Bloglander

As comfortable tackling traditional bluegrass or classical tunes as they are an expansive Radiohead cover, acoustic quintet the Punch Brothers are simply one of the most entertaining live bands working today.

The instrumental prowess of mandolinist Chris Thile, guitarist Chris Eldridge, bassist Paul Kowert, banjoist Noam Pikelny and violinist Gabe Witcher is hard to match, regardless of genre, and it allows the band to head into virtually any musical direction they desire.

It's a trip always worth taking with the band, and you can do that when the headline The Bing Crosby Theater on Wednesday, Aug. 15. Tickets for the show go on sale Friday at 10 am, and cost either $33.50 or $59.50. Tickets are available via the Knitting Factory homepage or TicketsWest.com. Madison Cunningham opens the show.

The band's latest album was 2015's The Phosphorescent Blues, and it's a brilliant collection full of humor and ace musicianship, as one would expect. More recently, Thile took over hosting Live From Here (formerly A Prairie Home Companion), Pikelny released a solo album, Witcher did producing work and Kowart toured with the Dave Rawlings Machine.

Here's a taste of The Punch Brothers: