Chris Thile -- mandolin player and singer for progressive folk trio Nickel Creek -- was a fan of Star Wars even before he saw the film itself.

"When I was four or five (circa 1985 or '86), my grandparents gave me a Return of the Jedi cassette tape that came with a read-along book," Thile recalls. "I was completely enthralled. The lightsaber sound effects, C-3PO's voice, Luke putting the finishing touches on Vader, Vader putting the finishing touches on Palpatine -- my imagination kicked into a gear so high, it must've worried my poor parents sick. The downside of this, of course, is that when my parents finally let me start watching the trilogy on VHS, I knew the Cliff Notes of the conclusion by heart."

Once Thile was able to watch the original trilogy in a marathon viewing, his lifelong appreciation for a galaxy far, far away began.

"I was hooked from the very start of A New Hope," Thile confesses. "New Year's Eve, 1991, my parents broke down and let my little brother, John, and me watch the Star Wars trilogy for the first time. We watched A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back that night, then Return of the Jedi a couple nights later, so that we could relate to the agony of the rest of the world when, ten years before, they had been forced to go about their business with Han frozen in carbonite and the Rebellion on the verge of defeat. I've always had a vivid imagination, and have enjoyed developing and testing it. The pretend games I played as a kid were very involved -- lots of characters, complicated plots, extended histories -- just loaded with detail. I think that even as a ten year old, I realized that Star Wars was the fantasy of a master."

Around the same time Thile fell in love with a galaxy full of droids, Jedi and Sith, he also became enthralled with the world of folk and bluegrass music. While growing up in San Diego in the late '80s, preteen Thile was taking classes to learn to play various instruments like the mandolin and banjo. It was at these classes he met his future Nickel Creek bandmates -- brother and sister Sean Watkins (guitarist) and Sara Watkins (fiddler). The trio, along with Thile's dad Scott playing on bass, began to play live at numerous festivals in the '90s and recorded two albums: Leading Off... (1994) and Stealing Second (1997).

Their broad influences (everything from traditional bluegrass to indie rock) affected their unique sound, which not only earned them a faithful fan base, but also impressed the likes of crossover folk queen Alison Krauss. She helped the young band sign to the Sugar Hill label and produced their self-titled debut album in 2000, which ended up earning a Grammy nomination for the Best Contemporary Folk Album.

After Thile's dad retired from the band in 2002, the trio released This Side, showing off more of their varied influences including a cover of Pavement's "Spit on a Stranger. Taking musical risks seemed to pay off as This Side won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 2003. For their 2005 release, Why Should the Fire Die?, the band worked with producers Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age) and Tony Berg (Squeeze/X/Aimee Mann) to create an introspective record that pushes the boundaries of contemporary bluegrass and folk even further."

When Thile wasn't busy recording new songs in the studio, or touring the world with his bandmates, during the '90s, he says he could easily be spotted returning to his childhood world of heroic Jedi thanks to the card games, comics and books he collected.

"I was an avid participant in the Star Wars customizable card game that Decipher created in the mid-'90s," Thile says. "I collected and played off and on until a couple years ago. I still have all my cards -- if I knew anybody who wanted to play, I'd be ready! I gave the comics a try, but I got frustrated with the amount of what I felt were unforgivable liberties being taken plot-wise. I also read a ton of the post-Return of the Jedi books, but I started feeling exhausted for Luke, Leia, and Han. I mean, how many times can three people be expected to save a galaxy?"

Of course, what Thile was looking forward to the most was seeing the epic tale of Darth Vader unfold in Revenge of the Sith (due out on DVD Nov. 1).

"In saw it in a gigantic digital theater in Los Angeles," Thile says. "Overall, I thought it was the best of the prequels. I was very moved by Obi-Wan's obstinate refusal to give up on Anakin as he inched closer and closer to the dark side. Also, I have to admit being close to tears when Owen and Beru agreed to add Luke to their young relationship."

"I was actually quite surprised that Obi-Wan flat out got the best of Anakin one on one -- awesome," Thile adds. "I had always kind of figured that he would get some outside help, but he was just a more resourceful, and possibly equally talented Jedi. And I absolutely loved seeing the pronounced disparity in ship-building between the warm elegance of the Old Republic and the cold practicality of the baby Empire."

Anakin's quest to save his wife Padmé from the clutches of death, while also balancing his internal conflict between right and wrong, resonated with Thile as he watched the film.

"Though feelings of familial responsibility may have more than ostensibly played a role in the dark side's seduction of Anakin, lust for power and acknowledgment certainly was the star of the show," Thile says. "It seems to me like that gray space is full of the things we pretty much know are wrong, but want to keep entertaining as justifiable options."

As a die-hard fan, Thile says he was pleased to see many of his never-ending questions about the saga finally addressed.

"It was nice to learn once and for all: how Darth Vader came to require such an elaborate suit; how the Organa family got involved in Leia's upbringing; why Yoda exiled himself to Dagobah; in what manner the Jedi were exterminated," Thile says. "There are others, but my computer has limited battery life."

As a musician, Thile also paid close attention to the soundtrack created by one of the most beloved composers in cinematic history -- John Williams.

"Williams is always solid," Thile says. "That being said, I didn't fall in love with any of the new themes like I did with Anakin's theme from The Phantom Menace and the love theme from The Attack of the Clones."

When asked if he could rescore the film with his own favorite bands, Thile had his own list of influences that would be up to the Sith challenge.

"If I was putting together a non-classical soundtrack (always risky!), instrumentals from some enigmatic artists such as Radiohead, Wilco, Sigur Ros, Vasen, Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, and The Tin Hat Trio would seem to be in order," Thile says.

Even though Thile found himself caught up in the tragic drama in Revenge of the Sith, he still confesses that the original trilogy will be dearer to his heart.

"My little brother is 14 and seems to be enjoying the new movies as much as the old, so I'm sure that to a certain extent, many of us are just waxing nostalgic," Thile says. "Still, it doesn't seem to me like the prequels are capturing young hearts, souls, and minds the way the originals did when I was younger. The Empire Strikes Back will always be my favorite for some many reasons: the density of the plot; the drastic visual contrasts (Hoth versus Cloud City, for instance); the introduction of Yoda; Jedi training; the first great lightsaber duel; the dramatic polarization of the characters; etc."

A certain princess might also have something to do with Thile's preference for the original trilogy over the prequels. Even with a Grammy under his belt and legions of fans who attend their sold-out tour dates, Thile says there was one memorable incident with Princess Leia that truly topped his list of musical accomplishments.

"We were at a bar in San Diego, when low and behold, Carrie Fisher appears accompanied by two of her friends," Thile remembers. "It turned out that she had been invited by a buddy of mine, to whom I let slip, trying to express the depth of my Star Wars fanaticism, that I could play 'Princess Leia's Theme' on the mandolin, which I happened to have with me. Now, it should be noted from the start that I had no intention whatsoever of playing for Ms. Fisher. I did, however, fail to resist the temptation to refute the accusation, leveled by my buddy, that I was full of it."

"Having heard my humble rendition (out of earshot of our fair Princess, I assure you), my buddy began pleading with me to go and play it for her," Thile continues. "His petitions fell on deaf ears, as I was determined not to make a jerk of myself in front of someone who is not only a hero, but also my first celebrity crush. But he was not to be dissuaded. He walked right up to Ms. Fisher, and to my horror, started preparing her to be serenaded, going so far as to introduce me through means of gesticulation. I had to right the wrong being done so I ran over (mandolin still in hand) to apologize for our overzealous mutual friend, and to assure her that she would not be subjected to any musical surprises that night."

"What happened next is still blurry, but she said something like, 'I wanna hear what you were going to play for me' and though I protested mightily, somehow, I found myself kneeling down in front of her playing 'Princess Leia's Theme,'" Thile fondly recalls. "She had a kind of distant look on her face at first, but after 15 seconds, a smile (of reminiscence, I think) was added. At one point, one of her friends leaned over and asked her what I was playing, to which she responded 'It's my theme!' I finished and launched into another round of apologetic prostration, but she silenced me by thanking me and -- oh, how I'll cherish this memory for the rest of my life -- feeding me a piece of bread. 'Nobody's ever done that for me before,' she said. Ms. Fisher, should you ever read this, I can now die happy."

Nickel Creek is currently on a national headlining tour promoting their new album, Why Should the Fire Die? Read more about Thile and his bandmates on the official Nickel Creek site here.

Stay tuned to starwars.com for more Star Wars appreciation interviews from some of your favorite bands and celebrities.