What do the words "swing, bluegrass, latin, jazz and gypsy" have in common? They are all genres of music, and they have been combined into a contemporary music genre dubbed "dawg" music by its creator, mandolinist and composer David Grisman.

When David was a teenager growing up in New Jersey, he discovered the mandolin and studied under folklorist Ralph Rinzler. He began his mandolin career in the style of Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass Music. Grisman studied English at New York University in the early 1960’s and took his mandolin with him to Greenwich Village, where the folk music culture of the early 1960’s welcomed him warmly.

In 1963 Grisman debuted as both a recording artist (Elektra’s Even Dozen Jug Band) and producer (Folkways’ Red Allen, Frank Wakefield and the Kentuckians). In 1966, while a member of the Kentuckians, Grisman also composed original tunes and played with bluegrass contemporaries such as Peter Rowan and Jerry Garcia, with whom he later joined to form the band Old and In The Way. In 1973, Jerry Garcia gave Grisman the nickname "Dawg."

Grisman began applying jazz musical techniques to his playing beginning in 1967. He was a prolific session musician at this time, and played many genres of music with musicians such as Bela Fleck, the Grateful Dead, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt , Earl Scruggs, Dan Fogelberg, Maria Muldaur, John Sebastian and James Taylor.

David met guitarist Tony Rice and the David Grisman Quintet formed in 1975 with bassist/ mandolinist Todd Phillips and violinist Darol Anger. The David Grisman Quintet headlined at the world’s largest jazz, folk, and bluegrass festivals for twenty-five years.

In 1990, Grisman founded the Acoustic Disc label, which has released fifty-five compact discs, all produced or co-produced by David. Five of those have been nominated for Grammy Awards.

David Grisman is a true music pioneer and has inspired a new genre of acoustic string instrumental music. He is a master of the mandolin and remains a talented composer, teacher, and record producer. Because of the success of Acoustic Disc, artist-owned independent music labels now have a talented mentor and business model to follow.