Punch Brothers — a genre-bending, “new acoustic” group formed in 2006 — finally got a sister.
The band, founded by mega-talented mandolinist Chris Thile, hired rising-star fiddler Brittany Haas two years ago. The group will open its latest tour in Virginia Beach with a 7:30 p.m. Tuesday concert at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts.
Haas will stand out as the lone female on stage, even as she wears pant suits to blend in.
“I wanted to be one of them, so I thought I should dress like them,” she said recently.
The band is famous for retooling bluegrass as a surprising blend with classical and other musical styles.
Early on, “they put so much work into developing this new sound, and just working up tons of new material,” Haas said, speaking from her home in Nashville, Tennessee. The new sound was tradition with a twist, played with eye-popping virtuosity.
“Will the layman hear classical influence? Probably not,” said Rob Cross, artistic director of the Virginia Arts Festival, which is presenting Punch Brothers. The combination of styles is subtle, he said. Mash-up aside, “it’s one of the best bluegrass-folk acoustic groups you’re ever going to hear.”
Haas, 38, said that blending styles “happens indirectly,” by absorbing a wide range of music.
She began fiddling professionally at age 14, when her mentor, renowned fiddler Darol Anger, inserted her into his band. He met her at string camps she attended to hone her craft, and “put me on the path that I’m on.”
That road led her to join or cofound other acoustic bands that refresh traditional music, notably “chamber-grass” band Crooked Still and instrumental quartet Hawktail.
Her reputation got a kickstart when she was 17 and Anger produced her debut album. She played old-time tunes on a recording that “instantly became a touchstone for a generation of young fiddlers,” reported Passim, a music website.
Haas joined the Brothers just in time for their latest project: Starring in a podcast called “The Energy Curfew Music Hour,” produced by the streaming service Audible and featuring musical guests.
The band huddles in New York City to create new music for every show, each staged in a Greenwich Village theater. They now have enough fresh material for a new album, which they’ll work on soon. The group will play new music and fan favorites on the tour.
Haas has enjoyed touring with an actual sibling this spring. She and her sister, cellist Natalie Haas, played together in Colorado in March and will travel to Scotland in late May. They perform original songs blending Natalie’s favored Celtic and Brittany’s beloved American folk.
“There’s a friendship we have from being siblings and the musical history we shared,” Haas said. “It feels like full circle.”
Meanwhile, Haas is still working at being a Brother.
“That is an evolution,” she said. “We are all intense people with very high expectations for ourselves. But it’s music and it’s supposed to be fun. That’s the emotion you’re trying to convey to the audience: joy.”
Her mentor, Anger, has said she naturally does that: "Britt opens the window, gets out of the way, and the music floods through in a tide of joy.”
“You can let little things go,” Haas said, “in service of joy.”
Visit vafest.org for tickets and information.
