30-528: The Even Dozen Jug Band was founded in 1963 by Stefan Grossman (solo country blues and ragtime guitarist) and Peter Siegel (roots-based guitarist and producer) in New York City, New York . Other members were David Grisman (a noted mandolinist ), Steve Katz (later with Blues Project and Blood, Sweat and Tears ), Maria Muldaur (then Maria D'Amato), Joshua Rifkin (arranger of Scott Joplin ragtime compositions,), and John Sebastian (later with
60-480: A Gibson archtop guitar which he played between the ages of nine and eleven, taking lessons and learning to read music. For a few years, he gave up playing but resumed again at the age of 15. Grossman's interest in the folk revival was sparked by attending the Washington Square Park "Hoots". He took guitar lessons for several years from Rev. Gary Davis , whom he later described as " one of
90-539: A niche in the market for solo acoustic guitar records which were accompanied by a tablature book to allow the buyer to try playing the arrangements and, with his friend Ed Denson taking care of the US side of business, founded Kicking Mule Records. Over the next few years KM released albums by such artists as John James , Happy Traum , Ton van Bergeyk , Dave Evans , Peter Finger and the late Sam Mitchell. Grossman also released his own original and instructional albums on KM,
120-479: A song called "Future Blues", using an open G tuning. The song was considered very difficult to master and puzzled many experienced blues players but Grossman, when still in his teens, figured out how to play it. Given Bussard's penchant for creating noms de plume, as he did for John Fahey when recording him as Blind Thomas in the 1950s, it seems likely that the origins of the name Kid Future lie in Frederick, MD and
150-640: A talented teenager who had mastered "Future Blues". Grossman also played on Pat Kilroy's Light of Day album released in 1966. In 1967, Grossman travelled to Europe, as a first step on a planned journey to India which was not completed. In London he stayed at first with Eric Clapton whom he had met whilst in Chicago Loop and met guitarists and singers on the British folk scene including Bert Jansch , John Renbourn , Davy Graham and Ralph McTell and The Young Tradition . He began playing in folk clubs around
180-599: Is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acoustic musicians. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2023. Grisman grew up in a Conservative Jewish household in Passaic , New Jersey. His father was a professional trombonist who gave him piano lessons when he
210-539: Is known for his instructional videos and Vestapol line of videos and DVDs. Born in Brooklyn , United States, Grossman described his upbringing in Queens , New York, as "lower middle-class", and his parents as "very leftist", valuing education and the arts. He began playing acoustic guitar at the age of nine, when his father bought him an archtop -style ( f-hole ) acoustic guitar made by Harmony . Later he moved on to
240-729: Is married to Tracy Bigelow and was married twice before. He has three grown children: Samson, Gillian , and Monroe . Samson, a bassist and recording session musician living in Portland, often performs with his father. Gillian, a filmmaker living in Novato, California , directed Grateful Dawg and the music documentary, Village Music : Last of the Great Record Stores . Monroe Grisman , named for bluegrass music pioneer Bill Monroe , lives in Fairfax, California, and plays in
270-709: Is what Grisman calls his mixture of bluegrass and Django Reinhardt / Stéphane Grappelli -influenced jazz as highlighted on his album Hot Dawg (recorded Oct. 1978, released 1979). It was Grisman's combination of Reinhardt-era jazz , bluegrass, folk, Old World Mediterranean string band music, as well as modern jazz fusion that came to embody "Dawg" music. In the 1970s, he started the David Grisman Quintet with Darol Anger , Joe Carroll , Todd Phillips , and Tony Rice . They released their eponymous first album in 1977 for Kaleidoscope Records and their second, Hot Dawg , two years later for Horizon Records ,
300-687: The Grateful Dead album American Beauty . He played in Garcia's bluegrass band Old & In the Way with Peter Rowan and Vassar Clements . When Grisman was 17 years old, he was invited on stage by Doc Watson to join him on mandolin for a rendition of “In the Pines”. Garcia named him "Dawg" after a dog that was following him while they were driving in Stinson Beach , California. "Dawg Music"
330-521: The Lovin' Spoonful ). The Even Dozen Jug Band only existed for a short time. Their only recording was the self-titled album, The Even Dozen Jug Band , issued in December 1963 by Elektra Records . Stefan Grossman Stefan Grossman (born April 16, 1945) is an American acoustic fingerstyle guitarist and singer, music producer and educator, and co-founder of Kicking Mule records. He
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#1732790171419360-601: The Tom Petty tribute band Petty Theft. Grisman's song "Dawggy Mountain Breakdown" was the opening theme song for Car Talk on NPR. Grisman sued YouTube in May 2007, asserting in federal court that YouTube should be required to prevent individuals from illegally uploading recordings of his music. Grisman's attorneys requested voluntary dismissal of the suit. The documentary Grateful Dawg (October 14, 2001) chronicles
390-833: The 78s developed into searching for the artists who had recorded them, with many successes: during the mid-60s, Grossman met, befriended and studied guitar with Mississippi John Hurt , Son House , Skip James , Mississippi Fred McDowell and other major blues artists. In 1964, Grossman and a group of friends formed the Even Dozen Jug Band . Although they only recorded one LP on the Elektra Records label (long since out of print but available at iTunes), other members were also to have successful musical careers, including David Grisman , Steve Katz ( Blood, Sweat & Tears ), John Sebastian ( The Lovin' Spoonful ), Joshua Rifkin and Maria Muldaur (then Maria D'Amato). In
420-466: The Bay Area for about 10 days). However, Joplin would not abandon her new band and the deal was scuttled. Subsequently, Grossman spent about three months with The Fugs and a further four months with a band called Chicago Loop. At the same time, however, he was beginning his career as a guitar teacher. With his friend Rory Block and also Mike Cooper, he produced and released one of the earliest (if not
450-588: The US. He is a frequent visitor to England (where he has family) and conducts well-attended guitar workshops as well as giving concerts. Grossman's principal acoustic guitar was a 1930 Martin OM-45 which he later sold. He uses Franklin guitars, made by Nick Kukich, since the 1970s and a custom Martin HJ-38 since 2008. He also owns numerous guitars from different builders, including John Greven, Tony Klassen and Ed Foley. He uses also an old Stella Jumbo 12-string guitar. In
480-725: The country and made his first solo recordings for the Philips/Fontana label ( Aunt Molly's Murray Farm and The Gramercy Park Sheikh ) and then for Nathan Joseph's Transatlantic label, including Yazoo Basin Boogie and Ragtime Cowboy Jew (see discography). He also traveled widely in Europe and eventually settled in Italy, where he lived for seven years. Travelling around Europe for gigs brought him into contact with many other fine guitarists, but few of them had record deals. Grossman saw
510-738: The early summer of 1966, there was an effort by Elektra's Paul Rothchild to put together a folk rock group (like The Mamas & the Papas ) with Grossman, Taj Mahal , guitarist Steve Mann and a recently returned folk singer from Texas named Janis Joplin . They had a rehearsal in Berkeley, sometime in June (Joplin's first show with Big Brother and the Holding Company was at the Avalon Ballroom June 10, 1966, but she had been in
540-532: The friendship between Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. Grisman was a judge for the 6th and 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists. He wrote much of the bluegrass music for the 1974 film Big Bad Mama directed by Roger Corman . It was played by the Great American Music Band, and they were recorded and mixed by Bill Wolf. Acoustic Disc is an independent record label founded by Grisman in 1990. The label
570-826: The greatest exponents of fingerstyle blues and gospel guitar playing " and " an incredible genius as a teacher ". He spent countless hours learning and documenting Davis's music, recording much of it on a tape recorder, and developing a form of tablature to take down his teacher's instructions. In the folk and country blues revival of the 1960s he was listening to old recordings of artists such as Elizabeth Cotten , Big Bill Broonzy , Lead Belly , Josh White , Lightnin' Hopkins , Rev. Gary Davis , Blind Willie Johnson , Blind Boy Fuller , Son House , Charlie Patton , Skip James , Blind Blake , Blind Lemon Jefferson , Brownie McGhee and Woody Guthrie . This brought him into contact with other collectors, including John Fahey , Ed Denson, Bernie Klatzko, Tom Hoskins and Nick Poerls. Collecting
600-524: The jazz division of A&M Records . When the quintet recorded for Warner Bros. Records , the membership changed to include Mike Marshall , Mark O'Connor , and Rob Wasserman , with occasional guest appearances by jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli . In the 1980s, Grisman formed the record label Acoustic Disc , which issued his recordings and those by other acoustic musicians. The folk and bluegrass part of his personality emerged when he recorded with Mark O'Connor, Tony Rice, and Andy Statman . Grisman
630-447: The latter including seminal works such as Fingerpicking Guitar Techniques , How To Play Ragtime Guitar and Famous Ragtime Guitar Solos which had a major influence on acoustic guitarists in Europe, the UK and the US. During these years Grossman was also touring as a solo artist and in partnership with John Renbourn and continuing to write and publish instructional books, often accompanied by
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#1732790171419660-468: The mid-1960s, Grossman recorded a number of cuts for Joe Bussard and his Frederick, Maryland-based Fonotone Records and performed at the Jabberwock coffeehouse in Berkeley under the nom du folk of "Kid Future". The origins of the name Kid Future date back in the 1930s where there were a number of country blues artists called Willie Brown, the best known of these, and a friend of Son House , recorded
690-733: The music which Grossman recorded on vinyl during his years in Europe has been reissued on CD, as have many of the Kicking Mule albums (although vinyl LPs remain collectable items), including a 2008 reissue of the original How To Play Blues Guitar LP from 1967, including outtakes and later recordings from subsequent editions of the album. The LP tracks are on the CD Country Blues Guitar: The Archival Recordings 1963–1971 (SGGW103) by Rory Block and Stefan Grossman. Grossman resumed touring in 2006, since and has appeared in Europe and Japan as well as
720-681: The past, he has also played a Martin OM-28, Euphonon and Prairie State guitars. He favors medium-gauge strings (.013, .017, .026, .036, .046, .056) for slide, and light-gauge strings (.12 – .53) for standard playing. In 2008 Grossman worked with the Martin Guitar Company to produce a replica guitar, the HJ-38 Stefan Grossman Custom Signature Edition, based on a Jumbo size. David Grisman David Jay Grisman (born March 23, 1945)
750-527: The roof of one company, Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop, working at first in cooperation with the Shanachie Records company. He was quick to see the potential of video as well as audio as an instructional tool– budding players could buy an instructional tape for the cost of a single 'real' lesson and have it constantly available. The material which had appeared on LPs such as How To Play Blues Guitar now became available to watch as well as hear. Nor
780-421: The then new technology of a cassette tape. In 1971, Grossman composed and played the soundtrack to Swedish director Bo Widerberg's bio-pic Joe Hill . The love theme from the movie was released a single the same year. In 1987, Grossman returned to live in the US. He toured much less – at least partly due to a painful back problem – and began to consolidate his various teaching and instructional materials under
810-553: The very first) guitar instructional LPs, How To Play Blues Guitar and began the publication of a five volume series of instructional books with Oak Publications called the Oak Anthology of Blues Guitar . These drew on his studies with Rev. Davis and the other older blues artists and on his obsessive listening to old 78s. The Country Blues Guitar, Delta Blues, Texas Blues, Ragtime Blues Guitar and Rev. Gary Davis/Blues Guitar have remained in print through various editions. In
840-521: Was Grossman the only instructor – the Guitar Workshop 'faculty' included such artists as Chet Atkins, John Renbourn, Woody Mann, Ari Eisinger, John Miller, Larry Coryell, David Laibman, Ernie Hawkins and others. Grossman also began to acquire concert footage of the old blues and country artists who had been rediscovered in the 1960s and had often made TV appearances; this was the basis of Vestapol Videos, which edited and reissued this footage. It
870-550: Was a breakthrough for younger guitarists to be able to watch Big Bill Broonzy, Lightnin' Hopkins, Rev. Gary Davis and many others long after these players had died. Vestapol rapidly expanded to include concert footage from living artists too. Although originally issued as video tapes, almost all of this material (both instructional and concert) has in the last few years been re-issued on DVD. The Guitar Workshop mails worldwide from its bases in New Jersey and Yorkshire . Much of
900-478: Was seven years old. As a teenager, he played piano, mandolin, and saxophone. In the early 1960s, he attended New York University . He belonged to the Even Dozen Jug Band with Maria Muldaur and John Sebastian . He played in the bluegrass band the Kentuckians led by Red Allen , then in the psychedelic rock band Earth Opera with Peter Rowan . He moved to San Francisco, met Jerry Garcia , and appeared on
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