Punch Brothers on tour; new album 'Hell on Church Street,' out now

Hell on Church Street, Punch Brothers’ newest album, out today, on Nonesuch Records, is the band’s reimagining of, and homage to, the late bluegrass great Tony Rice’s landmark solo album Church Street Blues.

The record features a collection of songs by Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, Bill Monroe, and others (complete track list below). Hell on Church Street is available to preorder here, where an in-the-studio video of the band playing “Church Street Blues” may also be seen; preorders from the Nonesuch and Punch Brothers

Stores include a limited-edition print signed by the band. Punch Brothers tour North America in support of the album beginning in January (tour schedule below). More information is available here.

Recorded at Nashville’s Blackbird Studio in November 2020, during a time of great uncertainty, Hell on Church Street was intended as both its own work of art and a gift to Rice, who died that Christmas. Punch Brothers said of Tony Rice and Church Street Blues: “No record (or musician) has had a greater impact on us, and we felt compelled to cover it in its entirety, with the objective of interacting with it in the same spirit of respect-fueled adventure that Tony brought to each of its pre-existing songs.”

Hell on Church Street follows Punch Brothers’ critically acclaimed and Grammy Award-winning 2018 album All Ashore, which featured nine original songs written by the band. The Boston Globe said of All Ashore, “Punch Brothers have crafted a deeply meaningful and downright gorgeous record that takes the world for what it is, but doesn’t use that as an excuse to give up.”

Punch Brothers—guitarist Chris Eldridge, bassist Paul Kowert, banjoist Noam Pikelny, mandolinist/singer Chris Thile, and fiddler Gabe Witcher—formed in 2006 and released its first Nonesuch record, Punch, in 2008. In 2009, the band began a residency at NYC’s intimate Lower East Side club The Living Room, trying out new songs and ultimately spawning Antifogmatic (2010). Those albums were followed by the critically praised Who’s Feeling Young Now? (also recorded at Blackbird Studio) in 2012 and 2015’s T Bone Burnett-produced The Phosphorescent Blues.

Track listing:

1. Church Street Blues (Norman Blake)
2. Cattle in the Cane (Traditional)
3. Streets of London (Ralph McTell)
4. One More Night (Bob Dylan)
5. The Gold Rush (Bill Monroe)
6. Any Old Time (Jimmie Rodgers)
7. Orphan Annie (Norman Blake)
8. House Carpenter (Traditional)/Jerusalem Ridge (Monroe)
9. Last Thing on My Mind (Tom Paxton)
10. Pride of Man (Hamilton Camp)
11. Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Gordon Lightfoot)

Tour dates:

Saturday, January 15
Oakland, CA
Fox Theater *

Monday, January 17
Carmel, CA
Sunset Center *

Tuesday, January 18
Santa Barbara, CA
Campbell Hall @ UCSB ^

Wednesday, January 19
Los Angeles, CA
The Theatre at Ace Hotel

Thursday, January 20
Scottsdale, AZ
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts

Sunday, January 23
Oklahoma City, OK
Tower Theatre ^

Monday, January 24
St. Louis, MO
Powell Hall ^

Tuesday, January 25
St. Paul, MN
Palace Theatre

Thursday, January 27
Chicago, IL
Riviera Theatre

Saturday, January 29
Toronto, ON
Koerner Hall/TELUS Centre

Monday, February 14
Columbus, OH
Southern Theatre *

Tuesday, February 15
Nashville, TN
Ryman Auditorium *

Thursday, February 17
Louisville, KY
Brown Theatre *

Friday, February 18
Atlanta, GA
The Tabernacle *

Saturday, February 19
Chattanooga, TN
Walker Theatre *

Sunday, February 20
Knoxville, TN
Tennessee Theatre *

Wednesday, February 23
Richmond, VA
The National *

Saturday, February 26
Washington, D.C.
Lincoln Theatre *

Sunday, February 27
Washington, D.C.
Lincoln Theatre *

Wednesday, March 2
New York, NY
Beacon Theatre *

Thursday, March 3
Boston, MA
Orpheum *

Friday, March 4
Burlington, VT
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts *

Saturday, March 5
Portland, ME
State Theatre *

Sunday, March 6
Storrs, CT
Jorgensen Center *

* w/ Haley Heynderickx ^ w/ Madison Cunningham

Due to the ongoing situation surrounding Covid-19, and in partnership with the venues and promoters, Punch Brothers will be requiring proof of vaccination or a negative test result to enter all shows on this tour (with the exception of Columbus*). Certain shows will require proof of full vaccination only to attend. Please refer to the venue policy for each individual show for more information on the latest policy as they may change.
*Masks are mandatory for admittance to the Columbus show.