Born in Hackensack, NJ David Grisman is a renowned bluegrass mandolinist and acoustic music composer who got his start in the early 1960s as a member of The Even Dozen Jug Band. After dropping one self-titled album with the band he released his debut live solo album Early Dawg, in 1996. Out of all the various project he played with including Earth Opera, The Muleskinner and Old and In the Way, Grisman is probably best known for his collaborations with Grateful Dead vocalist Gerry Garcia, with whom he released over half a dozen albums with since their first joint venture, Garcia/Grisman, in 1991. He assembled his own band, The David Grisman Quintet in 1995 and released the group's eponymous debut album in 1977. Grisman continues to work with his quartet as his main project while also spending a solid amount of time collaborating with a different artists and running his label Acoustic Disc Records, to help preserve and spread the spirit of acoustic music.
