It's back to bluegrass for Punch Brothers mandolinist Chris Thile and guitarist Michael Daves! Their new duo album, Sleep with One Eye Open, draws on classic numbers from Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, and Earl Scruggs. Songs like “Loneliness and Desperation” and the title track emphasize rollicking, rapid-fire arrangements that serve to mask the most sorrowful of feelings. But, as you might expect, it's not quite traditional music. Says Chris: "Mandolin and guitar and two male voices–it’s such a good sound. What was important for us was to get that brother duet thing but with this Lower East Side punk energy. One of the most enjoyable things about this experience was to underline the slightly delinquent side of bluegrass." Chris and Michael call their new enterprise "an impassioned collaboration/conversation .. in which the subject is bluegrass, specifically how this upstart duo can acknowledge history and tradition while exuberantly defying convention." Exuberant is the right word!