Stefan Grossman

Guitarist, educator, and historian Stefan Grossman was students of acoustic blues and gospel vocalist/guitarist Rev. Gary Davis. Starting when he was 15, Grossman examined with Davis on weekends, spending eight to ten hours at his home in Harlem, absorbing all he could. After learning with Davis for eight years in senior high school and university, he discovered and examined with other nation blues guitarists: Mississippi John Harm, Son House, Neglect Adam, Mance Lipscomb, and Fred McDowell. Various other early affects for Grossman included Elizabeth Cotten, Sam McGee, Willie Dark brown, and Charley Patton. In the first ’60s, Grossman produced the Also Dozen Jug Music group and caused the political rock-band the Fugs before shifting to THE UK. In 1968, he co-founded Kicking Mule Information with Ed Denson, a label that showcased idiosyncratic acoustic blues and folk electric guitar designs. The co-founders dissolved their relationship in the middle-’80s, but Kicking Mule’s catalog was bought by Fantasy Information. A number of the vinyl fabric sides have observed the light of time on compact disk. From 1967 to the first ’80s, Grossman resided in the uk, where he carved a popularity on the Western european blues and folk celebration circuit, using British-raised acoustic guitarists like John Renbourn and John Fahey. Grossman’s single discography goes completely back again to 1966, when he documented How exactly to Play Blues Electric guitar for Elektra Information; his sessionography also contains recordings using the Also Dozen Jug Band (which also included such upcoming luminaries as John Sebastian, Maria Muldaur, and David Grisman) in addition to albums by Paul Simon, John Fahey, Charlie Musselwhite, and Content Traum. In the first ’80s, Grossman started a long romantic relationship with Shanachie Information of Newton, NJ, documenting thoroughly and issuing such albums as Glowing Shadows (1988), Electric guitar Landscapes (1990), Like, Devils & the Blues (1992), North Skies, Southern Blues (1997), and Tremble That Thing: Fingerpicking Nation Blues (1998) for the label. He also helped Shanachie start their Electric guitar Artistry imprint series, showcasing such performers as himself, Renbourn, and Traum. While located in northwest NJ, Grossman toured infrequently and focused his initiatives on operating his Vestapol instructional video business, liberating videos (a lot of which are actually available on Dvd and blu-ray) by guitarists which range from Merle Travis and Chet Atkins to Dave Vehicle Ronk and Brownie McGhee. Through the 2000s, Grossman could possibly be found documenting in duo and trio configurations (2007’s Bermuda Triangle Leave with Tokio Uchida and Performed just a little Fiddle with Danny Kalb and Steve Katz) and liberating the outcomes on his Acoustic guitar Workshop label — which also released albums by famous brands Davy Graham, Happy Traum, and David Laibman in addition to archival recordings and several various-artist series. In 2006 he started touring once more, making appearances within the U.S., Britain, European countries, and Japan. Grossman continues to be among the world’s foremost specialists on acoustic blues electric guitar.