My name is Matt Frick. In town everyone calls me “Frick”. I’m a multi-instrumentalist one man band looking for safe gigs to play in St. Pete/ Clearwater/ Tampa areas. I’ve played with many great bands which have opened up for many big acts such as George Clinton, Santana side stage, Los Lobos, Tony Trishka, Widespread panic to name a few.
I hit the scene in Tampa in 2017. I met Josh and Jenny Higgins at Love’s artifacts and was inspired to start doing my own solo gigs. At first I tried to sit in as many shows as I could to get a feel for what gigs would be like. My background has always been as a percussionist. Playing conga, marimba, auxiliary percussion and breaking out the banjo when needed. I’ve played guitar my whole life but was reborn after learning how to play the blues. Josh Higgins was just the person for me to realize that’s my calling. Soon I would meet Brad Smith a local drum legend, and Cory Mon who would take me to the next level sitting in with duos/ trios/ 4 piece gigs. Often just meeting the musicians for the first time on stage. Was a real thrill for me to break loose from my percussion background and just play electric guitar ( a sweet PRS I must say). So soon I had the courage to book my first 4 hour gig at Love’s Artifacts. The feeling was so powerful for me I set a goal to take it to the next level. It was time to add my percussion background to my guitar and banjo with the help of a serious looper pedal called the RC-505. Next thing you know I’m playing at The American Legion, Mary’s, Brass Tap, Nazca Bar, World of Beer, Maloney’s, Brown Boxer, Crabby’s, Salty’s, Bonefish to name a few. As of 4/4 I am a full time musician!
My solo gigs I bring my acoustic, electric guitars and my custom electric banjo. With the help of my looper I Bbox most of my percussion, you can’t usually tell it’s vocal percussion however. I play Jimi Hendrix, Sam Cooke, Beatles, Petty, Wilco, Dylan, Zeppelin, Gorillaz and much more. Currently have a book of 350 songs I can play. I’m able to change up my style depending on the venue. In a split second I can adapt to a blues, rock, folk or even outlaw country if needed. I consider myself a blues guitarist. Right now my buddy Eric Riddles has been sitting in on nearly all my solo gigs during the weekend to get experience. He moved here from North Carolina to play music with me. We’ve been playing for over 20 years together. We’ve started a fantastic duo we are calling “Eric and Matt”.