Pat Flynn
Pat Flynn is a well known name, in one way or another, to music fans all over the world. You may recognize him as a member of a groundbreaking musical group, New Grass Revival, or a first-call Nashville recording session player, or a producer, songwriter, and artist. One thing is for sure: in the last couple of years, Pat has found a way to combine all of these talents and showcase them for you on his latest CD releases.
As guitarist/singer/songwriter for New Grass Revival, Flynn, along with Sam Bush, John Cowan and Béla Fleck, influenced many of today's best-known artists while building New Grass Revival's own loyal audience to near cult status. Attesting to the group's continuing popularity and influence, Capitol-EMI Records has released a very special two-CD New Grass Revival 20 year retrospective, entitled ‘Grass Roots.’ This historic collection features previously unreleased live, TV and studio tracks.
During his tenure with NGR, Frets magazine’s National Readers Poll voted Pat as “Best Acoustic Guitarist” for five consecutive years. For winning five years in a row, Flynn was inducted into the Frets "Gallery of Greats" alongside Chet Atkins, Doc Watson and Tony Rice.
Flynn has also been a session guitarist on more than 400 CD projects, including 32 Gold and Platinum records, as well as CMA and Grammy award winning projects with a wide array of top artists. Flynn wrote and performed on Garth Brooks' hit single “Do What You Gotta Do,” which has recently been reissued in the new Garth Brooks box set.
More recently, Pat has been involved in some very special musical events. The Greencards invited Pat, who had contributed to their debut recordings, to accompany them as they opened a national tour for Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. Legendary singer songwriter Tom T Hall chose Pat as his musical director for his turn as Artist-in-Residence at the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Pat also teamed up with Raul Malo, Rob Ickes and Dave Pomeroy to record the acclaimed 'Nashville Sessions' CD, an award winning Americana Project, and later joined Minton Sparks to contribute a duet to the 'Songs of America' CD, an all star artist tribute to Americana Music, under the direction of former Attorney General Janet Reno, that received much national attention.
Later, Pat joined Michael Martin Murphey in the studio to direct Murphey's first foray into modern bluegrass. The CD, "Buckaroo Bluegrass," featured Murphey and bandleader Flynn in new musical territory. Their efforts were rewarded with a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album. Subsequently, Pat hit the road with Murphey to play shows, co-write and co-produce Murphey's return to the ranks of singer / songwriter, ending up in the much heralded CD, Red River Drifter.
Following Murphey's Southwest Adventure, Pat joined rock icon Leon Russell on the road for a year as Leon's lead electric guitar player.
Meanwhile, Pat began releasing his own solo projects, starting with his first CD, 'reQuest.' He followed with the second in the trilogy, 'reVision.' Both were greeted with enthusiastic reviews and world-wide attention. Appearing with Pat on these projects are Béla Fleck, John Cowan, Rob Ickes, Stuart Duncan, Jim Hoke, Buddy Greene, The Isaacs and others.
In recent years, festival seasons have found Pat performing at many of the country's most prestigious festival stages: MerleFest Americana Music Celebration, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Rocky Grass, Walnut Valley Festival (Winfield), Rocky Mountain Folk Festival, Strawberry Music Festival, as well as a slot at the International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass event. Flynn’s signature line-up of “Pat Flynn & Friends” featured some of his best friends and musicians he most admires: John Cowan, Tim O'Brien, Darrell Scott, Stuart Duncan, Tim May, Buddy Greene, Michael Card and Danny Wheetman.
In 2019, Pat produced a number one bluegrass album, 'Tennessee Moon,' for Ray Cardwell. The album featured six charting airplay singles.
2020 has been a banner year for Pat, as he releases the final album in his musical trilogy, reNew. At the same time, Flynn and his New Grass Revival partners were inducted by Country Superstar Garth Brooks into the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Hall of Fame.
