Matthew Warren Flinner is an American mandolinist, music transcriber, and ensemble leader.
11 Facts About Matt Flinner
1.
2.
When his father hosted a bluegrass show on KRCL-FM in Salt Lake City, Matt Flinner assisted in music selection.
3.
At age 12, Matt Flinner joined the Peewee Pickers, who play bluegrass festivals and watched heroes perform, including the Osborne Brothers, Ralph Stanley, The Country Gentlemen, JD Crowe, and Doyle Lawson.
4.
Matt Flinner won the Walnut Valley National Championship in Winfield, Kansas for bluegrass banjo in 1990 and the following year for mandolin.
5.
Matt Flinner earned a Bachelor of Music degree in composition from University of Utah, studying with Morris Rosenzweig and performing with the Utah Symphony.
6.
Matt Flinner joined banjoist Tony Furtado's band Sugarbeat in the early 90s.
7.
Matt Flinner moved to Nashville in 1999, and in 2002 he joined the Modern Mandolin Quartet, a chamber group that uses two mandolins, a mandola, and a mandocello to perform classical and contemporary compositions.
8.
Todd Phillips, David Grier, and Matt Flinner perform, record, and tour as a trio.
9.
Flinner plays lead mandolin in his electric rock-influenced band The Matt Flinner Quartet, influenced by Miles Davis and John Scofield.
10.
Matt Flinner was a featured soloist with Trey Anastasio during the Nashville Chamber Orchestra's performance of Don Hart's "Concertino for Strings, Two Mandolins and Guitar" with guitarist Roger Hudson and mandolinist Carlo Aonzo.
11.
Matt Flinner was featured on Steve Martin's album The Crow, which won the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album.