About the Band
Mandolin State is a genre-bending musical collective from Northeast Louisiana, playing music ranging from progressive bluegrass to folk-rock. The band was founded by Matt Morgan and Jeff Hicks in 2023 following nearly two decades of musical collaborations. In addition to Morgan and Hicks, Mandolin State features a rotating group of fine musicians including guitarist Murray Biedenharn, fiddler Mike Purcell, and drummer Michael Holdiness. The collective performs with a variety of combinations of these and other musicians.
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Mandolin State, Folk-Rock
Mandolin State is a folk-rock band from Monroe, LA, but one of its guiding principles is not to take the genre label too seriously. The group has an eclectic song list ranging from 70s folk-rock to John Prine songs to driving bluegrass tunes.
While the band formed in 2024, the band members have a long history. Hicks and Morgan began playing music together in 2005 with Northeast Louisiana bluegrass band NOMOJO. Morgan and Holdiness were founding members of Monroe rock trios Walter Gary Randall and The Brick Street Trio. Morgan and Purcell have had numerous music collaborations over the years.
Mandolin State Lineup:
Morgan (electric octave mandolin and vocals)
Hicks (bass and vocals)
Holdiness (drums)
Purcell (fiddle and vocals)
Mandolin State, Bluegrass
Although Mandolin State Bluegrass was formed in 2023, the band has a long history in Northeast Louisiana. Hicks and Biedenharn, along with banjoist Ken Breard and mandolinist Denis Brown, founded the band NOMOJO in Monroe, LA over twenty years ago. The band, known to many locals as the "Enoch's Bluegrass Band," performed every Thursday at the legendary Enoch's Irish Pub in Monroe beginning in the early 2000s and spanning nearly two decades. Morgan would join the band in 2005.
NOMOJO would disband in 2022 following the untimely passing of banjoist and band leader Ken Breard. Morgan, Hicks, and Biedenharn reunited for a concert in 2023, which has since blossomed into a recurring bluegrass jam at the Flying Tiger Brewery every Thursday in Monroe. Joined by Purcell on fiddle, the band is billed as Mandolin State Bluegrass.
Mandolin State Bluegrass Lineup:
Morgan (mandolin and lead vocals)
Hicks (bass and vocals)
Biedenharn (guitar)
Purcell (fiddle and vocals)