Freewheeling Review

ALCAZAR review 2-89

Freewheeling

DAVID GRIER
FREEWHEELING #0250
 
David Grier’s brilliant album Freewheeling was selected to WUMB’s Top Ten Acoustic Albums of 1988. David shares this prestigious honor along with such artists as Tracy Chapman, Nanci Griffith, and Bela Fleck… Boston’s WUMB-FM is one of the premier acoustic radio stations in the country, and their Top Ten list is a reflection of music distinctive in form, content, and composition.
 


COUNTY SALES - June 1988

DAVID GRIER
FREEWHEELING #0250

A beautifully recorded and superbly played instrumental album featuring the lead guitar picking of David Grier. Everything is right about this LP: Grier’s playing is dynamic, tasteful, and he gets beautiful tone from his D-18 Martin. His playing is technically brilliant, but it sounds natural and relaxed, not forced. The choice of material is excellent, as are the arrangements, and there is plenty of top-flight picking from the sidemen. A lovely version of “Angeline the Baker” and Grier’s solo treatment of “The Gold Rush” are my favorites of this all-acoustic treat that will bear much repeat playing, and should do much to establish a name for this fine young musician. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
--Dave Freeman
 

FRETS MAGAZINE - March 1989
DAVID GRIER
FREEWHEELING # 0250

David Grier is the latest in a long line of bluegrass flatpickers to be compared to the late Clarence White. Though one hates to burden an artist with such comparisons, this effort is impressive indeed. While Grier plainly knows his bluegrass traditions, he borrows from other sources too, stretching into jazz chordal structures on “If I Knew Her Name”, punctuating his solos with chromatic runs and even octave licks that you won’t find in the bluegrass instruction books. Grier has all the technical tools, plus taste and sensitivity.
--Phil Hood
 


INTERNATIONAL COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS - Dec 1989 David Grier “Freewheeling” # 0250

David Grier is probably a completely new name to the majority of readers, but the fact is he has an excellent musical pedigree, being the son of Lamar Grier, banjo player with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys during the late sixties. The 24-year-old David Grier’s axe is an acoustic guitar—a 1955 Martin D18 to be precise—which he plays in a very fluid style heavily influenced by Clarence White. Grier has taste, firstly in the manner of his picking, which is energetic yet at the same time, relaxed and clean. Secondly, he has chosen some excellent supporting musicians in Sam Bush and Roland White (both mandolin), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Billy Joe Foster (banjo), Wyatt Rice (rhythm guitar) and Mark Schatz (bass and frailing banjo). Last but by no means least, he has composed six well varied tunes and each of the first three titles is a great piece which stays close to traditional roots, while “If I Knew Her Name” is in the more new acoustic vein. In his arrangement of some of the better known numbers, Grier brings new twists with an uncluttered solo guitar version of Monroe’s “Gold Rush” and an absolutely superb playing of “Angeline The Baker”, with frailing banjo prominent, giving a wonderful old time feel to the tune.

Grier has built up a reputation as a sideman and session musician in Nashville over the past four years. On the evidence of this album, he will make a name for himself even further a field and we shall be hearing a lot more of this extremely talented guitarist.
Richard F. Thompson
 

MUSIC ROW - Feb 1989
DAVID GRIER
FREEWHEELING # 0250

Guitarist David Grier and an accomplished band of Nashville super pickers bound through with a joyful, infectious personality. The songs could be labeled bluegrass or old-time folk tunes, but there is nothing old-fashioned or pious about Grier’s rollicking interpretations. The sidemen share his enthusiasm.
--Michael McCall
 

SING OUT! - Winter 1989
DAVID GRIER
FREEWHEELING # 0250

David plays with a round tone and gliding touch reminiscent of both Clarence White and Tony Rice, while establishing his own instrumental voice. Grier snaps into a predominantly bluegrass/old time groove that is full of energy, drive, and invention. “Roanoke” and “Bluegrass Itch” are models of high-speed precision without becoming mechanical… Grier’s rendering of Bill Monroe’s “Gold Rush”, played solo, contains lots of rolling crosspicking and leaves no doubt about his taste and ability. Grier comes through with an auspicious debut.
--Mark Greenberg
 

THE TENNESSEAN – NASHVILLE - January 1989
DAVID GRIER
FREEWHEELING # 0250

Countless guitar players come to Nashville each year, but only a few emerge from the pack as has acoustic wizard David Grier. At age 27, Grier has released his first solo album, Freewheeling, a sparkling, all-instrumental collection. Grier wrote six well-crafted tunes for the Freewheeling LP. His high-level, unfettered picking is set against the solid backgrounds and solos of accomplished friends.
--Tommy Goldsmith