Though the terms “virtuoso” and “prodigy” are most often applied to classical musicians, mandolinist Chris Thile, fiddler Sara Watkins, and guitarist Sean Watkins easily fit the bill when they formed the band Nickel Creek in the late 1980s, before any of them were yet in their teens. The trio earned widespread attention with their third album, Nickel Creek, which was produced by Alison Krauss, herself considered a virtuoso of the fiddle. Both the disc and its first track, the instrumental “Ode to a Butterfly,” written by Thile, were nominated for Grammys, and Nickel Creek’s next album, 2002’s This Side, won for Best Contemporary Folk Album. In late 2006, the trio announced that a tour lasting through the end of 2007—including a stop at Ravinia on August 10 of that year—would be their last for an indefinite amount of time as they followed new musical paths; Chris Thile with his then-new group, Punch Brothers, and Sara Watkins on a solo career, and now in the trio I’m With Her. Though the trio reunited for an album in 2014, Thile and Watkins are making their first return to Ravinia’s stage together on August 14 for the Thile-led “American Acoustic” tour featuring Punch Brothers and I’m With Her.