Michael Christian Grøndahl (often spelled Grondahl) (born 7 May 1968) is a Danish-American bass guitarist. He is widely known for playing

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

and composing on

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (raised as Scott Moorhead; November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997) was an American musician. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, he attracted a cult following in the early 1990s performing at venues in ...

's debut album, ''

Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uni ...

''.

Early Life

Grøndahl was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

on May 7, 1968. at a young age, Grøndahl moved to and was raised in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

with his mother and grandmother, Vava. Grøndahl attended

Skidmore College Skidmore College is a Private school, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,700 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Scien ...

where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Art History and English. He then moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

where he played with several bands. He met

after seeing him perform at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

's Postcrypt Cafe.

Career

Grøndahl began playing in local bands, playing the local bar scene on Saratoga's Broadway strip. Grøndahl began jamming with Jeff Buckley in Spring of 1993, and he soon joined forces with Buckley. Grøndahl became an integral part of Buckley's live sound, and wrote the songs, "Dream Brother", "Vancouver", "Tongue" and "Edna Frau" which Buckley would sing. Before and after Buckley's death, he played in several bands including Elysian Fields, Beth Orton and the Greenlandic singer Angu. Grøndahl also briefly worked with American songwriter

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, whe ...

during recording for Smith’s album XO, however did not contribute studio work due to mourning Jeff Buckley’s passing. As of 2020 he is living in Denmark with his daughter, recording and performing with the group, "Tongue".

Musicianship and equipment

Interviews with Jeff Buckley reveal that he believed “Many bassists could run circles around røndahlin terms of technique”, but nobody came close to the feeling of his playing in relationship to Buckley’s own style. Grøndahl is known for playing an olympic white 1966

Fender Jazz Bass The Fender Jazz Bass (often shortened to "J-Bass") is the second model of Bass guitar, electric bass guitar created by Leo Fender. It is distinct from the Fender Precision Bass, Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midra ...

with a tortoiseshell pick guard, of which was owned by Buckley, and the instrument Grøndahl borrowed from Buckley to jam at their first session. Grøndahl also toured with a black Jazz Bass as a backup on the

Mystery White Boy ''Mystery White Boy'' is a live album by American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley released in 2000 (see 2000 in music). This is a compilation of live recordings that Buckley's mother Mary Guibert compiled from DAT recordings of his supporting t ...

tour. Grøndahl played through a

Mesa/Boogie Mesa/Boogie (also known as Mesa Engineering) is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969. Mesa was started by Randall Smith as a sm ...

400+ bass amp paired with a Mesa/Boogie RoadReady powerhouse cabinet.

Discography

With Jeff Buckley

(1994) *

Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk ''Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk'' is a compilation album by the American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley, released by Columbia Records on May 26, 1998, a year after his death. It comprises recordings Buckley made while working on his second ...

(1998) * Fall in Light (1999) *

(2000) * Live in Chicago (2000)

As Mick Grondahl

* Memphis Twilight (2023)

References

External links

Mick Grøndahl
on

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grondahl, Mick 1968 births Living people American people of Danish descent Skidmore College alumni 20th-century American bass guitarists