Punch Brothers honor the late Tony Rice with Hell On Church Street, a new album recreating Rice’s iconic Church Street Blues LP. Hell On Church Street arrives via Nonesuch Records on January 14, 2022 just after the quintet embarks on an extensive North American tour.
The band consisting of mandolinist/vocalist Chris Thile, fiddler Gabe Witcher, banjoist Noam Pikelny, guitarist Chris Eldrige and bassist Paul Kowert assembled at Nashville’s Blackbird Studio in November 2020 to record the follow-up to 2018’s All Ashore. Punch Brothers aimed to reimagine Rice’s 1983 solo album to pay tribute to an artist that was a major inspiration to them. While initially intended as a gift to the bluegrass great, Tony Rice sadly died on Christmas 2020 at age 69.
“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,” Punch Brothers stated regarding Hell On Church Street. The “pre-existing songs” featured on both Church Street Blues and the forthcoming remake include Bob Dylan’s “One More Night,” Bill Monroe’s “The Gold Rush” and “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot, among others.
Watch Punch Brothers perform Hell On Church Street track “Church Street Blues” in the studio:
Punch Brothers open the tour at Mount Baker Theatre in Bellingham, Washington on January 11, 2022. Concerts in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois and Ontario follow later in the month. The band then hits Columbus, Nashville, Louisville, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Richmond and Washington D.C. in February. Punch Brothers wrap the tour with March stops in New York City, Boston, Burlington, Portland (Maine) and Storrs (Connecticut). Tickets go on sale this Friday, October 1 at 10 a.m. local time.
Hell On Church Street Tracklist
- Church Street Blues
- Cattle in the Cane
- Streets of London
- One More Night
- The Gold Rush
- Any Old Time
- Orphan Annie
- House Carpenter – Jerusalem Ridge
- Last Thing on My Mind
- Pride of Man
- Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
