From Amazon.com
Grier is the man to beat
Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: For my money, this guy is the best, uhh... bluegrass influenced, composer and guitar player around. "Impulsive" is an opening scorcher, just to let everyone know what is possible. "Forked Deer" is a great version of this traditional tune, crosspicked to perfection. "King Wilkies Run" and "Dead End" definitely lean more to the jazz/funk side of Griers tastes and are among the best of this CD.
My favorite is "Chinquapin Hunting". You can see the fox hunt and hear the thumping of the hooves through the loping banjo section. This is just an infectious piece of music that the artist must have enjoyed as well; make sure to not give up on "Dead End" as after 4 minutes of dead space a 2 minute refrain of "Chinquapin Hunting" is there for the patient. Still plowing through his work, but for me, this is the best of Grier's solo CD's.
Play Guitar Much?
Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: This guy is insane. A flat-picker should never be described as being "better than T," which is what a friend leaned toward me and whispered (with great hesitation and fear of retribution) at MerleFest a few years ago while watching a solo Grier rip it up fabulously. Yep. Better than Tony Rice (the "T" aforementioned). Too many lone practice hours lead to this kind of phenomenal playing -- ain't nothing he can feel that he can't play. Grier is gifted not only as a techinician but also as a melodist. His original compositions fit into the bluegrass cannon with an unaffected easiness that startles the imagination -- how, what, huh? Have these songs always been here? Seems so. There's just never been anyone before Grier who could play them, that's all.
New Grass at it's best!
Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: If you have fallen in love with this new style of bluegrass, psychograss, new-grass, or whatever you want to call it- you must check this album out. While entirely intrumental, Grier and buddys (inc Sam Bush) make this album sing with playful interchange b/w Grier's flatpickin' guitar with banjo, fiddle, mandolin and bass. The fellas create shapes and patterns with their music borrowing some melodies from the best (Doc Watson & John Hartford) Sounds a lot like TELLURIDE SESSIONS- strength in numbers.
today's most dazzling, innovative flatpicker
Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: This CD is as good a place as any to check out the fluid, innovative, jaw-droppingly virtuosic, totally tasteful, slyly humorous world of David Grier. His recent work with Matt Fliner (especially Latitude) is equally amazing - and don't miss his playing on the fabulous Psychograss CD "Like Minds." The most important flackpicking guitarist since Tony Rice, with so many fresh musical ideas to go with his prodigious techinque (which, scarily, keeps on improving) that he's reallly in a league of his own.
sounds pretty good to me
Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: I don't know what Joe Audiophile is talking about down there, but I'm listening to this cd as I type this and I'm here to say it sounds great! As an old fart, my favorite tracks are the trad ones -- Forked Deer, Pear Tree, etc. -- but I don't hear a bad note on the disc. So forget about string attack, put on the first track, and let Dave, Stuart and the boys whisk you away! And don't forget "hidden" stuff at end of cd.
Purchases
1 Impulsive #!*?!
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