Flatpick Hotel is a guitar passion project of Ian Ly and Owen Ragland. The duo was formed out of a mutual love for the bluegrass flat-picked guitar discovered over late nights jamming. Ian and Owen met at the California Bluegrass Associations' Father's Day Bluegrass Festival and became quick friends, bonding over their love for picking fiddle tunes on the guitar.
Ian Ly has been wowing audiences all over the world as the guitarist for The Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band. As one of the best guitar pickers of this era from the West Coast, his picking style is like a freight train—uniform, clear, and fast. While attending college in his birth state of Kansas, Ian began competing in the Walnut Valley National Flatpick Contest; he is the 2023 National Flat Pick Guitar Champion.
Owen Ragland is no slouch either, a fiddle player turned guitarist who has performed with the likes of Honey Run, Jimbo Scott & Yesterdays Biscuits, The Brothers Strong, Poor Man's Whiskey, and many others. He turned his focus to guitar some years ago and has developed a dynamic and interesting playing style. His picking is unique and explosive, and he wows audiences (and jam circles) all over the western US with his guitar playing.
Together the group is truly an experiment in excellent players pushing each other to do interesting and creative things with their instrument. In 2025 they released their debut album Flatpick Hotel, a collection of live in studio recordings of mostly traditional fiddle tunes captured with the enthusiasm and life that can only be found in live recordings. It is a niche style, but if you loved the Blake & Rice Albums, or the Doc Watson and Tony Rice recordings, this is the show for you.
