How to Grow a Woman from the Ground

For one of his side projects, Chris Thile knew he wanted to form a string quintet composed of mandolin, violin, banjo, guitar, and bass with childhood friend and fiddler Gabe Witcher, but didn’t know which direction he wanted to take the band. At the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride, Colorado, Thile met banjoist Noam Pikelny and later commented that “every note he played was something I wish I’d played”. It was then that Thile realized that he wanted to “put [his] stamp on the traditional bluegrass ensemble”. Thile wanted to get five musicians together for a Nashville jam session in 2005, after he found talented bluegrass musicians that could fill the positions. The bassist Thile was searching for, Greg Garrison, was recommended to Thile by Pikelny, who had performed alongside Garrison in the Cajun jam band Leftover Salmon. The guitar position was filled by Chris Eldridge, from the bluegrass band the Infamous Stringdusters. The five musicians met up in Nashville one day in 2005 and decided that they needed to “do something musical together”. A few nights later, the group met again “just to drop a ton of money, drink too much wine, eat steaks, and commiserate about our failed relationships”. How to Grow a Woman from the Ground was self produced by Thile, and had no guest musicians, just the quintet. Other than the band, which in promotion of the album was named the How to Grow a Band, the album had a fairly small production crew; an engineer, an assistant engineer, two mastering people, and an artist. ==Musical style==

How to Grow a Woman from the Ground takes influence from different genres, “drawing equally from traditional bluegrass, progressive acoustic, and singer/songwriter traditions”, The album has a bluegrass or progressive bluegrass core; bluegrass mandolinist Ronnie McCoury became the album’s official “bluegrass guru” to ensure that there was “someone who could make sure we didn’t do anything clichéd or trite”. In regard to the album’s style, Thile said that “All in all, How to Grow a Woman from the Ground is a bluegrass record. There are definitely some musical things that are out of the ordinary, but it sounds like a bluegrass record to me. It’s not all like “Brakeman’s Blues,” but “Brakeman’s Blues” doesn’t sound out of place, and neither does “The Beekeeper” sound out of place. It’s all related.” ==Critical reception==

How to Grow a Woman from the Ground received positive reviews from country and bluegrass music critics. AllMusic called it "fantastic", Music Box also said that tracks like "Stay Away" and "I’m Yours If You Want Me" "completely fell flat". Regardless, the review still stated that "the bulk of How to Grow a Woman from the Ground is remarkably engaging". On the contrary, the previously mentioned JamBase article complimented Thile's vocal strength, saying "it's the soul in Thile's voice and the heart and intensity of the musicianship that give the album its power." ==Track listing==

• Chris Thile – mandolin, lead vocals, producer • Noam Pikelny – banjo, vocals • Greg Garrison – bass, vocals • Chris Eldridge – acoustic guitar, vocals • Gabe Witcher – fiddle, vocals • Ronnie McCoury – "bluegrass guru" • Loren Witcher – artwork • Gary Paczosa – mastering • Fred Forsell – mastering engineer • Matthew Gephart – engineer • Ethan Donaldson – assistant engineer ==Chart performance==