How to Grow a Woman from the Ground is a
2006 album by
Chris Thile &
the How to Grow a Band, credited to Chris
Thile. It was released on September 12, 2006. The album is named
after a song on the album; a
cover of
the original by folk singer
Tom
Brosseau.
The album debuted to positive reviews from major music critics,
with critics calling the album “fantastic, eclectic”, and “genius”.
The album earned Thile a
Grammy
Award-nomination in 2006.
Conception and production
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 famous as a member of 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”. That
night, they came to an agreement and formed a bluegrass band.
The quintet decided to make this project serious and record an
album. The album was recorded over the course of two days in 2006
at Sear Sound Recording Studios in New York. The album was not
recorded digitally, but rather on tape. In an interview with the
United States magazine
Guitar
Player, Chris Thile explained the old fashioned style in
which the album was recorded:
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”, with one
critic calling the majority of the album very “roots oriented”. 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.” Much of Thile's work on the album was influenced by
his divorce, and Thile claims that he could relate to the title of
the album, a
Tom Brosseau song. Thile
said that he "got my ass kicked by the last relationship I was in.
This girl just left. It created a pretty serious complex for me.
I’ve always been able to talk to girls, but I’m scared of them. I
just could relate to it. Like, man if I could just grow one, that
would take care of a lot of problems."
Critical reception
How to Grow a Woman from the Ground received positive
reviews from country and bluegrass music critics.
Allmusic called it "fantastic", and
JamBase described it to be "a tasteful string dinner" and
stated that "this is only the beginning of great things to come".
However, some critics found particular tracks to pale in comparison
to the rest of the material. The
Arizona Republic stated that the album was
"amazing", except for "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" because
"Thile [couldn't] quite match Jack White's musical hysteria".
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".
Bullz-Eye criticized Thile's vocal quality, saying that
"his voice often lacks the strength and/or character to carry the
song". 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
Personnel
- 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
| Chart |
Provider(s) |
Peak
position |
| Top Heatseekers (U.S.) |
Billboard |
28 |
| Billboard Top Country Albums (U.S.) |
46 |
| Billboard Top Internet Albums (U.S.) |
289 |
| Billboard Top Independent Albums
(U.S.) |
27 |
| Billboard Top Bluegrass Albums
(U.S.) |
2 |
|
Notes
- Lankford, Ronnie, Jr. Chris Thile : How to Grow a Woman from the Ground
Review. Allmusic. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
- Heisler, Brian. Chris Thile: How to Grow a Woman.... JamBase.
September 19, 2006. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
- Royko, David. "Chris Thile". Bluegrass Unlimited. June
2007. Retrieved December 21, 2007
- Thile, Chris. How to Grow a Woman from the Ground
Liner Notes. Sugar Hill. September 2006. Retrieved
December 29, 2007.
- Metzger, John. "Chris Thile - How to Grow a Woman from the Ground
(Album Review)". Music Box. September 2006. Retrieved
December 29, 2007.
- Chris Thile at McGlohon Theatre at Spirit Square.
Maxx Music. Retrieved November 2, 2007
- After Nickel Creek, Thile Continues to Grow.
Cornell Daily Sun. Retrieved November
2, 2007
- Lankford, Ronnie, Jr. Chris Thile : How to Grow a Woman from the Ground
Review. Allmusic. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
- Heisler, Brian. Chris Thile: How to Grow a Woman.... JamBase.
September 19, 2006. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
- Senft, Michael. "New CD Reviews". Arizona
Republic. October 22, 2006. Retrieved December 29,
2007.
- Metzger, John. "Chris Thile - How to Grow a Woman from the Ground
(Album Review)". Music Box. September 2006. Retrieved
December 29, 2007.
- Giles, Jeff. "Chris Thile : How to Grow a Woman from the
Ground". Bullz-Eye. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
- Heisler, Brian. Chris Thile: How to Grow a Woman.... JamBase.
September 19, 2006. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
- "How to Grow a Woman from the Ground - Billboard
Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
- "How to Grow a Woman from the Ground - Billboard
Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
- "How to Grow a Woman from the Ground - Billboard
Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
- "How to Grow a Woman from the Ground - Billboard
Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
- "Top Bluegrass Albums - How to Grow a Woman from
the Ground". Billboard. Retrieved December 29,
2007.
References
- How to Grow a Woman from the Ground liner notes
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