Chris Eldridge, known as Critter, is the guitarist in Punch Brothers and a co-founder of the Infamous Stringdusters. He is the son of Seldom Scene banjo player Ben Eldridge and studied guitar with Tony Rice at Oberlin. He has played in Punch Brothers since 2006 and won a Grammy with the band in 2019 for All Ashore.
Why Eldridge matters
Eldridge took the Tony Rice rhythm sound into a band that plays like a string quartet. Punch Brothers write long, shifting pieces, and Eldridge’s guitar holds them together without a drummer. He also plays straight bluegrass with the Seldom Scene and Mighty Poplar. For a jammer, he is a clear example of a guitarist who treats rhythm as a lead instrument.
Life and career
Eldridge was born on June 27, 1982, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. His father, Ben Eldridge, was a founding member of the Seldom Scene, and Chris went to hundreds of the band’s shows as a child. He started on electric guitar and turned to acoustic music in his mid-teens.
He studied at Oberlin Conservatory, where Tony Rice taught him, and earned a degree in music performance in 2004. After college he joined the Seldom Scene, the band his father helped start. In 2005 he co-founded the Infamous Stringdusters. Their first album, Fork in the Road, won IBMA Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Emerging Artist of the Year in 2007.
Chris Thile formed Punch Brothers in 2006 with Gabe Witcher, Noam Pikelny, Greg Garrison, and Bryan Sutton on guitar. Eldridge took the guitar chair, and the band released Punch on Nonesuch in 2008. Five more studio albums followed on Nonesuch through 2022. All Ashore (2018) won the Grammy for Best Folk Album in 2019.
Eldridge also plays in a guitar duo with jazz guitarist Julian Lage. Their album Mount Royal (Free Dirt, 2017) earned a Grammy nomination. He served as house guitarist on the radio show Live From Here from 2016 to 2020, appeared in the film Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), and co-founded Mighty Poplar in 2023. Oberlin named him a visiting associate professor in 2021.
Playing style
Eldridge’s rhythm playing is the first thing to listen for. He has said that learning Rice’s notes was the first step. The real study was what Rice did with those notes: the timing, the way the rhythm sat in a band, and the way the guitar was presented. That is the part Eldridge copied.
In Punch Brothers his parts change texture from section to section. The band builds its music from instrumental ideas first, and Eldridge’s guitar parts develop and move forward rather than repeat. With Julian Lage he treats two guitars as one large instrument, with each player covering a different part of the sound. He has played a 1939 Martin D-28 with a wide neck. He uses medium-gauge strings and says he wants strings that let the guitar’s own sound come through. His online lessons focus on noticing and releasing tension in the hands.
Influences and legacy
Eldridge’s first influence was the Seldom Scene: his father’s banjo, John Duffey’s mandolin and tenor voice, and Mike Auldridge’s Dobro. Tony Rice is the second and larger one. Eldridge has said Rice’s integrity and musicianship shaped his values as a player.
He has played beside Chris Thile, Noam Pikelny, Gabe Witcher, and Julian Lage, and has worked with Paul Simon, Renée Fleming, and Marcus Mumford. He teaches online through ArtistWorks and at Oberlin.
Signature tunes and songs
Wildwood Flower Whiskey Before Breakfast Church Street Blues Cattle in the Cane Julep.
Essential recordings
Fork in the Road, with the Infamous Stringdusters (2007) Punch, with Punch Brothers (Nonesuch, 2008) The Phosphorescent Blues, with Punch Brothers (Nonesuch, 2015) Mount Royal, with Julian Lage (Free Dirt, 2017) All Ashore, with Punch Brothers (Nonesuch, 2018)
Awards and honors
IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year, with the Infamous Stringdusters (2007) IBMA Song of the Year, with the Infamous Stringdusters, Fork in the Road (2007) IBMA Album of the Year, with the Infamous Stringdusters, Fork in the Road (2007) Grammy nomination, Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, with Julian Lage, Mount Royal (2018) Grammy Award, Best Folk Album, with Punch Brothers, All Ashore (2019) Americana Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year (2019)
Watch and listen
Eldridge plays Wildwood Flower alone for Fretboard Journal. Watch how much sound he gets from a simple tune.
Eldridge plays Tony Rice’s Church Street Blues. Listen for the bass runs and the crosspicked fills between vocal lines.
What to learn from Eldridge
Learn Wildwood Flower the way he plays it above. It is a beginner tune, and that is the point. Eldridge makes it sound full with tone and timing, not extra notes. The technique to steal is his habit of noticing tension. Record yourself playing rhythm on a slow song. Then loosen your grip on the pick, drop your shoulder, and play it again. Compare the two takes. A tense hand fights the guitar and a loose one lets it ring.
Sources
Chris Eldridge, Wikipedia About, Chris Eldridge The Infamous Stringdusters, IBMA award recipients Bluegrass Guitarist Chris Eldridge Named Visiting Faculty at Oberlin, Oberlin College and Conservatory Punch Brothers’ Chris Eldridge: Influences and Integrity, The Bluegrass Situation Interview: Chris Eldridge and Julian Lage, Fretboard Journal Chris Eldridge, D’Addario Punch Brothers, Wikipedia Mount Royal (album), Wikipedia Chris Eldridge, Kennedy Center
Related players
See the guitar players hub and the guitar guide for more flatpickers. Eldridge studied with Tony Rice and followed Bryan Sutton into Punch Brothers. Grant Gordy and Jordan Tice work the same ground between bluegrass and jazz. He plays with fiddler Gabe Witcher.