Folk singer & multi-instrumentalist
Matt Quinn is a singer and instrumentalist and has spent almost 20 years performing from small folk clubs to Glastonbury & WOMAD.
Primarily a mandolin and duet concertina player, he is well known for his skills on the melodeon and as a singer and is in demand on the English folk scene.
In the past, Matt has travelled abroad, performing and teaching melodeon in the Netherlands and Iceland, as well as flexing his acting muscles alongside his musical skills in the Mick Ryan folk opera A Day’s Work alongside Pete Morton, Greg Russell, Paul Downes and others.
Matt currently performs solo, in a mandolin/guitar duo with George Sansome (Granny’s Attic), and with the unaccompanied harmony trio Culverake with fellow singers Lizzy Hardingham and Seb Stone.
In demand on the folk dance scene too, Matt plays for ceilidhs with Geckoes, as well as playing for contras with Stomping Ground.
In addition to his performing career, Matt runs a podcast called In The Roud – A Folk Song Podcast. Going through the Roud Index, one song per episode, Matt (with the help of folklorists, folk historians and folk singers) delves into the rich history of these folk songs as well as their current life on the folk scene.
When solo, Matt sings and plays melodeon, concertina and mandolin and performs traditional folk songs, with a few surprises thrown in for good measure.
“Matt Quinn combines a deep knowledge and understanding of traditional music with a technical mastery of a fantastic instrument, the duet concertina” – Jon Boden
"Matt Quinn is the leading light for the next generation of quintessentially English melodeon players" - Simon Care
