JamBase Review
By Josh Klemons
David Grier :: 07.28.06 :: Acoustic Expressions Music Store :: San Diego, CA
I learned long ago to get excited when the old-timers show up to see the same shows as I do. It took an occasion or two, but I realized quite simply that they do not come out for anything that's less than amazing. Now I seek out music spots where I would be comfortable bringing my parents and their friends. Friday night, July 28th, in the backyard warehouse/living room of the Acoustic Expressions music store in San Diego was no exception. Grammy Award-winning flatpicker David Grier was on the bill...
Then came the set for which we were all there. David Grier took the stage, which was furnished in part like a living room; there were plants on the two-foot high stage and an end table. I think that there may have even been a dresser in the back. All of this added nicely to the very intimate atmosphere that was built in the room. Clearly there was no one there who was not familiar with David's work, at least on some level. He took the stage, and the crowd got ready.
He opened with a melancholy piece he called "High Atop Princess Cove." It was pretty and set a nice tone, but on the next song he really opened up and showed us what he was made of. When you see a guy like David Grier for the first time, it can be confusing to the senses. If you were to listen but not see, you would swear that there were at least two people on stage. The lead lines were being played over bass lines, very often with an accompanying rhythm for good measure. It makes one think of a southern-fried Leo Kottke.
One of the more impressive parts about his playing is his use of the "hybrid picking technique." Although David Grier is known far and wide – or at least as far and wide as any bluegrass guitar player can ever really be known – for his amazing flatpicking abilities, people are missing part of the genius therein. Hybrid picking involves playing with a flatpick and also playing with the middle and ring finger, and possibly even the pinky, at the same time. It is rare to see this technique utilized well, and it was one of many pleasures of the evening.
He played a lot of originals along with a slew of old fiddle tunes, or what any bluegrass aficionado would refer to simply as "standards." He also threw in a few choice covers throughout the hour-and-a-half set that he shared with us. The first was a gorgeous chordal melody that would have made Joe Pass take notice. It began with "America the Beautiful," and then after one or two refrains, he changed gears and gave us a touching "Yesterday" by the Beatles. He joked that it was a song that could bring a tear to a glass eye. Later on in the night, he told us that we would all recognize this next one, and then he gave us one of the more interesting bluegrass arrangements of the night, playing a version of "Killing Me Softly" that put even Lauryn Hill to shame.
Throughout the show, I kept thinking that I was watching an amazing bluegrass guitar player who had clearly studied - formally or otherwise - the great jazz guitar players and had incorporated them into his style. As the show went on, however, I began to think that maybe I had it backwards. Maybe David Grier is really a jazz guitar player with a passion for bluegrass. Whichever the case may be, David is doing something like few others out there, and it is a site to be seen, a scene to be a heard, and overall, a guaranteed impressive show every time that he takes the stage. Whether he is playing alone, with Chris Thile, or with his band Psychograss, he is sure to expand the possibilities of what a man can do with an acoustic guitar, and for that alone, it is worth taking notice. JamBase | San Diego |
