Recognition
2018 IBMA Momentum Band Award Nominee
IBMA Momentum Band Award
Recognizing bands in the early stages of their careers for both artistic talent and achievements in the music business.
2018 Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival Emerging Artist
Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival
“One of my favorites from Grey Fox 2018 (only CD I bought at the festival)”
“Love these guys”
2018 FreshGrass Band Awards Winner
FreshGrass Band Awards
Celebrating and rewarding emerging artists who offer a fresh take on the tradition of bluegrass and roots music.
The Band
Man About a Horse plays traditional bluegrass instruments, but not always traditional bluegrass. The Philadelphia-based group infuses their sound with rock and pop references, funk grooves, and blues roots. They won the 2018 FreshGrass Band Award and were also nominated for an IBMA Band Momentum Award in 2018.
Man About a Horse has performed around the United States, and shared bills with Old Crow Medicine Show, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, The Travelin’ McCourys, Danny Barnes, Donna the Buffalo, Wood & Wire, and many others. The band has released two studio recordings: “The EP” (2015) and a self-titled full-length “Man About a Horse” (2017), which debuted at #11 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart, and earned widespread praise, including from Bluegrass Unlimited. The band’s breakout year came in 2018, with tours of Colorado, the Midwest, and the Southeast, in addition to performances around the band’s home base in the mid-Atlantic.
A chance meeting and discovery of a shared love of bluegrass by co-founders Matt Thomas (bass) and Matt “Roy” Royles (guitar and vocals) led to the formation of the band in 2014. In addition to Thomas and Royles, Man About a Horse is: Dan Whitener (banjo), Matthew Hiller (mandolin), and Eric Lee (fiddle). The band is represented by the Agency for the Performing Arts (APA) for live appearances. Contact: Brad Rosen (brosen@apanewyork.com).
- RECOGNITION: FreshGrass Band Award Winner (2018), IBMA Band Momentum Award Nominee (2018), #11 on Billboard Bluegrass Chart (May 2017); Top-selling bluegrass album on Bandcamp.com (May 2017); Formal showcase, Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (2016); Podunk Bluegrass Band Contest (2016); PHL Live Center Stage (2017)
- SUPPORT: Old Crow Medicine Show, Cabinet, Danny Barnes, Hot Buttered Rum, Wood & Wire, Donna the Buffalo, Dead Winter Carpenters
- FESTIVALS: Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival (NY), Philadelphia Folk Festival (PA), Charm City Folk and Bluegrass Festival (MD), Kingman Island Bluegrass Festival (DC), Busy Bird Bluegrass Festival (NY), Spring Pickin’ Bluegrass Festival (PA), Podunk Bluegrass Festival (CT), AFBA Bluegrass Festival (PA), MusikFest (PA), and more
Click for hi-res images.
Praise for Man About a Horse
“Traditionalist chops and a ‘newgrass’ urge to experiment.”
“High energy” is an understatement and Man About A Horse is a self-titled debut album that requires dancing or foot-tapping or some kind of movement. What it is is hard to describe other than to say it’s good music. That ought to be enough.
Breathing new life into a classic art form.
Their high energy and harmony is sure to make you want to dance!
A barnstormer of a full-length debut, an exceptional exemplar of the young grassband genre that rocks with wry, green energy from the very first original track.
Social Links
Press
2019
- From Contest Stage to Recording Studio: Man About a Horse Cuts Song in Nashville — No Depression — March 2019
2018
- IBMA Announces 2019 Leadership Bluegrass Class — Music Row — December 2018
- IBMA Special Awards and Momentum Awards Nominees Announced — The Bluegrass Situation — August 2018
- Old Crow Medicine Show at the Electric Factory — No Depression — August 2018
- Dispatch from Grey Fox — The Brewgrass Chronicle — July 2018
2017
- WXPN Host Picks, Best of 2017 — XPN.org — December 2017
- Impressive Debut Album by Philadelphia’s Man About a Horse — British Bluegrass News — November 2017
- Reader Spotlight: Matt Thomas — No Treble — November 2017
- Album Review: Man About a Horse — Bluegrass Unlimited — October 2017
- Man About a Horse – Top quality bluegrass — Ear to the Ground — July 2017
- New Artists, Old Songs: from bluegrass to indiefolk — Cover Lay Down — July 2017
- Radio Interview — Steve Martin’s Unreal Bluegrass — May 2017
- 3×3: Man About a Horse on dress codes, death marches, and Wooly Mammoths — The Bluegrass Situation — May 2017
- You Can Never Go Home Again video from Man About a Horse — Bluegrass Today — May 2017
- Man About a Horse: “The Sky’s the Limit for This Band” — JUMP Magazine — April 2017
- Man About a Horse Do Bluegrass Cover of Timely Radiohead Song “Electioneering” — Cover Me — March 2017
- Philly’s Best Bluegrass on Tap at Pinelands Brewing — The SandPaper — January 2017
2016
- Bluegrass Today — July 2016
2015
- Charm City Folk and Bluegrass Festival Announces Lineup for 2016 — Baltimore Magazine —November 2015
- ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ serves up tradition, new generations replenish the crowds at Philly Folk Festival — Newsworks.org — August 2015
- Inaugural Philadelphia Country Music Festival: a city honky-tonk — Ticket — August 2015
- Man About a Horse visits Graffiti Pier for new music videos — PhillyVoice.com — August 2015
- Man About a Horse – Breathing new life into a classic art form — Ear to the Ground — May 2015
- Man About a Horse Debuts New EP — Rock On Philly — March 2015
- Listen to the energetic new single from local bluegrass group — The Key at WXPN (Philadelphia) — February 2015
- Ocean County Bluegrass Festival celebrates the Pinelands’ musical legacy — Newsworks.org — February 2015
- Local bluegrass bands showcase Philly’s folk roots — PhillyVoice.com — January 2015