Scrapomatic is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

trio, consisting of Paul Olsen, Mike Mattison and Dave Yoke. Mattison and Olsen formed the band as a duo in the mid-1990s, and often opened for

The Derek Trucks Band The Derek Trucks Band was an American blues rock group founded by young slide guitar prodigy Derek Trucks, who began playing guitar and touring with some of the blues and rock music's elite when he was just nine years old. After experimenting a ...

, which Mattison served as

lead vocalist The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

from 2002 until their breakup in 2010. Yoke began playing with Scrapomatic in 2007 and joined the band prior to the release of their fourth record, ''I'm a Stranger and I Love the Night''.

Biography

Scrapomatic was founded as a duo in Minneapolis-Saint Paul,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, by Paul Olsen and Mike Mattison, who were raised and schooled there. Both musicians were taught separately but came to embrace an Americana-flavored roots-based approach to music. Both had formal musical training and found common ground in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and funk rhythms. They gained recognition when the duo were

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In th ...

d for Best R&B Group and Best Male Vocalist by the

Minnesota Music Awards The Minnesota Music Academyhttp://minnesotamusicacademy.org/ https://web.archive.org/web/20031004090950/http://www.minnesotamusicacademy.org/about.cfm Minnesota Music Academy is a non-profit music institution in Minnesota. The Academy gives out t ...

. After a move to

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, they have performed throughout

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and played

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

. Olsen is now primarily active as an

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

-winning

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

, producer and

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. Mattison is involved in several projects that have sprung from his association with

Derek Trucks Derek Trucks (born June 8, 1979) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and founder of The Derek Trucks Band. He became an official member of The Allman Brothers Band in 1999. In 2010, he formed the Tedeschi Trucks Band with his wife, blues si ...

, including his bands.

Career

2003 was the year that the two men released their first self-titled album, ''Scrapomatic'', receiving good reviews. Scrapomatic often are the opening act for

and

Susan Tedeschi Susan Tedeschi (; born November 9, 1970) is an American singer and guitarist. A multiple Grammy Award nominee, she is a member of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, a conglomeration of her band, her husband Derek Trucks' band, and other musicians. Ea ...

Discography

* 2002 - ''Scrapomatic'' (Artists House) * 2006 - ''Alligator Love Cry'' (

Alligator Records Alligator Records is an American, Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Iglauer was also one of the founders of the '' Living Blues'' magazine in Chicago in 1970. History Iglauer started the label using ...

) * 2008 - ''Sidewalk Caesars'' (Landslide Records) * 2012 - ''I'm a Stranger and I Love The Night'' (Landslide Records)

References

External links

Official website of Scrapomatic

Official MySpace profile of Scrapomatic

Scrapomatic On Mountain Stage NPR radio May 14, 2009
*
Scrapomatic on Jam Base
{{Authority control American blues singers American musical duos