Matt Flinner Trio

One of the hottest mandolin players on the bluegrass scene returns with his Trio and new album -- Multi-instrumentalist Matt Flinner has made a career out of playing acoustic music in new ways. Starting out as a banjo prodigy who was playing bluegrass festivals before he entered his teens, Flinner later took up the mandolin, won the banjo contest at Winfield Kansas in 1990, and took the mandolin award there the following year. Flinner’s decision to focus on eight-stringed instruments, especially the mandolin, was primarily a function of opportunity. He explains, "I was getting more work on the mandolin."

Sugarbeat, an eclectic quartet that also featured banjoist Tony Furtado, lead vocalist and guitarist Ben Demerath and bassist Sally Truitt, gave Flinner the opportunity to master the mandolin in a contemporary folk and bluegrass context. He is now widely considered one of the hottest and most creative mandolin players on the acoustic scene. Bluegrass Now writes, “Flinner provides the next logical evolutionary step to David Grisman's unique dawg style, and does it with a nod to the past and a vision of the future.”

The Matt Flinner Trio is made up of Flinner, Ross Martin and Eric Thorin, and they’ve recently released their album, Music du Jour, filled with 12 inspired “new acoustic” tunes. With the backdrop of the Rockies to inspire them, the three threw down a challenge to one another to write a new tune each day while on tour and perform it that evening. The players each rose rapidly to meet the challenge, and the tunes composed over the course of three Western tours show the depth and inspiration of these performers. With Music du Jour, the Matt Flinner Trio sets a new standard for the bluegrass trio configuration.

myspace.com/mattflinner

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