Thanks for Listening

Submitted by nonesuch on
Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

Chris Thile's Thanks for Listening is a collection of new studio recordings, produced by Thomas Bartlett, of ten songs originally written as Songs of the Week on A Prairie Home Companion. Thile manned almost all of the stringed instruments on the album and is joined by guest singers Sarah Jarosz, Gaby Moreno, and Aoife O'Donovan. "Right now, with how easy it is to be the talker on social media, how hard it is to maintain focus or give something enough attention to appreciate it, we're in a place where listening is a precious commodity," says Thile. "Thanks for Listening is a celebration of people who haven't switched off, despite being given every reason to do so."

Description

Nonesuch Records releases mandolinist, singer, songwriter, and radio host Chris Thile's Thanks for Listening on December 8, 2017, with the vinyl out December 15. The album is a collection of songs that were originally written for performance on A Prairie Home Companion. Since becoming the American Public Media program's host, Thile has, each week, written one new (often topical) "Song of the Week" that gets its debut performance on that Saturday's live broadcast—with Thile, the house band, and some of his guest musicians. For Thanks for Listening, Thile and producer Thomas Bartlett chose ten songs from nineteen possibilities and created new studio recordings of them, rather than merely documenting them as originally performed. 

As Thile says, "The album pivoted away from the show and toward the listeners—and not just to the listeners of Prairie Home but to anyone who listens to things. They are my heroes—people who listen. I find myself all too often on the other side of the conversation, talking about what I'm doing. It's hard to maintain focus or give something enough attention to appreciate it. We're in a place where listening is a precious commodity. That's the theme that I noticed rising up, greater than 'here is what was happening last week' or 'here is the place we were.' It's a celebration of people who haven't switched off, despite being given every reason to do so."

Thile manned all the stringed instruments during the album sessions, save for bass (Alan Hampton) and viola (Nadia Sirota, on the title track). Ted Poor—like Hampton, a member of Andrew Bird's touring band—played drums on five tracks. Bartlett provided, in Thile's words, "whatever sounds weren't accounted for." Three guest singers also perform on the album, all of whom had been on A Prairie Home Companion multiple times: Sarah Jarosz, Gaby Moreno, and Aoife O'Donovan. Thile says, "All three had made really meaningful contributions to how the songs ended up expressing themselves. I would bounce lyrics off them at rehearsals—melodic moves, harmonic parts. That goes for all the musicians who played on this last APHC season. They all made such meaningful contributions to these songs. I'm really grateful."

MacArthur Fellow Chris Thile is the founding member of Punch Brothers, which a Boston Globe reviewer has called "the tightest, most impressive live band I have ever seen." The group's four Nonesuch albums are Punch, Antifogmatic, Who's Feeling Young Now?, and The Phosphorescent Blues. Thile's other Nonesuch releases include a duo album with guitarist Michael Daves, two records with bassist Edgar Meyer (one of which won a Grammy), a Bach album with Yo-Yo Ma and Meyer, a duet album with jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, and the T Bone Burnett–produced soundtrack to the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis. As a soloist, Thile has released five albums—most recently the highly praised Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 1—and performed extensively as a duo with fellow eminent mandolinist Mike Marshall. He spent his formative years as a member of the Grammy Award–winning, multi-platinum selling band Nickel Creek, which reunited in 2014 for its highest-charting album to date, A Dotted Line, and an extensive tour.

Thile has been host of public radio favorite A Prairie Home Companion since last season, when he took over for longtime host Garrison Keillor. He had been a regular guest on the program since the age of fifteen. "I grew up with the show, says Chris. "I take this opportunity, this job, immensely seriously and with great awe." Musical guests on the show so far have included Jack White, Paul Simon, Yo-Yo Ma, Regina Spektor, and Esperanza Spalding, as well as spoken word guests like Trevor Noah and Maria Bamford. Thile's second season begins October 7 with guests Chris Stapleton and Julien Baker.

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Thomas Bartlett & Chris Thile
Recorded July 2017 at Reservoir Studios, New York, NY
Recorded by Patrick Dillett and Thomas Bartlett
Additional Recording by James Yost
Mixed by Patrick Dillett at Reservoir Studios
Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, New York, NY

Front and Back Cover Illustration by Oliver Jeffers
Layout & Design by SMOG Design, Inc.

Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

Nonesuch Selection Number

564711

ns_album_releasedate
Album Status
Artist Name
Chris Thile
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Chris Thile, vocals, stringed instruments
Thomas Bartlett, all keyboard instruments and anything you’re hearing that isn’t below:

Alan Hampton, double bass (2, 3, 7), electric bass (5)
Sarah Jarosz, vocals (7, 10)
Gaby Moreno, vocals (2, 5)
Aoife O’Donovan, vocals (3, 4, 8, 10)
Ted Poor, drums (1, 2, 3, 5, 8)
Nadia Sirot, viola (10)

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
LP+MP3
Price
17.00
UPC
075597933482
Label
CD+MP3
UPC
075597933475
Label
96/24 HD FLAC
Price
14.00
UPC
075597933536
Label
FLAC
Price
10.00
UPC
075597933499
Label
MP3
Price
9.00
UPC
075597933567
  • 564711

News & Reviews

  • Chris Thile returned to CBS Saturday Morning to perform for the first time with guitarist Billy Strings in a Saturday Sessions set of three songs: "Wild Bill Jones," "I Am a Pilgrim," and "I've Been All Around This World." You can watch all three performances here.

  • Chris Thile has announced his inaugural Acousticamp to take place July 30–August 3 at Glen Cove Mansion in Glen Cove, New York. For the four-day event, he and his fellow instructor/collaborators—including several Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek band mates—will explore the width and breadth of acoustic music practice, performance, and composition, anchored by but not limited to string band instruments and vernacular singing, buoyed by coffee and cocktails, all bookended by intimate concerts from Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers.

  • About This Album

    Nonesuch Records releases mandolinist, singer, songwriter, and radio host Chris Thile's Thanks for Listening on December 8, 2017, with the vinyl out December 15. The album is a collection of songs that were originally written for performance on A Prairie Home Companion. Since becoming the American Public Media program's host, Thile has, each week, written one new (often topical) "Song of the Week" that gets its debut performance on that Saturday's live broadcast—with Thile, the house band, and some of his guest musicians. For Thanks for Listening, Thile and producer Thomas Bartlett chose ten songs from nineteen possibilities and created new studio recordings of them, rather than merely documenting them as originally performed. 

    As Thile says, "The album pivoted away from the show and toward the listeners—and not just to the listeners of Prairie Home but to anyone who listens to things. They are my heroes—people who listen. I find myself all too often on the other side of the conversation, talking about what I'm doing. It's hard to maintain focus or give something enough attention to appreciate it. We're in a place where listening is a precious commodity. That's the theme that I noticed rising up, greater than 'here is what was happening last week' or 'here is the place we were.' It's a celebration of people who haven't switched off, despite being given every reason to do so."

    Thile manned all the stringed instruments during the album sessions, save for bass (Alan Hampton) and viola (Nadia Sirota, on the title track). Ted Poor—like Hampton, a member of Andrew Bird's touring band—played drums on five tracks. Bartlett provided, in Thile's words, "whatever sounds weren't accounted for." Three guest singers also perform on the album, all of whom had been on A Prairie Home Companion multiple times: Sarah Jarosz, Gaby Moreno, and Aoife O'Donovan. Thile says, "All three had made really meaningful contributions to how the songs ended up expressing themselves. I would bounce lyrics off them at rehearsals—melodic moves, harmonic parts. That goes for all the musicians who played on this last APHC season. They all made such meaningful contributions to these songs. I'm really grateful."

    MacArthur Fellow Chris Thile is the founding member of Punch Brothers, which a Boston Globe reviewer has called "the tightest, most impressive live band I have ever seen." The group's four Nonesuch albums are Punch, Antifogmatic, Who's Feeling Young Now?, and The Phosphorescent Blues. Thile's other Nonesuch releases include a duo album with guitarist Michael Daves, two records with bassist Edgar Meyer (one of which won a Grammy), a Bach album with Yo-Yo Ma and Meyer, a duet album with jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, and the T Bone Burnett–produced soundtrack to the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis. As a soloist, Thile has released five albums—most recently the highly praised Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 1—and performed extensively as a duo with fellow eminent mandolinist Mike Marshall. He spent his formative years as a member of the Grammy Award–winning, multi-platinum selling band Nickel Creek, which reunited in 2014 for its highest-charting album to date, A Dotted Line, and an extensive tour.

    Thile has been host of public radio favorite A Prairie Home Companion since last season, when he took over for longtime host Garrison Keillor. He had been a regular guest on the program since the age of fifteen. "I grew up with the show, says Chris. "I take this opportunity, this job, immensely seriously and with great awe." Musical guests on the show so far have included Jack White, Paul Simon, Yo-Yo Ma, Regina Spektor, and Esperanza Spalding, as well as spoken word guests like Trevor Noah and Maria Bamford. Thile's second season begins October 7 with guests Chris Stapleton and Julien Baker.

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Chris Thile, vocals, stringed instruments
    Thomas Bartlett, all keyboard instruments and anything you’re hearing that isn’t below:

    Alan Hampton, double bass (2, 3, 7), electric bass (5)
    Sarah Jarosz, vocals (7, 10)
    Gaby Moreno, vocals (2, 5)
    Aoife O’Donovan, vocals (3, 4, 8, 10)
    Ted Poor, drums (1, 2, 3, 5, 8)
    Nadia Sirot, viola (10)

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced by Thomas Bartlett & Chris Thile
    Recorded July 2017 at Reservoir Studios, New York, NY
    Recorded by Patrick Dillett and Thomas Bartlett
    Additional Recording by James Yost
    Mixed by Patrick Dillett at Reservoir Studios
    Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, New York, NY

    Front and Back Cover Illustration by Oliver Jeffers
    Layout & Design by SMOG Design, Inc.

    Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz