David Grisman celebrated his 80th birthday earlier this week with a bluegrass bacchanal in Seattle. Billy Strings, Sam Bush, Danny Barnes, and Ronnie McCoury were among the special guests, and on Friday Strings shared a reflection on what it meant to play with Dawg.
“It’s taken a few days to slowly float back down to the ground after soaring so high for [David Grisman]’s birthday!!” Billy Strings wrote on social media. “It’s hard to find the words to describe the amount of love, respect, admiration and appreciation that myself and so many others have for this man. His music is absolutely groundbreaking. Pushing the limits on what is possible for a string band to pull off.. mixing elements of bluegrass and jazz and many things in between to create a new acoustic sound that we are all still learning from today. Dawg music.”
Strings admitted that preparing for the gig was a challenging experience, requiring a deep dive into Grisman’s decades of progressive bluegrass work. The setlist at Tuesday’s show included songs from the David Grisman Quintet as well as the mandolinist’s collaborations with Jerry Garcia, Tommy Emmanuel, and Del McCoury.
“I was saying to [Alex Hargreaves] that in theory we should be light years ahead because we have this music to learn from and to spring ourselves off from… but in reality we’re still trying to catch up,” Strings continued. “Just listen to DGQ , the tones .. the arrangements .. the melodies .. the mandolins!! It is absolutely beautifully composed music and I still can’t think of anything that tops it when it comes to tones and playing.”
A major part of Dawg’s music was also intertwined with guitarist Tony Rice, a major inspiration for Strings who called Rice’s work with Grisman “absolutely mind boggling.” Beyond the generational talents and ingenious instrumentation, what made the greatest impact on Strings was seeing the mark Grisman left not only on bluegrass but on his own family.
as I stood there on stage seeing Dawg surrounded by his closest friends that he’s made through the many years of music and travel, singing songs with his children and leading a band full of great musicians who look up to him.. the tears came and they wouldn’t stop. I absolutely lost it for a little bit when he sang a brand new verse to old and in the way and stepped up to sing harmonies with his kids. To see the generations in real time playing music together.. to feel all the respect oozing out of every heart on that stage. I saw his grey hair and I wondered if I too someday would have this kind of family. I wondered if someday I will sing my songs with my son when my hair is grey.. and I realized that that is where my true aspirations are. Not to be famous or sell a lot of records or make a lot of money or any of that bullshit..
but to be surrounded by family and friends and to still play the music we love for as long as we can. Heart=swollen fingers=sore
Read Billy Strings’ full reflection on playing with David Grisman below, and revisit Live For Live Music‘s coverage of the Dawg At 80 concert here. Billy Strings kicks off a Southeast spring tour next weekend with a trio of sold-out shows in St. Augustine, FL. Find tickets and a full list of tour dates here.
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