For close to 50 years, mandolinist and composer David Grisman has been a leading proponent of acoustic music in America. He's recorded dozens of albums of his own music, launched his own record company, and produced over 50 critically-acclaimed recordings, five of which have been nominated for Grammy Awards. VOA's Katherine Cole reports on The David Grisman Bluegrass Experience.

Now 62 years old, David Grisman first picked up the mandolin as a teenager, not long after he first heard bluegrass. He began playing in the style of Bill Monroe, the man credited with inventing bluegrass. Soon Grisman was composing original songs, and exploring other musical styles, which led to the invention of what he calls "dawg music."

David Grisman

In the liner notes for this record, David Grisman says, "Bluegrass has always been my first big musical thrill since I first heard it nearly 50 years ago." The David Grisman Bluegrass Experience is a fine example of traditional bluegrass music, and is a good contrast to Dawg's Groove, the jazz and Latin-influenced album released by The David Grisman Quintet on the very same day.