Photo by Dean Budnick

Earlier this month the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation named the annual recipients of its Fellowship Grants, perhaps better known as the “Genius Grants.” Each year since 1981 the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation have honored two to three dozen U.S. citizens who “show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work.” The 2012 roster includes individuals from a variety of field such as author Junot Díaz, economist Raj Chetty, historian Dylan C. Penningroth, theoretical computer scientist Daniel Spielman and neurosurgeon Benjamin Warf. Of particular interest to Relix readers is new MacArthur Fellow Chris Thile.

Here is how the Foundation describes the musician: “Chris Thile is a young mandolin virtuoso and composer whose lyrical fusion of traditional bluegrass with elements from a range of other musical traditions is giving rise to a new genre of contemporary music. With a broad outlook that encompasses progressive bluegrass, classical, rock, and jazz, Thile is transcending the borders of conventionally circumscribed genres in compositions for his own ensembles and frequent cross-genre collaborations. Although rooted in the rhythmic structure of bluegrass, his early pieces for his long-time trio, Nickel Creek, have the improvisatory feel of jazz; his current ensemble, Punch Brothers, evokes the ethos of classical chamber music even while adhering to the traditional instrumentation of the bluegrass quintet. The Blind Leaving the Blind, a song suite on Punch Brothers’ first album ( Punch, 2008 ), extends the sound of bluegrass in its range of harmonies and polyrhythms. Thile further explores the symphonic dimensions of the string quintet in both the improvised and elaborately composed works of Antifogmatic (2010). Among his many collaborations, Thile has expanded the reach of the mandolin in Ad Astra per Alas Porci (2009), a three-movement mandolin concerto, and in his solo mandolin interpretations of Bach’s works for violin, which showcase his technical mastery and fluid, soulful phrasing. Through his adventurous, multifaceted artistry as both a composer and performer with various ensembles, Thile is creating a distinctly American canon for the mandolin and a new musical aesthetic for performers and audiences alike.”

In the following interview Thile talks about the award and its impact on the music to come (and answers a question about a Mike Gordon session to boot).

So before you received the call did you have any inkling that you might be named a MacArthur Fellow?

Not at all. This literally came out of the clear blue sky which is why I’m still sort of stumbling around in a bit of a daze. I mean it’s really out of the clear blue sky.

Is it something that anyone had mentioned to you in passing over the years as a possibility?

Long ago, maybe five or six years ago, someone told me that I had been nominated. But I had no idea how far along in the process, or how many people get nominated every year, or anything like that. I still don’t know, how it works, they’re very secretive about that. When I found out that I had been made a Fellow, it kind of feels like an award and a mandate at the same time, which I think is what they intend. Mr. Socolow [Director of the MacArthur Fellows Program] first told me over the phone, he sort of calmed me down and assured me this wasn’t a prank, and said they were proud to invest in me. And I just wanted to hang up right then and get to work. You know? Like, “Don’t worry, I promise not to let you down, I promise not to be the dunce in this class.” I think any serious musician lights a pretty white hot fire under themselves but my sense was that my fire was being stoked, getting hotter and burning more brightly, and I just can’t wait to get to work.

Have you contemplated what it is you want to do? In theory it provides the resources for you to pursue whatever you wish…

Well the lovely thing for me is there’s a sense to wanting to kick things into higher gear but my plans won’t change. There’s a bunch of stuff I want to do. I have a lot of very dear ideas that have been kicking around for a long time. Like they’re sort of in the barrel fermentation process but things get pushed back as practical considerations come to the fore. You gotta pay rent, especially in New York City which is very inspiring but very expensive. And just the idea that I’m going to be able to say no to some things that are lucrative but that are largely creatively bankrupt, in favor of sitting on the couch playing the mandolin to be able to feed those ideas…

I remember your banjo player, your fellow Punch Brother, Mr. Pikenly he won a share of sweet cash from Steve Martin a couple years ago [Noam Pikelny won the first annual Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, which comes with a $50,000 check].

Yes he did, and it was a very exciting day for all of us.

So do you feel like you can finally thumb your nose back at him?

[Laughs] I was one of the first to give him a big old bear hug after that happened. It was so great, he sent us a text saying to meet him at a cocktail bar in Brooklyn called Clover Club. He was like “Please meet me at Clover Club, I have good news.” We were all in town and it worked out incredibly. We all showed up, and he started buying everyone cocktails and then sort of made the announcement and it was just, it was so funny, and what foresight from Steve, who is such a remarkable man, and such a great man to set something like that up for a community that doesn’t have a whole lot of grants and awards.

Along with the announcement that you had won, came a story that said the Foundation had a hard time sharing the good news because you were ducking what you thought was a robocall associated with the election.

Yeah, the same 312 area code kept calling me in the middle of the day over and over again and I thought some robot was trying to get me to register to vote or something. But finally [Daniel Socolow] left a message that said he had something of importance to discuss with me, But still you know, every now and then people call you with a really important session they think you’re going to want to be a part of and I thought, “God I have too much work as it is.”

I still wasn’t going to call back, but then he left a second message saying, “Don’t tell anyone about this call.” And I thought that was pretty sketchy, that’s the kind of message you get before someone shoots you. So I found my roommate, we were on the road at the time, and I asked him if it sounded sketchy or if I was just being paranoid, and he said, “No, that sounds pretty sketchy.”

So he Googled the number and looked up at me and said, “It appears to be from the MacArthur Foundation.” And at that point, you know, I sort of realized and I was like, “Holy Shit, is it that? There’s no way…No, no no, it can’t be that.” My heart’s racing, I’m short of breath, and trying to talk myself out of it. I said, “No, they want me to confirm someone else, or recommend someone else or something like that.” But then I got my act together, called them back and it all came to fruition and has yet to subside.

Did they ever reveal who nominated you or pull back the curtain to share any aspect of the decision-making process?

I don’t think they do, and they certainly haven’t yet. No one’s come forward and said, “I nominated you.” So I don’t know. I mean there are so few actual secrets left in the world with the internet but as a recipient I can’t tell you how fun it is the way that it comes down. You know, it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s like grown-up artist Disneyland.

Junot Diaz, whose writing I enjoy, also won this year. Is there a cocktail party or something where you get to meet your fellow Fellows?

I read a biography of David Foster Wallace a couple weeks ago, and it mentioned there was MacArthur Fellowship Reunion, and now being a Fellow, I’d be real keen to go to one of those. I actually did get to meet Junot on a CBS This Morning. Charlie Rose interviewed us about being Fellows, and it was pretty fun. It was the first time I got to hang out with any of the other recipients. One of the other guys just sent me an email, whose work I’m unfamiliar with, but a journalist for the Washington Post and also an author and a huge fan [David Finkel]. This whole thing is kind of mindblowing to me and really all signs point to “Get Back in the Practice Room.” I actually want to deserve this.

In terms of the Foundation giving you that original charge, what else have they said about what they expect?

They’re very clear on that call: Basically they’re saying, “Thank you for being you and do some more of it.” That’s basically the message, which is again, sort of a staggering thing. You know, and I’m still sitting there going, “Are you sure you have the right Chris Thile? I play mandolin and I sing little songs.” So the whole thing is totally overwhelming, but as far as their expectations, are all mine for myself. And so now my expectations for me have increased.

When I think of the MacArthur Foundation I think of something high-minded and cerebral, so I can imagine they’d want you to work on another mandolin concerto but do you think this will impact your efforts with the Punch Brothers as well?

I don’t make any sort of distinction between the various projects that I have, and to me music needs to be functioning on both a visceral and cerebral level at all times for it to be truly transportive. I think if your mind is left out of the equation or your body’s left out, you won’t have a transcendent experience because part of you will be hanging onto your life, your normal life, and great art takes all of those aspects of being alive and then takes you on a ride. So to me, if it’s the concerto, you know I want to make sure that still resonates in the body. And with Punch Brothers, even if it’s sort of a foot-stomper, I want it to check out cerebrally, I want it to have that sort of scrutiny.

I want it to have a positive effect on all collaborations, and Punch Brothers being my main collaboration, I hope it has nothing but positive effects on it. I don’t want to cut down on what I consider to be really valuable performance opportunities because that’s communing with music lovers and that’s what this is all about. When music making is at its best, you feel like you’re performing with the audience not for them. And so to me, that’s just as important as the conception of material.

Last question, on a slightly different topic. Earlier this year Mike Gordon released a download for Vermont flood relief, Steamroller Wheelies . It presents a number of his sessions from over the years, and you’re on one of the tracks with Mike and Jon Fishman and Jared Slomoff . I was curious if know when that’s from and in what context you performed with them?

Mike came to a Punch Brothers show about five or six years ago and invited us over to his place afterwards for drinks, and when we got there we were hanging out and he said, “Oh hey by the way I’ve got this song and would you be up for just playing it for a second?” So Mike set up and we played the song – once – and then he hit record and that’s what’s there. I haven’t heard it since then, I don’t know what’s there.