BETHLEHEM, Pa. — An acoustic supergroup will be in the area for a rare performance Sunday.
Phillips, Grier & Flinner combines the talents of double bassist Todd Phillips, acoustic guitarist David Grier and mandolinist and banjo player Matt Flinner.
It will perform at 2 p.m., with doors at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28, at Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, 130 E. Swamp Road, Doylestown, Bucks County.
Bluegrass band Level Best will open the show, which is part of the BlueGrass at TileWorks series this weekend. Tickets, at $40, remain available at the venue's website.
“The last time we toured was seven years ago. So it's a rare chance, I suppose, to get to see us play together.”Phillips, Grier & Flinner mandolinist and banjo player Matt Flinner
Phillips, Grier and Flinner all have received multiple honors for their playing.
Phillips has won two Grammy Awards from four nominations.
Flinner has won top honors for both mandolin and banjo at Winfield, one of the most prestigious competitions for American traditional music.
And Grier has been declared Guitarist of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association no less than three times.
But as a trio, they’ve recorded only two albums in the past 35 years, working mostly on their own projects, Flinner said in a recent interview.
“The last time we toured was seven years ago," he said. "So it's a rare chance, I suppose, to get to see us play together.”
'Next day was another tune'
Flinner recalled that the self-titled debut album, an instrumental recording, was done in just over a week in the home of Todd Phillips, who also is an accomplished recording engineer and producer.
Flinner said they’d take on just one original instrumental each day, working out an arrangement together in the afternoon.
"Then we'd go grill some salmon or something, and then come back and eat, then record at night," he said. "And by midnight…we'd be done. And then the next day was another tune.”
The recording "Phillips, Grier & Flinner" remains a classic among fans of acoustic instrumental music, and all three players all have reputations for getting exemplary tone from their instruments — considered "musician’s musicians."
For example, Flinner said of Grier that, “He cares about the sound. He’s not out there to be a flashy player. He is capable of that, but he's much more concerned, I think, about creating good music.”
The group followed up with a second album, "Looking Back," in 2002, on which the trio covered songs from bluegrass masters such as Bill Monroe.
But it was the last time they recorded as a trio.
Flinner said the audience at Moravian Pottery and Tile Works can expect a combination of old and new instrumentals, as well as traditional and original songs.
And given their history, it may be years before listeners have another chance to catch the trio that set the standard for tasteful playing for many of their long-time fans.
