DAVID GRISMAN | THE DAWG LIVES ON

Download an alternate take of David Grisman's "Shady Grove" w/Jerry Garcia MP3 (5.7 MB)

Mention the name David Grisman in any stringed instrument circle and people will instantly recognize one thing: he has helped to redefine the power of the acoustic instrument through his mandolin and a style appropriately called “dawg music"—a cohesive blend of multiple stylistic influences from jazz, latin, bluegrass, swing and even traditional Jewish music. But whatever genre the prolific mandolin master chooses to play, it is done so with a true knowledge, love and pedigree that only Grisman can demonstrate. Looking back, Grisman can remember the person who turned him onto the mandolin but doesn't recall what it was about the mandolin that captivated him to pick it up—as opposed to a more common instrument like the guitar.

“My first exposure was through a guy named Ralph Rinzler,” recalls Grisman, “who was a great mandolin player and folklorist and he played bluegrass and old-time music and turned me onto a lot of music from Bill Monroe to Doc Watson. However, I don’t recall why I chose the mandolin. That is kind of a mystery, the whole thing. I never remembered hearing a different instrument, you know. It was kind of an emotional appeal, I guess.”

While his first exposure to mandolin music was mainly focused on old-time and bluegrass, over the years Grisman has acquired a passion for all types of string music, especially instrumental compositions. “This passion has been a long process of listening to all kinds of music for a long time,” he says. “I guess I just heard a lot of Latin music filtering through jazz and popular music, specifically on the mandolin, from a guy named Jacob do Bandolim, a mandolinist from Brazil. I heard old recordings of Jewish music and of course heard it when I was growing up in the synagogue, and that has just been part of my experience.”

In time, Grisman developed his own interpretation of all these genres into a specific hybrid known as “dawg music." “Dawg” is the nickname he acquired from the late Jerry Garcia, a person whom Grisman has done numerous projects with, from the haunting and mystical duet albums to the hugely influential bluegrass outfit known as Old and In The Way.

At the time, Old and In The Way was nothing more that five friends—Peter Rowan, David Grisman, John Kahn, Jerry Garcia and Vassar Clements—who came together to just play music they knew.

“We just started going up to Jerry’s house,” says Grisman, “and playing bluegrass for fun. He said we should play some gigs and he got us some gigs and the rest is history.”

At the time, none of them thought that the eighteen gigs they played were that meaningful and basically called it quits. It wasn't until years later that they realized the inspiration that Old and In The Way had on bluegrass.

“At the time we were all past our bluegrass stage, at least in our minds,” says Grisman. “We were all trying to find our own way. Bluegrass, I think at least to me at the time, was a little regressive. Pete had already played with Bill Monroe. I had played with Red Allen and other groups and was ready to start 'dawg' music. I didn’t have it in mind that that was going on, but it was more of a for-fun thing. Nobody took charge and said 'hey, we gotta do this,' which is unfortunate since it had a big effect. The effect that it had didn’t happen until after the record came out, which was two years after we stopped playing. We didn’t have a perception of that because it was after the record was released.”

Soon after, Grisman found himself with fiddler Richard Greene in an all instrumental group, the Great American Music Band.

“That was kind of the predecessor to my quintet,” says Grisman, “and basically it set the template for what I would later do. It was an all instrumental group and it got the concept of dawg music started.”

Over the past two decades that Grisman has been involved with his quintet, a unique and highly impressive cohesion of talented musicians composing “dawg” music has transpired. Grisman’s quintet has been through a variety of lineup changes, with each musician offering certain facets to each of the several lineups.

“I have endeavored to play the same music with different personalities and musical abilities going through the band,” explains Grisman, “and I always try to take advantage of who was in the band and what they could do. But I have also endeavored to play this music as I conceived it. It has been a great experience and it would be hard to analyze each of the specific lineups. All of the major players are well known for what they do and I would like to hope that I helped shape their musical personalities and they helped shape my music.”

While his quintet is considered by some to be one of the hottest improvisational acts today, Grisman has a completely different understanding on the whole concept of improvising.

“I have a problem with the notion of improvisation,” states Grisman. “I don’t really believe in improvisation. I don’t think people create things spontaneously. We are speaking in English, a language we’ve studied and practiced all our lives. That’s what music is, a language. When people 'improvise,' they are speaking that language; they're not inventing the language. They are not inventing the language as they go, it is an accumalative process. They are basically using their vocabulary to compose musical ideas. I see no difference between improvisation and composition other than the time involved.”

Not only is Grisman a pioneer in the field of acoustic instruments, he also is the man behind San Rafael, California’s Acoustic Disc record label. With over 40 releases in the past decade, Acoustic Disc is an outlet for the numerous collaborations Grisman has done with such artists as Doc Watson, Red Allen and Jerry Garcia. It has also released classic performances by Old and In The Way, and upcoming Acoustic Disc releases will include a 1961 performance from Doc Watson and an unreleased recording of bluegrass legends Frank Wakefield and Red Allen.

Once again, the label was something that just fell together for Grisman, like his music.

“It was kind of an accident, Acoustic Disc,” says Grisman. “I was ready to make a record and I had been dropped by the record company I was signed to. Two friends of mine had moved to California and were looking to start a business. I had built a recording studio in my basement and those three factors kind of came together and we said ‘hey, let’s start a record company.’ It just went from there. It wasn’t a big plan that I had.”

With Grisman pioneering the way for stringed instrument lovers all over the world through his quintet, label and projects, he doesn’t think that any of his current endeavors will end anytime soon.

“I like doing it all,” assures Grisman. “I think if I did just one thing all the time it would get a little boring. That’s what keeps it fresh, that I can do a lot of different things. It is a little more hectic and complicated, but it's all good. It all works together.”