Excellence in the Arts Award Recipient Mike Mattison '87

Breck was thrilled to announce Mike Mattison '87 as an inaugural recipient of the school's Excellence in the Arts Award during the 2023 Outstanding Alumni Awards in late September. Mike was introduced by Ms. Claudette Laureano, his Breck orchestra teacher. 

After graduating in 1987, Mike became a singer/songwriter and founding member of the blues trio Scrapomatic and the Tedeschi Trucks Band, with whom he won two Grammys for Best Blues Album as well as eight Blues Music Awards from the Blues Music Foundation. Mike's musical endeavors, spanning 17 records, have been featured on CBS, NPR Music, and the Washington Post. 

In addition to his music, Mike graduated from Harvard University in 1991, where he was Vice President of the humor magazine the Harvard Lampoon. He is the author, with Prof. Ernest Suarez of Catholic University, of "Poetic Song Verse: Blues-Based Popular Music and Poetry" (University Press of Mississippi.) 

Mike resides in Atlanta, Georgia. He was accompanied at the awards ceremony by his partner, John Kelly '87, and his mother, Judith Mattison.

Mike was recently interviewed with Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks for PBS News Hour. Click here to watch the interview. The Tedeschi Trucks Band's tour information can be located here, and they are excited to open for the Eagles on select tour spots (Atlanta, GA on November 2 & 4 with more dates to be announced).