Punch Brothers have announced a series of UK and Ireland tour dates in July, in support of their critically acclaimed debut album Punch which was released through Nonesuch in February. The band - composer-singer-mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile’s new venture - includes Chris Eldridge (guitar), Greg Garrison (bass), Noam Pikelny (banjo), and Gabe Witcher (fiddle).

This tour follows sold out concerts in Glasgow and London in January this year, and this latest UK leg comprises seven dates, beginning in Dublin on July 11 and ending in Manchester on July 18. Also included is a London date at the Arts Theatre on July 14, and an appearance at Latitude Festival on July 19.

The line-up of Punch Brothers is formidable. Chris Thile released the first of five solo albums when he was just thirteen and, by the time he was 20, he was attracting a following among pop, country, and alternative-rock audiences as a member of the Grammy Award–winning Nickel Creek. NPR’s Bob Boilen recently said “I’ve seen many musicians in my day, but my jaw dropped listening to and watching Thile play... The command he had of his instrument, from frenetically fast strumming to tasty quiet fills, it was just first-rate.” His band-mates are also among the most in-demand performers in the worlds of bluegrass, folk, and traditional music.

Punch is centred around Thile’s four-movement composition, ‘The Blind Leaving the Blind’, which they will be performing on tour. “I had this idea of a long-form composition that was grounded in folk music,” Thile explained, “Though much of it reads like a string quintet, there are parts that read like a jazz lead sheet. There is plenty of improvising and lots of stuff that is loosely dictated.” Mojo said of the album, ‘Punch’s speedy elegance and emotional depths counterbalance sheer instrumental craft and dazzle’, with the Sunday Express describing the first movement of ‘The Blind Leading The Blind as ‘the most startling 12 minutes of music I have heard this year.’

'Can anyone, anywhere, play anything any better than Chris Thile plays the mandolin? (Clue: they can't.)' The Word

Punch Brothers

Fri Jul 11
Sugar Club, Dublin
Tickets 25.50€. + 353 (0)818 719300 & www.ticketmaster.ie

Sat Jul 12
Trinity Centre, Bristol
Tickets £16. 0844 847 1588 & www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Sun Jul 13
Glee Club, Birmingham
Tickets £16. 0844 847 1588 & www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Mon Jul 14
Arts Theatre, London
Tickets £16. 0844 847 1588 & www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Wed Jul 16
The Sage, Gateshead
Tickets £16/£13.50/£7. 0191 443 4661 www.thesagegateshead.org

Thu Jul 17
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Tickets £16. 0844 847 1588 & www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Fri Jul 18
Academy 2, Manchester
Tickets £16. 0844 847 1588 & www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Sat Jul 19
Latitude Festival, Southwold
Tickets £55/£130. 0871 231 0821/www.latitudefestival.co.uk

All tickets subject to booking fee.