Spot on. Nickel Creek got me into Mandolin I guess back in 2003 or 4. Before then, bluegrass was for my guitar. But listening to Thile made me REALLY want to dig into the mandolin. Then, you hear some stuff from, say, Punch Bros. and the melodic lines are…well…let’s just say they’re often not traditional…at all.
Someone mentioned Bela Fleck - I’ve seen some stuff with Fleck/Thile, and while impressive, just doesn’t do anything for me musically. Like, compare the Fleck/Thile stuff to Fleck with the Super Pickers from way back (Fleck, Bush, Rice) and the picking is GREAT, but also has melodic lines that are easy to follow and love AND are technically inspiring.
Also reminds me of Dave Mathews and Tim Reynolds - technical wonders, but the music sucked.
I think some of these guys are so good they just get bored. That’s when you see all the jazz inspired stuff and obscure note relationships start coming into the mix.
What’s the old saying… One bad note is just a bad note; two bad notes is jazz.