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Matthew Anthony Nozzolio, of Middletown, died unexpectedly Saturday in New Haven. He was 53. He was the husband of Jean A. Wertz. Matt, who was the official spokesman for the MDC, in Hartford, had a career in newspapers as a reporter and editor. He was also a noted musician, performing bluegrass, blues and folk music. Matt played the Dobro, or resophonic guitar, performing solo as well as with a variety of bluegrass and folk bands. He also performed his own compositions. In the 1990s, Matt toured Europe as a member of Amy Gallatin and Stillwaters. He also performed with Allan Harris and the Cross That River Band, of New York City, the New England bands Charter Oak Bluegrass and The Bristol Boys, and was a frequent guest musician with The Remnants and Horizon Blue. He was a member of the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Music Under New York program, for subway musicians, and performed in Connecticut for entertainment programs at Derby Hospital and Meriden’s MidState Medical Center. In 2007, Matt took 3rd place in the 21st annual Blues Challenge, in Greensboro, N.C. As a journalist, Nozzolio was a bureau chief for the New Haven Register, city editor for The Evening Press, in Binghamton, N.Y., and bureau chief for the Finger Lakes Times, in New York. He also worked in communications for United Technologies.

All Aboard With the Bristol Boys is released

The band's long-awaited CD was released on July 18, 2008. The CD contains some all-time favorites such as Wreck of the Old 97 and Wabash Cannonball; lesser-known tunes , such as Railroad Boomer from Roy Acuff and Nobody Knows But Me by Jimmie Rodgers. The 13-tune CD also includes an original instrumental, Silvertown Rag. The CD will be available at all of our shows, for $15. If you'd like a copy by mail, email us. The cost will be $18, including postage and handling. We'd like to thank, most of all our spouses, Claude, Robin and Jean, for their patience and encouragement. Also, big thanks go to Peter Hill of Horizon Blue for his great ear and engineering skill.

Dave Aston -- Upright bass. Dave 's influence comes from blues great Willie Dixon and bluegrass IBMA award winner Roy Huskey Jr. Other bass players have made their contributions, and as a result, Dave's bass work includes various speeds of walking and many styles of slap bass. This makes for some intricate percussive rhythms.

Dave comes from a varied background on bass having played recently for 10 years with the Traver Hollow band and 16 years with Broke and Hungry blues band. Dave has performed on various artists' records.

Dave Orlomoski -- Guitar. Born and raised in Canterbury, CT, I grew up listening to the country music of the day. Among my favorites were Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Marty Robbins and Hank Snow.

I started collecting records at the time and currently have over 3,000 albums covering eveything from the late 20s to the 70s, when country music lost my interest.

Bluegrass has been my main music since I started taking banjo lessons at the age of 12. I eventually went on to learn to play the guitar, mandolin and bass.

Over the years, I've played in several bluegrass bands including The Bear Bridge Band, and The Seth Sawyer Band. When I got the opportunity to join The Bristol Boys, I jumped at the chance to play the older style of country music that has been left behind. We look forward to performing together every chance we get.

I currently reside in Colebrook, CT with my wife and 2 sons and I have worked for Ovation Guitars for over 20 years.

Matt Nozzolio -- Dobro. Matt is a native of Seneca Falls, N.Y. He was always interested in folk music, and while in college, became a fan of bluegrass in general and the dobro in particular.

His initial influences were Josh Graves of Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, and Mike Auldridge of the Seldom Scene, who charted a new path of the instrument in the 1970s.

For much of the 1990s, Matt was a member of Amy Gallatin and Stillwaters, which toured Europe in 1996 and 1998, representing the United States at the International World of Bluegrass festival in the Netherlands.

In 2002, Matt joined Charter Oak Bluegrass, a traditional band based in Central Connecticut. In 2004, he was accepted into the Arts and Entertainment Program at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., performing lap-style guitar.

He has performed and /or recorded with several acoustic musicians, including Orrin Starr, Suzanne Sheridan, Horizon Blue, The Remnants and Peter Lehndorf. In 2006, Matt formed The Bristol Boys. He also began to perform solo on dobro and lap guitar, and auditioned for and was accepted into the Music Under New York program, to play in the New York City subway system.

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