How to Grow a Band (2012)
-
56% of critics liked it
(9 reviews) -
88% of users liked it
(113 ratings)
In How to Grow a Band, 26-year-old Chris Thile is at a crossroads. His marriage has ended, and his platinum-selling band, Nickel Creek, has gone on "indefinite hiatus." But Thile, a perfectionist prodigy who's defied expectations since he learned the mandolin at age five, has a plan.… More In How to Grow a Band, 26-year-old Chris Thile is at a crossroads. His marriage has ended, and his platinum-selling band, Nickel Creek, has gone on "indefinite hiatus." But Thile, a perfectionist prodigy who's defied expectations since he learned the mandolin at age five, has a plan. Step 1: Write a 45-minute, four-movement elegy to your failed marriage to be played by a bluegrass quintet. Step 2: Recruit the only musicians around talented enough to play it and crazy enough to sign on. Step 3: Make a record, launch an international tour and brace yourself. Filmed with uncommon access, How to Grow a Band provides a rare look at the start of one of America's most promising young bands and explores the tensions that test young artists: individual talents and group identity, craft and commerce, innocence and wisdom. -- (C) Official Site
- Directed By
- Mark Meatto
- Genres
- Musical & Performing Arts, Documentary
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Apr 13, 2012 Limited
- Studio
- International Film Circuit
Critic Reviews
-
Nicolas Rapold, New York Times
Mr. Meatto's framing tends to catch the musicians' give-and-take, merging and dueling notes onstage, especially at a Manhattan concert that is the film's highlight.
-
Joe Leydon, Variety
How to Grow a Band is most fascinating as it tactfully charts the sort of artistic and philosophical differences that can eventually undermine any group endeavor, even among seemingly like-minded collaborators.
-
Benjamin Mercer, Village Voice
A fly-on-the-wall case study in the demands of making music for a living.
-
Joan Radell, Paste Magazine
Mark Meatto's How To Grow A Band is masterful filmmaking that takes the audience where they need to go.
-
Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com
[H]as a promising story to follow [but] disappointing, either as an introduction to progressive bluegrass or for longtime Thile fans.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
No Featured Audience Ratings Found…
Currently unavailable on Flixster
Also available on
Other Retailers
Not Available
Subscription Services
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
Cast
-
Chris Thile
as Chris Thile
-
Gabe Witcher
as Gabe Witcher
-
Chris Eldridge
as Chris Eldridge
-
Noam Pikelny
as Noam Pikelny
-
Greg Garrison
as Greg Garrison
-
Paul Kowert
as Paul Kowert
-
John Paul Jones
as John Paul Jones
-
Yo-Yo Ma
as Yo-Yo Ma
-
Edgar Meyer
as Edgar Meyer
-
Jerry Douglas
as Jerry Douglas
-
Sara Watkins
as Sara Watkins
-
Gabriel Witcher
as Gabriel Witcher
