Bela Fleck was born in New York City on July 10, 1958. He caught the banjo bug from the Beverly Hillbillies theme, and his first banjo came at age 15. He had been playing folk guitar before his grandfather bought him a banjo, but the progress he made on the banjo was so rapid even his guitar teacher was amazed. In Bela's words, "suddenly I got into banjo and he was shocked at how fast I took to that".
He went to the New York City High School of Music and Art at the age of fifteen, where he began on the French Horn but was quickly relegated to the choir (the banjo not being an acceptable instrument). He played in the band "Wicker's Creek" in the evenings.After high school, he enrolled in the Julliard Extension School. This didn't work out, and he moved to Boston to play in the band Tasty Licks, fronted by Jack Tottle. He was 19.
In this learning time, he only took lessons from three people - Erik Darling, Marc Horowitz, and Tony Trischka. He cites Sting and Chick Corea as influences.
Bela's first recorded appearance was on Jack Tottle's Tasty Licks album. After Tasty Licks broke up, he spent a year busking on the streets of Boston with Mark Schatz, before forming Spectrum which included Jimmy Gaudreau and Mark Schatz. Spectrum toured until 1980, at which point Bela was hired by Sam Bush to play in his rebuilt Newgrass Revival.
With Bela, Pat Flynn, Sam Bush and John Cowan, Newgrass Revival took bluegrass music to new limits, exciting audiences and critics alike. Through the course of five albums, they charted new territory with their blend of bluegrass, rock and country musics. After nine years of intense touring and recording, they agreed to split up.
While Newgrass Revival were active, Bela and Sam played in a band called Strength In Numbers. It formed out of the group of friends that always seemed to play on each other's records: Jerry Douglas, Mark O'Connor, Edgar Meyer, Sam Bush and Bela. After playing annual gigs at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, they decided to record an album. Their album, The Telluride Sessions on the MCA label, has become a new acoustic classic.
Bela had already met Victor and Roy ("Futureman") Wooten, and it only needed Howard Levy's phenomenal musical skills to be added to mix for a new band to form. Bela Fleck And The Flecktones played their first gig on Bela's Lonesome Pine Special show, were signed by Warner Brothers, and the rest is history.Their first (eponymous) release was Grammy nominated, and their second followed suit. Four albums later, they're still releasing albums and touring, having garnered a strong and faithful following among jazz and new acoustic fans. They have opened for Bonnie Raitt and the Grateful Dead, among others, and have made many appearances on The Tonight Show.
Wernick, Peter and Trischka, Tony: Masters of the Five String Banjo. Oak Publications. ISBN 0 8256 0298 X.Torkington, Nathan: Interview, 21 April 1996.