Sam Grisman Project Announces West Coast 2023 Winter Tour and Releases “Friend of the Devil” Video

Article Contributed by Crossover Touring | Published on Friday, October 28, 2022

Project to feature Ric Robertson (Lucius, The Wood Brothers), Aaron Lipp (Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Giant Panda Guerrilla Dubsquad), and Chris English (Buddy Guy, Donna The Buffalo) with Alex Hargreaves (Billy Strings, Béla Fleck) joining in for the Oregon and Washington Dates.

Bassist Sam Grisman, son of legendary mandolinist David Grisman, is forming a new band to honor the musical legacy of his father and his dear friend Jerry Garcia. Sam Grisman Project brings together a group of incredibly versatile and talented musicians who are also some of his closest friends. The core four members of the group, Grisman, Ric Robertson, Aaron Lipp, and Chris English will be touring heavily in 2023 and beyond. They’ll be starting out with a run of dates on the West Coast in January and will be having some other friends join in the fun on occasion, starting with fiddler Alex Hargreaves for the last five dates of this first tour. You can read Sam’s words on the project below:

“The music that my father, David Grisman, and his dear friend Jerry Garcia made in the early 90s in the house that I grew up in is not only some of the most timeless acoustic music ever recorded, it also triggers my oldest and fondest musical memories. What I find most inspiring about this material and these recordings is how much camaraderie, love, and joy is simply oozing out of them, but also how deeply they get underneath their favorite songs (whether they are originals, covers, or traditional/ old-time tunes) and how expertly that material was curated. My aim in forming Sam Grisman Project is to build a container where my friends and I can showcase our genuine love and appreciation for the legacy of Dawg and Jerry’s music and the impact it has made on our own individual musical voices by playing some of this beloved repertoire, and also to share the original music that our collective has to offer the world. Ultimately, there is nothing that makes me happier than playing great songs with my best friends, and my goal with this project is to share that happiness, along with some great music, with audiences all over!”

The video of the Garcia/Hunter classic “Friend of the Devil,” a song that featured David Grisman’s mandolin playing on the original recording, really captures the spirit of the project and the vibe of the band. The video was shot by Cameron Scoggins and Jack Moser and recorded by Aaron Lipp at Temple Cabin Studios in Naples, NY this August.