Matt Flinner, mandolin 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 National Banjo Competition in Winfield, KS in 1990, and won the mandolin award there the following year. He moved to Nashville in 1999 and is now widely considered one of the hottest and most creative mandolin players on the acoustic scene. His two solo albums for Compass Records, The View from Here and Latitude, both featured bluegrass stalwarts Todd Phillips, David Grier, Stuart Duncan, Jerry Douglas and Darol Anger, and received high critical acclaim. He has recently garnered national attention as the mandolinist on comedian Steve Martin's new banjo CD, "The Crow." In addition to the Matt Flinner Trio, Flinner actively tours with Darrell Scott, Phillips, Grier and Flinner and Frank Vignola’s Gypsy Grass, as well as with his own Matt Flinner Quartet, which released its Walking on the Moon CD on Compass in 2002.
Matt & Ross playing instruments built by George and Adam
Ross Martin, guitar Ross Martin has established a reputation as one of the most exciting jazz and bluegrass musicians in Colorado, and his reputation is rapidly expanding around the country. After graduating form the jazz program at the University of North Texas, Ross moved to Denver and soon joined the Tony Furtado Band, with whom he toured for four years. More recently, Ross wowed bluegrass audiences during his stint with the Drew Emmitt Band from 2003-5. He also continues to tour the country actively with Mollie O’Brien, The Theory of Everything (with Michael Kang and Kyle Hollingsworth of the String Cheese Incident) and jazz trumpeter Ron Miles. Ross’ first CD, Volley, was released in 2002 and features 10 original compositions which span the wide range of Ross’ musical scope: from jazz to Americana to bluegrass and back. His second solo CD, which was produced by Matt Flinner and features Darol Anger and trumpeter Ron Miles, among others, will be released in the summer of 2009. Ross currently lives in New York City.
