Fleck was drawn to the banjo when he first heard Earl Scruggs play the theme song for the television show Beverly Hillbillies. He received his first banjo at age fifteen, and within a few years began performing with travelling bands.[1],[2]
Before the Flecktones, Fleck played with Newgrass Revival and several other bluegrass bands. After a 1998 phone call with bassist Victor Wooten, Fleck and Wooten formed Béla Fleck & the Flecktones, rounded out with harmonica player Howard Levy and Wooten's percussionist brother Roy "Future Man" Wooten, who plays synthesizer-based percussion.
With the Flecktones, Fleck has been nominated for and won several Grammy awards. Fleck has shared Grammy wins with Asleep at the Wheel, Alison Brown, and Edgar Meyer. He has been nominated in more categories than any other musician, these five categories being country, pop, jazz, bluegrass, and spoken word.
Fleck names Chick Corea, Charlie Parker, and the afore-mentioned Earl Scruggs as influences. He regards Scruggs as "certainly the best" banjo player of the three-finger style. [1]
Solo and with the Flecktones, Fleck has appeared at Telluride Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, and Newport Folk Festival, among others.
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Grammy Awards