Mandolinist and former Utah resident Matt Flinner said he grew up with a lot of bluegrass music in his home.
"My dad had a great collection," Flinner said during a call from his home in Nashville, Tenn. "And my older brother played banjo and taught me. The mandolin came a couple of years later."Flinner will return to Utah for two shows. The first will be at Mother Urbans, 625 Main, in Park City. Doors will open at 6 p.m. The second show will be at the Junction Theatre, 2280 Jackson Avenue, in Ogden. Doors for that show will open at 6:30 p.m.
Playing with him will be guitarist Gawain Mathews, bassist Sam Bevan and drummer Kelly Wallis. "There will be a lot of people who know who they are," Flinner said. "They're great musicians."
Although Flinner has been playing music for most of his life, there was a time when he did think of stepping into a more "conventional" career.
"Somewhere in college I tossed around the idea of majoring in communications, teaching and, uh, medicine," Flinner said with a laugh. "But I decided to get my major in music composition, and since I'd been touring in college and since I'd been playing music all along, I stayed with music."
Flinner, who cut his teeth in an Ogden band called the Pee Wee Pickers, said music just made sense. "I just love playing live and playing music."
Back in 1998, Flinner became a bandleader with his album, "The View From Here." His band included Grammy Award-winning bassist Todd Phillips, guitarist David Grier, dobroist Jerry Douglas and fiddlers Stuart Duncan, Darol Anger and Tim O'Brien.
"That was a huge challenge for me," Flinner remembered. "But the people I played with helped me get to a new level. It was intimidating, but I found myself digging a lot deeper to play better."
That seems to be Flinner's main drive. His goals, as he said, are a bit "undefined."
"I'm trying to learn new things and find new influences," he said about his style. "But there's nothing set in stone on where I want to go. I would eventually like to write more music that combines experimental elements with modern jazz. I'd like to take the mandolin to new areas where people haven't heard it before."