Noam Pikelny

Born on February 27, 1981, in Chicago, Illinois, five-string banjo virtuoso Noam Pikelny has described his early years with a light touch as divided between the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field and the Old Town School of Folk Music. While still attending high school he performed with conventional bluegrass groups, then studied music at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana before relocating to Boulder, Colorado. He joined the local band Leftover Salmon in 2002 and stayed through 2004; during that period Compass Records issued his debut solo album, In the Maze. Pikelny moved to Nashville in 2006, where he began working with New Grass Revival bassist and singer John Cowan and, that same year, joined mandolinist Chris Thile in the progressive chamber bluegrass ensemble Punch Brothers. His second solo album, Beat the Devil & Carry a Rail, appeared on Compass Records in 2011 and earned a Best Bluegrass Album nomination at the 2013 Grammy Awards. A second nomination followed in 2015 for the chart-topping 2013 release Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe. In 2017 he issued his fourth LP and first unaccompanied solo recording, Universal Favorite.