The mandolin holds a gaudy place in the bluegrass lineup, to be sure, and Chris Thile certainly made the best of the spotlight with Nickel Creek, the Grammy-winning phenomenon out of Carlsbad, California that began—like so many string bands—as a family affair, musically uniting the Thile and the Watkins clans way back in 1989. Eventually the combo caught the attention of Allison Kraus, who produced Nickel Creek’s major label debut in 2000. Thile’s father retired from the band shortly thereafter, leaving Chris and the Watkins siblings, Sara and Sean, at the core. Grammies and gold records and world tours followed, until last summer, tuckered out, the band announced a hiatus. Thus we have Chris Thile on tour fronting his new five-piece, the How to Grow a Band, with whom he recorded How to Grow a Woman from the Ground. At turns fiery and nuanced, Thile’s playing is molded by and perfect for the “newgrass” style in which both his former and current bands are fluent. Thile is a player to be reckoned with already, and in two weeks he turns 26. See him now, so you can say “I remember when…” With Sometymes Why.

Friday, February 9 at 8pm. UB Center for the Arts Mainstage Theatre, UB North Campus (645-ARTS, ubcfa.org). $21, $15 students.