Matt Heldman: Bluegrass Meets Facebook Algorithms

Decoding the secret to social media success is something many content creators struggle with, but for Tennessee native Matt Heldman, what started as a Facebook page for teaching bluegrass has become a full-on fan page that’s growing by leaps and bounds.

“I was at 87 followers in January of this year, and I think I’m now at almost 125,000,” Heldman told The Bluegrass Standard.

Born East of the Tennessee River, Heldman leads Murphy’s Ridge, a family bluegrass and gospel band. Each week, he posts videos in an attempt to draw like-minded musicians and music fans. “It’s just building a little bit of a community and seeing who all is out there,” said Heldman.

Heldman uses Facebook Algorithms to reach Bluegrass Fans

 “I'm not entirely sure; it's kind of luck,” expressed Heldman about his success.  Still, he believes social media rewards creators who understand what audiences respond to. “I post the way that I do [as] sort of an algorithmic strategy.

“There are some social media tricks, and things that the algorithm likes, Heldman explained. “It's consistency, too; you don't want to have an inactive page. You have to find something that works for you and your page, and then do more of that,” he said.

 The Facebook page hosts a variety of short videos featuring Heldman with a guitar or banjo in hand, jamming out on songs like Foggy Mountain Breakdown. Other clips involve his band, Murphy’s Ridge. Video tags include catchy call-to-action phrases like, “Let’s see how far Bluegrass reaches,” with comments asking viewers where they’re from.

“I made a video of our band, and I was trying to think of captions,” recalled Heldman about his method. “Let’s see who’s out there, and if anybody wants to comment or say ‘hey.’ The first one did so well that I kept doing it, and it just snowballed.”

His siblings get in on the action.  

“None of them played any [bluegrass], so I was the very first person in my family to play it,” recalled Heldman about his musical family. “It all came around COVID time… just getting together, having something to do, and playing as a family.”

He taught his brothers. “I have a large family of brothers and sisters, and I bought my younger brother a mandolin and taught him how to play, then I bought my other younger brother a bass, and taught him how to play bass…”

Heldman’s wife, Shelby, is also a member. “She plays fiddle, mandolin, cello, guitar, banjo, piano, drums, and quite a few other instruments, too.” He added, "She is also an audio engineer!”

“Between that and my other brother, who knew how to play guitar,” explained Heldman, “we started to form our family bluegrass band, Murphy Ridge.”

He loves teaching. “My passion really has been in teaching in the last few years,” Heldman shared. “I really like to see other people be able to partake in music.”

Heldman finds students who apply themselves rewarding. “The ones that are really good to teach make it all worth it.”

As for his own bluegrass education, he almost didn’t get the chance to learn. “I begged my parents for a banjo when I was about fourteen, or fifteen,” recalled Heldman, whose mother and father were reluctant to buy one. “I begged [them] for over a year.

“They finally got me one,” said Heldman. “It was decent… not a great banjo, but one that was good enough to learn on and get me inspired.”

It became a problem.

“I played my banjo so much that my parents grounded me from it. [Heldman laughed] I wasn't doing my schoolwork.” Removing the banjo opened another door. “After they took my banjo away, I started playing guitar.

“The one I’ve definitely spent the most time on over my entire life is the guitar.” Explained the multi-instrumentalist. A legendary musician inspired his flatpicking. “Tony Rice was a big influence in getting me into bluegrass guitar,” Heldman explained.

The band leader advised guitar players who are trying to figure out the flatpicking style. “You really have to work your right hand out,” he said, referring to cross-picking. “You have to get the back-and-forth [motion] down,” adding, “you can't rely on nearly as many hammer-on and pull-offs” (referring to a common guitar technique).

Along with teaching, Heldman is hard at work growing his social media following.

“Ultimately, my goal is to build up an audience so I can start going live on Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.

Showing music appreciation, Heldman wants to share his knowledge with others: “I want [music] to do for others what it has done for me!”

https://www.mattheldmanmusic.com/