David Grisman is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 bluegrass

Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

/newgrass

Progressive bluegrass

Progressive bluegrass is one of two major subgenres of bluegrass music. It is also known as newgrass, a term attributed to New Grass Revival member Ebo Walker. Musicians and bands John Hartford, New Grass Revival, J.D. Crowe and the New South, The Dillards, Boone Creek, Country Gazette, and the...

 mandolin

Mandolin

A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...

ist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc

Acoustic Disc

Acoustic Disc is the name of the record label founded by mandolinist David Grisman, in 1990. This independent record label's focus is acoustic music from all genres of music....

 record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental

Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....

 music.
Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey

Hackensack, New Jersey

Hackensack is a city in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States and the county seat of Bergen County. Although informally called Hackensack, it was officially named New Barbadoes Township until 1921. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 43,010....

. He started his musical career in 1963 as a member of Even Dozen Jug Band

Even Dozen Jug Band

The Even Dozen Jug Band was founded in 1963 by Stefan Grossman and Peter Siegel in New York City, New York...

. His nickname "Dawg" was affectionately assigned by his close friend Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia

Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...

 in 1973 (the two met in 1964 at a Bill Monroe

Bill Monroe

William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...

 show at Sunset Park in West Grove, Pennsylvania

West Grove, Pennsylvania

West Grove is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,854 at the 2010 census.-History:The village of West Grove derived its name from the Friends Meeting House on Harmony Road built in 1787 several miles west of the Friends Meeting House in the village of...

).