David Benedict - Mandolin

Inside the Banjoverse

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David Benedict is Grammy-nominated mandolinist who is quickly becoming one of the leading figures and content creators in the mandolin world today. After graduating with a mandolin music performance degree and spending a 3-year stint in Nashville touring and recording with acclaimed bass player Missy Raines, David moved to Boston to join the bluegrass band Mile Twelve. The group quickly gained traction, receiving the 2017 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Band Momentum Award which launched the band into extensive tours around the US, Canada, England, France, Belgium, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and beyond. Mile Twelve went on to record 3 studio albums as well as win the 2020 IBMA New Artist of the Year Award before David stepped down from the band to pursue other projects.

Now, David is active as ever in the mandolin community through his solo efforts. His most recent record produced by Grammy-Nominated mandolinist Matt Flinner, The Golden Angle presents an original body of instrumental string band music. This new album, recorded four years after David’s last solo release Into the True Country, displays a new level of musical maturity and individuality. With an emphasis on virtuosic instrumental interplay and memorable melodies, the record weaves a complex yet compelling soundscape, featuring collaborations with a host of celebrated and award-winning bluegrass musicians such as David Grier (guitar), Mike Barnett (fiddle), Missy Raines (bass), Ross Martin (guitar), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), and Wes Corbett (banjo). David’s compositions, arrangements and playing style on The Golden Angle demonstrate his ability to integrate seamlessly with the high-caliber company he keeps and confirms his place among notable emerging acoustic musicians.

Following the success of this record, David received the 2018 IBMA Momentum Award for Instrumentalist of the Year, and in 2019 he was nominated for a Grammy as part of Missy Raines album Royal Traveler.

But beyond these accolades, David might be even be more well known for his YouTube channel which features the popular, long-running weekly series Mandolin Mondays featured on the Mandolin Cafe, as well as David’s prolific in depth mandolin lessons. The channel is currently pushing 2 million views and growing. David’s online instruction and transcription work is held in high esteem through his Patreon page as well. Now David lives in Travelers Rest, SC, where he teaches full-time and performs regularly with his wife Tabitha in their new Transatlantic Folk project The Foreign Landers.

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