Within just a year of their formation, the bluegrass quintet Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile are already playing to sold-out crowds across the U.S. and embarking on their second recording project.

Comprised of the young and blazingly talented musicians Chris Thile (mandolin), Gabe Witcher (fiddle), Chris Eldridge (guitar), Noam Pikelny (banjo), and Greg Garrison (bass), the band has captured the attention of music lovers of all kinds, from bluegrass to classical. CAPA will welcome Punch Brothers to the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St.) on Friday, March 7 at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $22.50 at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Office (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets and www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available by calling 614-431-3600 or 614-469-0939.

You can also enter to win a pair of tickets at www.columbuscityscene.org.

Punch Brothers’ first album, How to Grow a Woman from the Ground, was released in September 2006 to great critical acclaim. The song The Eleventh Reel received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Instrumental Performance.

In March 2007, Punch Brothers premiered a long-form, four-movement chamber suite composed by Thile titled The Blind Leaving the Blind at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall. The piece will be released on Nonesuch Records.

Widely regarded as one of the most interesting and inventive musicians of his generation, 26-year-old phenomenon Chris Thile has changed the mandolin forever, elevating it from its origins as a relatively simple folk and bluegrass instrument to the sophistication and brilliance of the finest jazz improvisation and classical performance.

For more than 15 years, Thile played in the wildly popular band Nickel Creek, with whom he released three albums, sold 2 million records, was awarded a 2002 Grammy, and traveled the world on sold-out concert tours. As a soloist, Thile has released four albums, on which he conquered a dizzying range of instruments, songwriting challenges and musical styles.