Chris Thile and Michael Daves: Newport Folk Festival 2011

Chris Thile enjoyed massive success at a very early age, selling millions with the prodigiously gifted bluegrass band Nickel Creek. But he's remained remarkably level-headed and creatively ambitious in the five years since the group's demise, exploring his more progressive leanings in Punch Brothers and teaming up with Michael Daves for a more traditional collection paying tribute to past bluegrass greats like Bill Monroe and fellow Newport artist Earl Scruggs. Sleep With One Eye Open, their album together, may look to the past, but make no mistake: This is blazingly intense music, and it shows live when they take the stage at the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.