill
2007 Fork in the Road Sugar Hill

Seldom Scene
Year Title Label
2007 Scenechronized Sugar Hill
2014 Long Time... Seldom Scene Smithsonian Folkways

References
  1. "Chris Eldridge". grammy.com. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  2. "Awards by Year".
  3. Paphides, Pete (January 25, 2008). "Chris Thile and his mandolin". The Times. London. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  4. Holden, Stephen (February 22, 2008). "Covers and Classical Moves From a Bluegrass Virtuoso". The New York Times.
  5. "Inside Llewyn Davis Trivia". IMDb.
  6. "American Currents: The Music of 2018, Opens March 8, 2019 at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum". March 1, 2019.
  7. "Americana Honors and Awards 2019: The Complete Winners List". Rolling Stone. September 11, 2019.
  8. "Bluegrass Guitarist Chris Eldridge Named Visiting Faculty at Oberlin". November 9, 2020.
  9. "Mighty Poplar Rises Up From Bluegrass Bedrock". March 3, 2023.
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