“There's a lot of steps between there not being music and there being music. Composition is one part of that, but if no one performs it... It's like if a tree falls in the forest and no one's there to hear it, does it make a sound?”

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.