Noam Pikelny (born February 27, 1981, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

ist. He is a member of the group

Punch Brothers Punch Brothers is an American band consisting of Chris Thile (mandolin), Gabe Witcher (fiddle/violin), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Chris Eldridge (guitar), and Paul Kowert (bass). Their style has been described as "bluegrass instrumentation and sponta ...

and was previously in Leftover Salmon as well as the John Cowan Band. Pikelny is a nine-time

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

nominee, winning once in 2019 for

Best Folk Album The Grammy Award for Best Folk Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for releasing albums in the folk genre. Honors in several ...

History

Pikelny started playing banjo when he was 8 years old. He took lessons at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. In high school, he began studying with Greg Cahill of the Chicago bluegrass band The Special Consensus. Pikelny was in Leftover Salmon from 2002 until leaving in 2004 to play in the John Cowan Band from 2004 to 2006 - playing on the band's "New Tattoo" record, just before the formation of

in that same year. Chris Thile of Nickel Creek was planning to form a string quintet, but did not know what direction he wanted to take it, except that he wanted it to include fiddler

Gabe Witcher Gabriel Witcher (born June 11, 1978) is a Grammy award winning American multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, and arranger, best known as a fiddle player and singer. He is a founding member of the string ensemble Punch Brothers. Witcher and ...

. After Thile had a jam session with Witcher, Pikelny, bassist Greg Garrison and guitarist

Chris Eldridge Chris Eldridge is an American guitarist and singer. He is a member of Punch Brothers and frequently performs in a duo with fellow guitarist Julian Lage. He is also the guitarist in the house band on Live From Here. He was a founding member of the ...

, he decided he wanted the band to be a quintet. The band was called "The How to Grow a Band" in 2006 when they were the backing band on Thile's solo release ''

How to Grow a Woman from the Ground ''How to Grow a Woman from the Ground'' is a 2006 album by Chris Thile and Punch Brothers. It was released on Sugar Hill on September 12, 2006. The album is named after a song on the album; a cover of the original by folk singer Tom Brosseau. T ...

'', as well as the following supporting shows. After on and off touring throughout 2007 coinciding with Nickel Creek's ''Farewell (For Now) Tour'', the band's name was changed to the "Tensions Mountain Boys" briefly, and subsequently to Punch Brothers (borrowed from a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has pr ...

). Punch Brothers released their first official album as a band, ''Punch'', on

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, No ...

on February 26, 2008. A native of

Skokie, Illinois Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the 2020 census, was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's d ...

, Pikelny currently resides in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

Awards

Pikelny was the recipient of the 2010

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...

Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. On November 5, 2010, he appeared on

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production ...

playing a comedic version of "

Dueling Banjos "Dueling Banjos" is a bluegrass composition by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith. The song was composed in 1954 by Smith as a banjo instrumental he called "Feudin' Banjos," which contained riffs from Smith, recorded in 1955 playing a four-string plec ...

" alongside Martin, and later performed with Martin and Punch Brothers. Pikelny's 2011 album ''Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail'' was nominated for

Best Bluegrass Album The Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works (songs or albums) in the bluegrass mu ...

in the

2013 Grammy Awards The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET ...

. In 2014 at the

International Bluegrass Music Awards The International Bluegrass Music Awards is an award show for bluegrass music presented by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). Awards are voted based on professional membership in the IBMA. Award winners 2021 award winners Th ...

he was named banjo player of the year by the International Bluegrass Music Association, an award that he also received in 2017. He also received the album of the year award for ''Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe'' - the same album that would be nominated for "Best Bluegrass Album" at the 57th annual GRAMMY® Awards in 2015. In 2019 Punch Brothers won a Grammy Award for best Folk Album for their album "All Ashore."

Discography

Solo recordings

Leftover Salmon

Punch Brothers

References

External links

* *
Punch Brothers Official Website

Interview at ukbluegrass.com

Banjo Newsletter Interview from 2008

Banjo Newsletter Interview from 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pikelny, Noam Living people Jewish American artists Jewish American musicians American bluegrass musicians 1981 births Place of birth missing (living people) American banjoists Country musicians from Illinois Leftover Salmon members Punch Brothers members Grammy Award winners People from Skokie, Illinois 21st-century American Jews