Just the word bluegrass is enough to turn most teenagers off from giving a song a chance. A bluegrass quintet concert? It is not very likely many high schoolers would pay for tickets. But there is a band out there with, in my opinion, unchallenged brilliance, and this group has gone largely unnoticed amongst younger generations.

I’m talking about Punch Brothers. This band formed around 2006 when a mandolinist, fiddle player, banjoist, guitarist and upright bass player got together to discuss heartbreak over steak and wine. As cliche country band as this may seem, the result was something incredible. The New York band got together to play everything.

If you like music, this band has a song you will fall in love with. If you’re an indie rock fan, check out their cover of The Strokes’s “Reptilia”. The group also covers Radiohead’s “2+2=5” to appeal to alternative music admirers. Traditional country and bluegrass music listeners will love “Rye Whiskey”. From the comical sound of “Patchwork Girlfriend” to the somberness of “This is the Song”, there is something for everybody. Look past the instrumentation and just listen to the music.

The band played at St. Louis’s Sheldon Concert Hall Jan. 25, and most of the people in attendance were well past their twenties, with most being between thirty and forty years old. The venue was small and the tickets were relatively cheap, about $30 a piece to where even in the furthest seats away you could see the whites of the performers eyes. It was hands down the best live performance I’ve ever seen, and I had high expectations. Chris Thile, the band’s lead singer and mandolinist, was the only performing musician to be given the 2012 MacArthur Genius Grant, a reward for people who show the most creativity and promise in their fields. Recipients are nominated anonymously and are given the award “not for past accomplishment, but rather an investment in a person’s originality, insight, and potential,” according to the MacArthur Fellows Program website. The concert in St. Louis was proof that Thile definitely deserves the title of genius.

So next time you look for new music to add to your library, remember the Punch Brothers. Listen for the blending of genres, listen for the passion the band plays with, and listen for what may be the most rare thing in the music world today: a stamp of genius.