{{short description|American banjo player (born 1981)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Noam Pikelny | background = solo_singer | image = NoamPikelny 09 2007.jpg | caption = Noam Pikelny 2017 | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1981|2|27}}<ref name="Bluegrass Unlimited June 2007">''Bluegrass Unlimited'', June 2007.</ref> | origin = Chicago, Illinois | death_date = | genre = Progressive bluegrass<br />Bluegrass | instrument = Banjo | years_active = | label = Compass Records, Rounder Records | current_member_of = Punch Brothers | past_member_of = Leftover Salmon<br />Caitlin Canty | spouse = {{marriage|Caitlin Canty|2018<!--Year of death/end of marriage omitted per Template:Marriage instructions-->}} | website = [http://www.noampikelny.com noampikelny.com] }}
'''Noam David Pikelny''' (/ˈnoʊəm pɪˈkɛlni/, ''NO-əm pih-KEL-nee''; born February 27, 1981<ref>{{Cite web| url= http://www.mtv.com/artists/noam-pikelny/biography/|title = Noam Pikelny |website = MTV.com}}{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>) is an American banjoist. He is a member of the groups Punch Brothers, Mighty Poplar and was previously in Leftover Salmon as well as the John Cowan Band. Pikelny is a nine-time Grammy Award nominee, winning once in 2019 for Best Folk Album as part of Punch Brothers.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.grammy.com/artists/noam-pikelny/6022| website = Grammy.com | title = Noam Pikelny| date =| publisher =| accessdate =}}</ref>
== Early life, family and education== Pikelny was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in nearby Skokie, Illinois. He started playing banjo when he was 8 years old.<ref name= "Rolling">{{Cite magazine |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/see-punch-brothers-noam-pikelny-perform-lively-old-banjo-121787/ |title=See Punch Brothers' Noam Pikelny Perform Lively 'Old Banjo' |last=Leahey |first=Andrew |date=2017-03-01 |magazine= Rolling Stone |access-date=2019-01-30}}</ref> He took lessons at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. In high school, he began studying with Greg Cahill of the Chicago bluegrass band The Special Consensus.
==Career== Pikelny started playing the banjo at the age of 8, inspired by his older brother playing the mandolin and his parents' suggestion. He started in the clawhammer style of banjo playing, but switched to three finger Scruggs-style bluegrass after listening to an album by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-01-23 |title=Take your picker: Student and teacher vying for bluegrass album Grammy |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/01/23/take-your-picker-student-and-teacher-vying-for-bluegrass-album-grammy/ |access-date=2026-03-26 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref>
Pikelny was in the music group Leftover Salmon from 2002 until leaving in 2004 to play in the John Cowan Band from 2004 to 2006, playing on the band's "New Tattoo" record, just before the formation of Punch Brothers in that same year. Chris Thile of Nickel Creek was planning to form a string quintet, but did not know what direction he wanted to take it, except that he wanted it to include fiddler Gabe Witcher.
After Thile had a jam session with Witcher, Pikelny, bassist Greg Garrison and guitarist Chris Eldridge, he decided he wanted the band to be a quintet. The band was called "The How to Grow a Band" in 2006 when they were the backing band on Thile's solo release ''How to Grow a Woman from the Ground'', as well as the following supporting shows.<ref>{{cite web |last= Royko| first= David|title=Pikelny is pros' top banjo picker |url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/2006/09/03/pikelny-is-pros-top-banjo-picker/|publisher= | work= Chicago Tribune| date= 3 September 2006|access-date=27 June 2012}}</ref> After on and off touring throughout 2007 coinciding with Nickel Creek's ''Farewell (For Now) Tour'', the band's name was changed to the "Tensions Mountain Boys" briefly, and subsequently to Punch Brothers (borrowed from a short story by Mark Twain). Punch Brothers released ''Punch'', their first official album as a band, on Nonesuch Records on February 26, 2008.
==Awards== Pikelny was the recipient of the 2010 Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.stevemartin.com/stevemartin/2010/09/noam-pikelny-wins-the-steve-martin-prize-for-excellence-in-banjo-and-bluegrass.html | title= Noam Pikelny Wins the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass| date =September 8, 2010| website = stevemartin.com| publisher = Steve Martin | accessdate =}}</ref> On November 5, 2010, he appeared on ''Late Show with David Letterman'' playing a comedic version of "Dueling Banjos" alongside Martin, and he later performed with Martin and Punch Brothers.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/video/?pid=FbQ12Gdn8Zdev7FB5UJZfSKZd2_Y0QPy&nrd=1 | title= Pikelny and Steve Martin | work = Late Show with David Letterman| date= November 5, 2010|via= CBS.com| accessdate =}}</ref> Pikelny's 2011 album ''Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail'' was nominated for Best Bluegrass Album in the 2013 Grammy Awards.<ref>{{cite web| title=2013 Grammy Nominations: The Full List| author=MTV news staff| work= MTV.com | url= http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1698416/grammy-2013-nominations-list.jhtml| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121207151049/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1698416/grammy-2013-nominations-list.jhtml| url-status= dead| archive-date= December 7, 2012| date=2012-12-06| accessdate= 2012-12-08}}</ref>
In 2014 at the International Bluegrass Music Awards he was named banjo player of the year by the International Bluegrass Music Association; he received it again in 2017.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/country/news/earls-of-leicester-take-top-honor-at-2017-bluegrass-awards-w506173 |title=2017 Bluegrass Awards: Earls of Leicester Named Entertainer of the Year |last=Betts |first=Stephen L. |magazine= Rolling Stone |date=2017-09-29 |access-date=2017-09-30}}</ref> He also received the album of the year award for ''Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe''<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1731516/balsam-range-named-ibmas-entertainer-of-the-year.jhtml | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141006075311/http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1731516/balsam-range-named-ibmas-entertainer-of-the-year.jhtml | url-status= dead | archive-date= October 6, 2014 | title= Balsam Range Named IBMA's Entertainer of the Year |website = CMT.com| publisher= Country Music Television | date=3 October 2014 | accessdate=4 October 2014}}</ref> - the same album that would be nominated for "Best Bluegrass Album" at the Grammy Awards in 2015.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.billboard.com/articles/6363565/grammys-2015-nominations-57th-annual | title=57th Grammy Awards Nominees | publisher= | website = Billboard.com| date=5 December 2014}}</ref>
In 2019 Punch Brothers won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album for their album ''All Ashore''.
In 2025, Pikelny was inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame under the Five-String Performance category.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-02-13 |title=Hall of Fame Celebration |url=https://americanbanjomuseum.com/hall-of-fame-celebration/ |access-date=2025-11-25 |website=American Banjo Museum |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Personal life== In 2018, Pikelny married American singer-songwriter, Caitlin Canty.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://observer.com/2023/06/caitlin-canty-stepped-off-the-wheel-to-make-the-best-music-of-her-career/ | title=Caitlin Canty "Stepped Off The Wheel" to Make the Best Music of Her Career | website=The New York Observer | date=June 19, 2023 | access-date=November 28, 2025}}</ref> The couple relocated from Nashville, Tennessee to Vermont, after the birth of their first child in 2020.<ref name="The Mountains">{{cite web | url=https://themountainsmedia.com/2024/09/stage-caitlin-canty-croons/ | title=Stage: Caitlin Canty Croons | date=September 10, 2024 | access-date=November 28, 2025}}</ref><ref name="Tribune">{{cite web | url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/01/23/take-your-picker-student-and-teacher-vying-for-bluegrass-album-grammy/ | title=Take your picker: Student and teacher vying for bluegrass album Grammy | publisher= | newspaper = Chicago Tribune | date=January 23, 2013 | access-date=January 24, 2013 | last=Dickinson| first = Chrissie}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.caitlincanty.com/quietflame | title=Quiet Flame | access-date=November 28, 2025}}</ref> Their second child was born in 2024.<ref name="The Mountains">{{cite web | url=https://themountainsmedia.com/2024/09/stage-caitlin-canty-croons/ | title=Stage: Caitlin Canty Croons | date=September 10, 2024 | access-date=November 28, 2025}}</ref>
Pikelny is Jewish.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvzGQ9040gA |title=Sylvan Esso & The A's {{!}} The Energy Curfew Music Hour {{!}} Episode 5 |date=2024-10-11 |last=Audible |access-date=2026-03-26 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gruber |first=Ruth Ellen |date=2017-08-17 |title=Jews Plus Bluegrass Equals Toe-Stompin' Jewgrass |url=https://www.hadassahmagazine.org/2017/08/17/jews-plus-bluegrass-equals-toe-stompin-jewgrass/ |access-date=2026-04-12 |website=Hadassah Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> He is also color blind.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shelburne |date=2018-08-09 |title=Punch Brothers’ Noam Pikelny: Getting Inside the Story |url=https://thebluegrasssituation.com/read/punch-brothers-noam-pikelny-getting-inside-the-story/ |access-date=2026-04-08 |website=The Bluegrass Situation |language=en-US|first=Craig}}</ref>
==Discography==
===Solo recordings=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |- ! rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"| Title ! rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Album details ! colspan="4"| Peak chart<br />positions |- style="font-size:smaller;" ! width="45"| US Grass ! width="45"| US Heat |- ! scope="row"| ''In the Maze'' | * Release date: July 20, 2004 * Label: Compass Records | — | — |- ! scope="row"| ''Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail'' | * Release date: October 25, 2011 * Label: Compass Records | 3 | 27 |- ! scope="row"| ''Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe'' | * Release date: October 1, 2013 * Label: Compass Records | 2 | 21 |- ! scope="row"| ''Universal Favorite'' | * Release date: March 3, 2017 * Label: Rounder Records | 2 | – |- | colspan="4" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart |- |}
===Leftover Salmon=== {| class="wikitable" !rowspan="1"| Year !rowspan="1"| Title !rowspan="1"| Label |- |align="center"|2003 |align="left"|''O' Cracker Where Art Thou'' |align="left"|Pitch-a-Tent |- |align="center"|2004 |align="left"|''Leftover Salmon'' |align="left"|Compendia |}
===Punch Brothers=== {| class="wikitable" !rowspan="1"| Year !rowspan="1"| Title !rowspan="1"| Label |- |align="center"|2006 |align="left"|''How to Grow a Woman from the Ground'' |align="left"|Sugar Hill |- |align="center"|2008 |align="left"|''Punch'' |align="left"|Nonesuch |- |align="center"|2010 |align="left"|''Antifogmatic'' |align="left"|Nonesuch |- |align="center"|2012 |align="left"|''Who's Feeling Young Now?'' |align="left"|Nonesuch |- |align="center"|2015 |align="left"|''The Phosphorescent Blues'' |align="left"|Nonesuch |- |align="center"|2018 |align="left"|''All Ashore'' |align="left"|Nonesuch |- |align="center"|2022 |align=left"|''Hell on Church Street'' |align=left|Nonesuch |- |}
===Mighty Poplar=== {| class="wikitable" !rowspan="1"| Year !rowspan="1"| Title !rowspan="1"| Label |- |align="center"|2023 |align="left"|Mighty Poplar |align="left"|Mighty Poplar / Free Dirt Records |}
===Caitlin Canty=== {| class="wikitable" !rowspan="1"| Year !rowspan="1"| Title !rowspan="1"| Label |- |align="center"|2018 |align="left"|Motel Bouquet |align="left"|Caitlin Canty / Tone Tree Music |- |align="center"|2020 |align="left"|Quiet Flame |align="left"|Caitlin Canty / Tone Tree Music |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Twitter}} *{{Facebook|noampikelny|Noam Pikelny}} * [http://www.punchbrothers.com Punch Brothers Official Website] * [https://www.mightypoplar.com Mighty Poplar Official Website] * [http://ukbluegrass.com/?page_id=107 Interview at ukbluegrass.com] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110713073754/http://www.jakeschepps.com/pub/feature-noam-pikelny Banjo Newsletter Interview from 2008] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110713073835/http://www.jakeschepps.com/pub/feature-interview-noam-pikelny Banjo Newsletter Interview from 2004]
{{punchbrothers}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pikelny, Noam}} Category:Living people Category:Jewish American artists Category:Jewish American musicians Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:1981 births Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:American banjoists Category:Country musicians from Illinois Category:Leftover Salmon members Category:Punch Brothers members Category:Grammy Award winners Category:People from Skokie, Illinois Category:21st-century American Jews