Defying the Odds

In 25 short years (he'll turn 26 the night before he plays St. Louis), mandolinist extraordinaire Chris Thile has guested on albums by such country royalty as Dolly Parton, the Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban; released a pair of discs as a duo with fellow mandolinist Mike Marshall; and recorded no fewer than five solo albums (his first issued at the tender age of thirteen), on top of serving as one-third of Grammy-winning act Nickel Creek for more than ten years. Feel lazy yet?

In an early-afternoon phone call from Nashville (Thile had recorded through the night with bassist Edgar Meyer for yet another album in his "week off" between tour legs), the much-accomplished stringman explains what propels him.

B-Sides: You play several covers on [new album] How to Grow a Woman from the Ground, but still there are angels and devils and the Holy Ghost running through the lyric sheet. At one point you even "pray against" someone. Are you a man of religious faith?

Chris Thile: Religion is a constant concern of mine, as I was raised with it. But as far as where I stand, I'm on the fence about the whole thing. It's definitely something that I take very seriously, and I'm always wondering about, you know, whether it's real or not, or good or bad. How I should be interfacing with it is of, you know, chief concern to me. I guess where I am right now is I'm not sure you can ever really know. And that drives me crazy, because I really kind of like things to hang out in black and white.

"How to Grow a Woman From the Ground" is the name of a song and your latest album, and you're touring as Chris Thile and the How To Grow a Band. How did you find that song, and what does it mean to you?

That's a song my buddy Tom Brousseau wrote, and I just like the honest side of idealism and naivete that that song represents, albeit in a very dark and disturbing way. You know, I think that on the bright side of that song there's this willingness to try anything to achieve one's goals, and you know this poor fellow can't figure out how to talk to girls, so he thinks maybe that he can make one. He thinks that if he's actually this poor woman's creator, he'll have better luck.

How strong is the identification?

Not terribly strong. Certainly I stand in awe of the fair sex and have from time to time had a great deal of difficulty engaging them in conversation, but I actually, you know, have a girlfriend and I'm quite happy in that respect right now, and so the identification more comes on just the whole. I am a card-carrying naive idealist — and that's really what I identify so strongly with. — Rob Trucks

8 p.m. Wednesday, February 21. Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Boulevard. $15 to $25. 314-533-9900.