Punch Brothers put on an extraordinary performance at Cistern

It started in 2005 when mandolin innovator Chris Thile decided to form a string quintet to play traditional bluegrass, creative covers and newly composed music. Thile and his friend Gabe Witcher, a fiddle player, put together the band that would become the Punch Brothers.

Among the band's purposes was to enable the ever-amiable Thile to give voice to some pretty profound ideas about relationships, religion and the purpose of life in the wake of his divorce.

The result was the four-movement chamber suite called "The Blind Leaving the Blind." It was the showcase in an extraordinary performance at the College of Charleston Cistern Thursday night before a huge crowd that tingled with delight with every clear note played by the young musicians.

Adept at fast-fingered bluegrass and emotion-laden, quasi-classical arrangements, the band had as much fun as its audience, if Thile's enthusiastic comments were any indication. I was struck by how relaxed the musicians were on stage, even when the music demanded careful concentration and collaboration.

"The Blind Leaving the Blind" often opened into improvisation sections that relied on angular harmonies to emphasize the tumultuous emotions which seem to have inspired the composition. Yet the work remained cohesive and interesting throughout.

Thile, of Nickel Creek fame, is pushing the limits of the mandolin. More than anyone else, he is making a relatively limited instrument shine in new ways.

Recently he has been playing duo sets with double bassist Edgar Meyer, who clearly shared Thile's enthusiasm for classical and experimental music.

The combination of impeccable technique and a gutsy, fun-filled presentation obscures the fact that this band only reached its current form last November, according to Witcher.

Providing vocals (solo and harmony) were Witcher, bass player Paul Kowert and guitarist Chris Eldridge. Banjo player Noam Pikelny contributed rock-solid picking that fueled the gig with essential energy.

The show began with bluegrass and a stunning rendition of Tom Brosseau's "How to Grow a Woman from the Ground," a song that gave Thile a 2006 Grammy-nominated album its title.

After "The Blind," the band played a country version of The Band's "Ophelia," two new songs and two well-received encores, including a percussive take on Radiohead.

Punch Brothers represents the new generation of gifted folk musicians to emerge within the progressive bluegrass movement, which began in the late 1960s.

They are bending genres and pouring their hearts into the music.

And Thursday night, they made many people smile.