Sleep with One Eye Open, the debut album from Chris Thile and Michael Daves, is out today. They kick off their US tour with a sold-out, three-night run at NYC's Rockwood Music Hall tonight. It's "a rip-roaring partnership," says the New York Times. "Bluegrass, in their hands, gets roughed up in the best possible way, with skill and fervor, and a touch of abandon." The Independent on Sunday says it's "a pleasure to hear such virtuosic types giving themselves over to high-end ribaldry." Metro gives the album four stars, citing "an up-all-night intensity and a technical virtuosity." Watch the duo perform "20/20 Vision" here.
Sleep with One Eye Open, the debut album from mandolin-virtuoso Chris Thile and guitar maven Michael Daves, is out today on Nonesuch Records. The album, recorded live to tape over four days at Jack White’s Third Man studio in Nashville, is a collection of 16 traditional tunes by bluegrass legends like The Monroe Brothers, The Louvin Brothers, Jimmy Martin, and Flatt & Scruggs. Thile and Daves kick off a month-long US tour with a sold-out, three-night run at Rockwood Music Hall in New York City starting tonight.
New York Times music critic Nate Chinen, in a preview of the concerts, describes the pairing as "a rip-roaring partnership," saying of the new album: "Bluegrass, in their hands, gets roughed up in the best possible way, with skill and fervor, and a touch of abandon."
To mark today's release day and tonight's concert, we've posted a fifth video in the series of performance videos captured live at Rockwood. In the video, Thile and Daves perform another track from the new album, "20/20 Vision," written by Joe Allison & Milton Estes. You can watch the video at below. You can also find all five performance videos plus a short film about the making of the album at thiledaves.com and at nonesuch.com/media.
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In the UK, the Independent on Sunday says it's "a pleasure to hear such virtuosic types giving themselves over to high-end ribaldry." Reviewer Nick Coleman says the two "hammer and tongs the songs like smiths." Read more at independent.co.uk.
Also in the UK, Metro gives the album four stars. The two "rip through" the songs on the album, says reviewer Claire Allfree. "They slow down only for the straining harmonies of Ray Endenton and Don Winters’s You’re Running Wild and Frank Rodgers’s Ookpik Waltz, bringing an up-all-night intensity and a technical virtuosity to these tracks." Read more at metro.co.uk.
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Thile and Daves discussed their partnership and the new album with journalist Bradley Klein for the Mandolin Cafe. You can read the first part of the two-part piece now at mandolincafe.com.
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To pick up a copy of Sleep with One Eye Open, head to the Nonesuch Store, where orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the complete album plus the bonus download "Sophronie" at checkout. For more on the upcoming live shows, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
Watch "20/20 Vision" here:
Thile and Daves will also be releasing a 7" single of "Man in the Middle"/"Blue Night" through Third Man Records on May 24. It is available for pre-order today at thirdmanrecords.com. An exclusive, limited-edition tri-color version of the single will be available at Newbury Comics' Faneuil Hall location in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 24. Thile and Daves will be giving a free in-store performance there on the same day at 5 PM. Later that night, the duo will perform in concert at Boston's Brighton Music Hall.
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