The Eli West Quartet

Multi instrumentalist singer-songwriter Eli West returns to Cowichan after four years with an all-star lineup of virtuosos featuring Matt Flinner (mandolin and banjo), Patrick M’Gonigle (fiddle) and Sam Howard (bass).

Lauded by Tim O’Brien as a musician “making music the World needs,” Eli West has fostered collaborations with Bill Frisell, Andrew Marlin, John Reischman, Ismay, Julie Fowlis, Chris Coole and many other pillars of the growing Americana movement. After three highly regarded recordings with fellow singer-songwriter Cahalen Morrison, West set off on his own releasing three solo albums including his latest, The Shape of Sway.

Matt Flinner (mandolin, banjo) is a two-time winner of the prestigious Walnut Valley National Championships in Winfield, Kansas on banjo and mandolin. He was a member of the three-time Grammy nominated Modern Mandolin Quartet, and played on Steve Martin’s Grammy-winning album The Crow. He has collaborated with a Who’s Who of the acoustic music world including Darrell Scott, Frank Vignola, David Grier, Alison Brown, Missy Raines, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Darol Anger, Tim O’Brien and more.

Since last appearing at Cowichan in 2019 with The Lonely Heartstring Band, B.C. native Patrick M’Gonigle (fiddle) has emerged as one of the most sought-after side musicians in acoustic music collaborating with Darol Anger, John Reischman, Trey Wellington, his partner Allison DeGroot, Bella White, and many more. In September of 2025 he appeared with Itzhak Perlman at the renowned maestro’s 80th birthday celebration in New York. A graduate of Boston’s Berklee College of Music, he earned a Masters in Music from the New England Conservatory of Music and in 2024 received a Doctorate in Musical Arts from Boston’s New England Conservatory.

Sam Howard (bass) has made a mark on acoustic and Americana music for two decades, playing on hundreds of recordings alongside such contemporary masters as Mark Knopfler, Aoife O’Donovan, Chris Thile, and Jerry Douglas, and appearing with Molly Tuttle, Ruth Moody, Tony Furtado and more.

Eli West website
Bandcamp