How to Grow a Woman From the Ground

Chris Thile | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 12, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sugarhill
• ASIN: B000GY73HS
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,005 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

What goes around, comes around. As the resident rock star in Nickel Creek (contrasting with the trio's more reserved Watkins siblings), mandolinist Chris Thile has sent his music soaring in surprising directions from its bluegrass base. Though this solo release finds him dipping into the songbooks of the White Stripes ("Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground") and the Strokes ("Heart in a Cage"), much of the music sticks closer to tradition than Thile has in recent years. Among the highlights are an uptempo romp through Gillian Welch's "Wayside (Back in Time)," a pretty fair yodel on Jimmie Rodgers's "Brakeman's Blues," the close harmonies of the bluesy "If the Sea Was Whiskey," and Thile's original "You're an Angel and I'm Gonna Cry," classic country weeper. Five of the fourteen cuts are instrumental, with the opening "Watch 'at Breakdown" combining bluegrass instrumentation and jazzy sophistication, and "The Beekeeper" giving Thile's fingers a chance to fly. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bluegrass, new grass, it's all good grass..., September 12, 2006

By 

1969mets "Joe" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Grow a Woman From the Ground (Audio CD)

Think of all the bluegrass child prodigies that have crossed genres to create amazing music--Marty Stuart, Mark O'Connor, Ricky Skaggs, Alison Krauss. Now consider Chris Thile, who is on the verge of blowing them all away. This record is, perhaps, the finest "rock" album played on bluegrass instruments ever made. It's all here: impeccable musicianship, smart arrangements, bluegrass, jazz, a White Stripes tune, bla, bla, bla. This kid is growing fast, he has outgrown the grass, he has outgrown the wonderful Nickel Creek, there's no telling where he's gonna take this thing (Ornette Coleman?? Nicaraguan mountain music??) but I'd suggest you hop on right here and stay along for the ride.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I really wanted to give it fewer stars, October 25, 2007

By 

Nathan Allan (Provo, UT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Grow a Woman From the Ground (Audio CD)

Even with the offensive F-bomb, and a couple songs that are ever so slightly boring... even at the risk of giving a bigger head to a "lost himself in stardom" young star; I simply cannot give this album anything less than 5 stars. I've been listening to quite a few greats like Grisman and Marshall and though they certainly deserve heaps of props, I sincerely believe that Chris is simply the best mandolin player ever. Not only that, he has uncanny prowess for composition and improvisation, the likes of which are virtually unequalled.

Listening to his music, one can tell that Chris grew bored of traditional music boundaries fairly early in his career. His yearning to keep himself interested, combined with the usual follies of youth are clearly manifest in his most recent albums. It is difficult to participate as somebody fumbles around trying to find themselves; and Chris has had no qualms about sharing this tumultuous emotional journey with his listeners. The lyrics of "How to Grow a Woman..." are perhaps more innocuous than those of Deceiver, but still portray a tormented Thile. It is for this reason that I prefer his instrumental tracks. Lyrics aside, however, I must also confess to liking his well architected vocal harmonies.

If you are a top 40s music listener, you may not fully appreciate this music. It is rich and layered, and requires some conditioning; similar to what is necessary to appreciate Jazz or Classical. On the other hand, if you already like Bluegrass, Newgrass, Dawg, Folk, or acoustic music, you will probably like, no, let's say love this album.

If you don't have any Chris Thile albums, I would recommend starting with Not All Who Wander Are Lost. If you like more traditional stuff, head toward his younger albums, which are absolutely amazing coming from a musician at any age.

In the end, the world needs more music of this quality, so how could I possibly discount stars? Chris, kudos; now find yourself and keep the good stuff flowing!

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Mix of Quality and Mediocrity, September 13, 2007

By 

Aaron Rutledge - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How to Grow a Woman From the Ground (Audio CD)

To be blunt, I haven't particularly cared for Thile's recent, not-quite-successful synthesis of jazz, bluegrass, folk and alt/indie rock. I was excited to hear that Chris was trying to get back to his roots with this album, but am slightly disappointed with the net results. The reintroduction of the banjo, fiddle and upright bass, as well as the integration of more traditional tempos and melodies establishes that unmistakable bluegrass sound. However, this album lacks the grace and charm of Chris' work previous to the release of "Deciever". In my opinion, the drop in quality since "All Who Wander Are Not Lost" (NAWWAL) is due solely to Chris' new-found penchant for edgy, supposed-to-be deep lyricism. While the musicianship on this album is as good as it gets, and the song-craft is solid, I find that I find myself quickly annoyed with the psuedo-intellectual, self-involved tendencies embodied by the poetry. For whatever reason Chris has become enamored with the trendy "l'esprit" of the alt/indie rock scene, perhaps because it embodies all of the things he wanted to be, but never was, while growing up (i.e. cool, urban, hip, sarcastic, cutting edge, ansgty, controversial, ironic, etc). Personally, I think Chris' genius is confined to instrumentalism and song-craft. I enjoyed his forrays into jazz and classical musicianship on NAWWAL and believe that this is where he shines (by the way, The Beekeeper is my favorite song on this album). Vocally he has evolved a brash and confrontational style which comes off as grating to my sensabilities, and as a lyricist he has consistently disappointed me with an immaturity of content (though, apparently he has not disappointed others). To be fair, this work is five steps in the right direction since the release of "Deciever". While I am not overly impressed with this effort, I do recognize that many other people (including Chris) seem find it suitable enough. Like I said, its not really my cup of tea, but it will be interesting to see what Chris has in store for the future.