“Bill Monroe is not singing about life in America. He's singing about life in Kentucky and Tennessee. And yet it's had this tremendous impact, not just in America but in the world. Why is Bill Monroe's hyper-regional music so universal? We can be so different and yet still share a tremendous amount.”

American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and radio personality

Christopher Scott Thile is an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and radio personality. He is best known for his work with the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive bluegrass quintet Punch Brothers. Thile has been active across bluegrass, folk, and related acoustic styles, and his career also includes composing and broadcasting. From 2016 until the show's cancellation in 2020, he hosted the radio variety show Live from Here. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2012.