David Grissom is an American guitarist who has played and toured with several of America's leading bands and recording artists. He is best known for his work with John Mellencamp. He has released four solo albums: ''Loud Music'', ''10,000 Feet'', ''Way Down Deep'', and ''How It Feels to Fly''. Grissom uses a PRS guitar and has for most of his career.

Career

While still recording with Joe Ely, Grissom joined the

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrument ...

Band. Following Mellencamp, he played briefly with

Will and the Kill Will and the Kill were an American rock band from Austin, Texas. Will and the Kill's members included Will Sexton, brother of guitarist Charlie Sexton, and David Grissom, later of Storyville. The group released one self-titled album on MCA Recor ...

, then went on to form the critically acclaimed Storyville with

Malford Milligan Malford Milligan (born March 29, 1959) is an American singer. He sings soul, blues and gospel songs and also writes music. He has won 8 Austin Music Awards for Best Vocalist. Career Storyville In 1994 Milligan became the singer for Storyville ...

(vocals),

David Lee Holt David Lee Holt (born December 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter who is best known for being a member of the Austin-based group, Storyville, which included guitarist David Grissom, vocalist Malford Milligan, and Stevie R ...

(guitar),

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(bass) and

Chris Layton Christopher Layton (born November 16, 1955), also known as "Whipper", is an American drummer who rose to fame as one of the founding members of Double Trouble, a blues rock band led by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Te ...

(drums). Grissom has since toured with the

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and the

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and E ...

. On May 19, 2007, at a free concert title
"The Road To Austin"

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performed his electric arrangements of ''

Layla "Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally recorded by Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their only studio album, ''Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'' (1970). Its contrasting movements were compose ...

'' and ''Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad'' with dueling guitars courtesy of David Grissom and

Eric Johnson Eric Johnson may refer to: Music *Eric Johnson (guitarist) (born 1954) an American guitarist and recording artist * Eric D. Johnson (born 1976), member of multiple indie-rock bands including Fruit Bats, The Shins and Califone Politics * Eric Joh ...

. Grissom released his first solo album ''Loud Music'' in 2007. He has also recorded sessions, played and toured with a number of other American recording artists, including

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray V ...

Chris Isaak Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. He is widely known for his breakthrough hit and signature song "Wicked Game", as well as other songs such as "Blue Hotel", "Baby D ...

, Sarah Hickman and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

. David Grissom recorded his album "Two Thousand Miles" with Owen Temple. In 2009 Grissom released his second solo album "10,000 Feet", which featured 11 new songs plus an acoustic version of "Good Day For The Blues", which was originally recorded by Storyville.

Guitars

Grissom has played PRS (Paul Reed Smith) guitars for most of his professional career. He played a modified PRS McCarty Trem for over a decade. In 2007, after a 25-year relationship working with Paul on the design and improvement of PRS guitars from a touring/session player's perspective, his collaboration with

Paul Reed Smith Paul Reed Smith (born February 18, 1956) is an American luthier and the founder and owner of PRS Guitars, a high-end guitar maker. Early life Smith graduated from Bowie High School in 1974. He also attended St. Mary's College of Maryland where ...

resulted in the DGT (David Grissom Trem) signature model. Its innovations include special pickups developed by Grissom, Dunlop 6100-like fretwire, a nitrocellulose finish, coil taps for both pickups, and two volume knobs to allow the blending of both humbucking pickups. Grissom has noted that this feature was inspired by the sounds

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

created on the early

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

albums.

''How It Feels to Fly'' (2014)

The fourth solo release included eight new studio tracks and four extended live tracks, with covers of the Allman Brother's "Jessica" and ZZ Top's "Nasty Dogs And Funky Kings".

Discography

*2000: ''Texas Boy (Sky Malone With Double Trouble, David Grissom and Riley Osbourne)'' *2007: ''Loud Music (Wide Lode Records)'' *2009: ''10,000 Feet (Wide Lode Records)'' *2011: ''Way Down Deep (Wide Lode Records)'' *2014: ''How It Feels To Fly (Wide Lode Records)'' *2020: ''Trio (Live) 2020 (Wide Lode Records)'' Guest appearances: *1987: Joe Ely "Lord of the Highway" *1988: Joe Ely "Dig All Night" *1989: James McMurtry "Too Long in the Wastelands" *1990: Joe Ely "Live at Liberty Lunch" *1991: John Mellencamp "Whenever we wanted" *1992: James McMurtry "Candyland" *1993: Joe Ely "Love and Danger" *1995: Toni Price "Hey"

References

External links and sources

*
David Grissom on last.fm

Review of Dave Grissom's CD Loud Music on Guitar Jam Daily

Interview with David Grissom on Guitar Jam Daily
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grissom, David Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American blues guitarists American country guitarists American male guitarists American rock guitarists Musicians from Louisville, Kentucky Musicians from Austin, Texas Rock musicians from Kentucky Songwriters from Kentucky Singers from Kentucky Country musicians from Kentucky Blues musicians from Kentucky Songwriters from Texas Guitarists from Kentucky Guitarists from Texas Country musicians from Texas American male songwriters