Frank Solivan is a mandolin player, fiddler, singer, and bandleader who grew up near Modesto, California. He spent six years playing in the U.S. Navy’s country and bluegrass band, Country Current, then formed Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen. That band won IBMA Instrumental Group of the Year in 2014 and 2016 and earned two Grammy nominations for Best Bluegrass Album. He has also toured with the Earls of Leicester. His fiddle and violin background has its own page.
Why Solivan matters
Dirty Kitchen is one of the bands that pushed progressive bluegrass forward in the 2010s while keeping traditional fans on board. Solivan’s mandolin is fast, clean, and adventurous, and his band’s arrangements give every player room to stretch. He also built his main mandolin himself, under the guidance of luthier Roger Siminoff. For pickers, he shows how a band can be both tight and exploratory.
Life and career
Solivan grew up near Modesto, California, in a musical family. His grandmother played mandolin and fiddle, his father plays banjo, guitar, bass, and mandolin, and his mother’s side included classical violin and cello players. In the late 1980s he formed his first band, Generation Gap, which once opened for Ralph Stanley.
In 1995, at 18, he moved to Alaska on a scholarship to the University of Alaska Anchorage, where he was first chair violin in the orchestra and played mandolin in Ginger Boatwright’s band. He recorded his first solo album, I Am a Rambler, in Nashville in 2002 with David Grier, Rob Ickes, and Shad Cobb.
In 2003 he joined Country Current, the U.S. Navy’s country and bluegrass band, playing electric guitar in the country group and mandolin and fiddle in the bluegrass group for six years. After the Navy he formed Dirty Kitchen with banjo player Mike Munford, guitarist Chris Luquette, and bassist Jeremy Middleton. The band released a self-titled album in 2010, then signed with Compass for On the Edge (2013), Cold Spell (2014), and If You Can’t Stand the Heat (2019). His 2016 album Family, Friends and Heroes featured Sam Bush, Del McCoury, Jerry Douglas, and his own family.
Playing style
Solivan plays with speed, clarity, and an adventurous ear. His breaks mix bluegrass drive with long single-note lines that wander through unexpected chords.
He is also a strong singer and a generous bandleader. Dirty Kitchen’s sound is built on tight instrumental interplay, with the mandolin trading lines with Munford’s banjo and Luquette’s guitar.
Influences and legacy
Solivan grew up in a family band and on California bluegrass. He has played beside David Grier, Rob Ickes, Shad Cobb, Mike Munford, Chris Luquette, Jerry Douglas, and Sam Bush.
Mike Munford won IBMA Banjo Player of the Year in 2013 while in Dirty Kitchen, and Luquette won an IBMA Momentum Award. Solivan filled in for Tim O’Brien in the Earls of Leicester.
Signature tunes and songs
Dirty Kitchen Scorchin’ the Gravy M-80.
Essential recordings
I Am a Rambler (Fiddlemon, 2002) Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen (Fiddlemon, 2010) On the Edge (Compass, 2013) Cold Spell (Compass, 2014) If You Can’t Stand the Heat (Compass, 2019)
Awards and honors
IBMA Instrumental Group of the Year, with Dirty Kitchen (2014) Grammy nomination, Best Bluegrass Album, Cold Spell, with Dirty Kitchen IBMA Instrumental Group of the Year, with Dirty Kitchen (2016) Grammy nomination, Best Bluegrass Album, If You Can’t Stand the Heat, with Dirty Kitchen
Watch and listen
Solivan plays Scorchin’ the Gravy for David Benedict’s Mandolin Mondays series.
What to learn from Solivan
Take a fiddle tune and work out a break with a bandmate where you trade two-bar phrases back and forth. That is the Dirty Kitchen way: tight, conversational, and fun. It trains you to listen, to leave space, and to answer another player’s idea with one of your own.
Sources
Frank Solivan, Wikipedia Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen: Leading the way in today’s bluegrass, Bluegrass Today
Related players
See the mandolin players hub and the mandolin guide. Solivan played with Sam Bush and filled in for Tim O’Brien. Jacob Jolliff is another modern player who pushes the mandolin forward. His fiddle work is on his fiddle page.