Mike Compton and Matt Flinner Perform at Fiddle & Pick

Mike Compton & Matt Flinner at Fiddle & Pick, Pegram, TN, 1/28/12

I’ve been an admirer of Mike Compton’s playing for a long time, so it was a thrill to get to play a duo show with him at Fiddle & Pick in Nashville, Tennessee the other night. If you’re familiar with Mike’s music, you know he’s one of the great bluegrass players today (or any day). He’s a great interpreter of Bill Monroe’s style, but he also goes deeper into the roots: down into old-time Appalachian music and Mississippi blues to get to much of the grit of what bluegrass grew out of. We figured out an hour or so’s worth of tunes we could play together—I’ll have to go back and listen to a recording of it (which I think someone made at the show), but I think some pretty primal stuff happened that was really unique and wonderful. And it was a blast!

Thanks to all who came to the show as well as the mandolin workshops that Mike and I gave earlier in the day at Fiddle & Pick. It was a full day of mandolin nerdiness that Mike and I both enjoyed very much, and we hope all of you who attended got a good bit of nerdiness out of it as well. We’re hoping the Mega Mini Mandolin Camp with Mike and Matt will happen again—stay tuned!