"Red Haired Boy" - David Grier

www.midwestbanjocamp.com
Filmed by Brian Lee Bauer at the Midwest Banjo Camp's Faculty Concert (2011).
POSTED WITH PERMISSION BY THE ARTIST.

[@danielmargolis3210]

In a world filled with wonderful guitarists David Grier stands out. 🙏🏼

[@ztahs]

Cross picking from another galaxy. He is just soooooo inventive and original in his take on standard stuff. Really makes things come alive.

[@ztahs]

Grier is totally unique in his style. You can't listen to him and say oh yeah, I heard Doc Watson or Clarence White play that. One of my all time favs.

[@chetduke1900]

One of the purest performances of music you will ever witness. Gifted is an understatement.

[@USNAVDC]

That's exactly the same way I play Red Haired Boy...…….in my dreams! Amazing talent!

[@harrykersey9086]

WOW !!!! SMOOOOOOVE !i could listen to him forever !

[@curtvahle2018]

wow! I could listen to that all day long..............................................

[@floater156]

one of my favorite guitarists

[@tomellis37]

Oh, my.... Breathtaking! Sure wish I could play like that. So original, too!

[@symphonyfarm2009]

Man! The way Dave conceives of how to apply treatment to a melody and what can come from the melody in a stream of ideas is virtuous.

[@markshutts9229]

So fine, David, so fine!

[@allenturbeville1134]

Just WOW!!!

[@brandonbalenger7586]

Superb. I've been a Grier fan a long time. I love what he does with the melody of a song.

[@EagleEyeHunts]

This sent chills down my bluegrass music spine. Gorgeous rendition. Absolutely Gorgeous.

[@dubhmor]

Love this. It has almost more of a celtic guitar sound to it than most bluegrass versions I've heard. Reminds of an irish guitarist named Jon Hicks I recently found.

[@jagrell]

Fantastic.

[@anatol1204]

And one bravo from Greece..👏

[@greekflatpicker]

anatol1204 είναι ο καλύτερος!

[@joeosborn123]

What an artist!

[@RonDuligi]

Love it so much

[@ThrashRoC]

It is so great , because he Plays TOTALLY Freely , and What he Wants , he has Also a Phenomenal technique , Brilliant !!

[@alcoholya]

and some mysterious X factor of genius thrown in like a dash of turmeric or something..

[@Englishinislington]

David Grier is a master. This is an incredible arrangement and performance.

[@monsterzero1965]

You actually hear red haired boy in that???

[@ThrashRoC]

one of my ABSOLUTE Favourite Acoustic Player ! Brilliant ...

[@illgoggia]

i discovered this video last week... i already watched it 100 times...

[@turrafirmaguitarchannel]

This deserves more views. I really like the dry tone of your guitar with old strings maybe? Each note is very clear and defined. Not to mention your technique!!

[@bobthabuilda1525]

My God...that was a borderline spiritual experience.

[@alcoholya]

come across the border mate, it's not illegal to love this music.

[@symphonyfarm2009]

Old Dave lost all his Red Hair! - but the sentiment is still there. Most wise words I ever heard were from this man playing a gig at Nectars in Burlington " If you are half way decent, and you give a tune a chance, any tune can be really good" Thanks D

[@axeman2638]

dunno about that, recent pop music is utterly beyond redemption, even a virtuoso like David here couldn't save it.

[@PlanetHarley]

It is soooo smooth because he is a master of the intstument. One of his early mentors had that too; an easy touch with the right hand. Some of those notes he picked three strokes ago are still moving the top. The tone is coaxed from the wood by his experienced hands. Just the right touch makes all of that susatain.

[@mqa1963]

This is what like to hear out a guitar player.. who does he play like ? like himself. you dont have to guess who it is when you hear him. the same for tony, pat, etc.

[@howlinhoward]

Wow this is so sweet. Lots of ideas, beautiful, fluid playing.

[@tammypyle7325]

So good makes you want to cry.

[@emadismusic]

Man, this is just fabulous. No great surprise though, since Grier is a great picker and musician.

[@strangestfascination]

Wow. Just beautiful.

[@DavidFederLimitlessGuitar]

David was at our venue this past weekend with the Helen Highwater Band. Awesome!

[@235buz]

Being a musician myself,I don't like to put musicians in catagories, good, bad, best, ect.... I will say, I really enjoyed this. Thanks for posting it.

[@Sluggo01]

So very accurate.....nice, thanks dave

[@bstimy]

A total original, totally tasty playing.

[@skullduggery3377]

even tony rice would say 'phew'!

[@chadk2525]

Bognish

[@MrGitpicker]

Just love his playing. He doesn`t play as choppy and staccato as some flatpickers..

[@jopjopjop]

Man oh man, this is amazing

[@jankastubniakova8640]

unbelieveable...wow

[@ThrashRoC]

Yeah , man This is How an Acoustic should sound ! , i mean i wish i could play this virtuos , i start with bluegrass before 3 weeks or so , and i m coming from the blues/rock , i mean i still love good rock songs , but THIS is the shit to play on an acoustic! Now i can play (more or less , not so virtuos) Beaumont rag and Blackberry blossom , and i have HELL of FUN !!!! Yeah David Has SUCH an BRILLIANT STYLE !!!! the Music who comes out is just ..Unbelievable Beautiful !!

[@bigredridinhood]

Holy Crosspicking Batman!

[@ThrashRoC]

LoL !

[@digitalsketchguy]

@@ThrashRoC where you been?

[@dfmontgomery91]

unreasonable..yes ! Renders me somewhat anhedonic briefly and maybe a little disoriented..Lovely !

[@alcoholya]

thumbs up for the 'anhedonic'...

[@pprinkey]

David ,you are unrivaled in the great stile you play.Love the song.Miss hearing your D-18 though.

[@GeordieHalma]

pprinkey Unrivaled? Seriously?

[@greekflatpicker]

Thanks so much for uploading this video. He is my favorite flatpicker.

[@neilabercrombie5430]

7/4. This is great.

[@budg.6094]

Has anyone ever flat-picked better than this? I don’t think so

[@michaelwas8549]

Rockin da house!!

[@greekflatpicker]

Grammy winning performance

[@goose1785]

fantastic

[@alcoholya]

I make small improvements in my guitar playing skill every year, but I like to come to this video every now and then to realize I can't and never will play this instrument with any expertise.

[@alan4sure]

Neither will 99.9% of we flatpickers...but that's okay.😁

[@budg.6094]

We shouldn’t compare ourselves to guys such as this. A person can be only half as good and still be an excellent player, IMO

[@Colorado4x4]

I love this version! I tabbed out his Red Haired boy from Live at the Linda and from the Homespun DVD. This is mostly similar to the Live at the Linda version. I should tab this one out too.

[@digitalsketchguy]

Care to share?

[@phillipgoggans]

This is insane

[@birdyfinger]

Magical ! fab

[@shicks918]

birdyfinger i

[@matthewmccord5640]

And he makes it look easy...

[@lateralbeats]

awesome flow

[@bfullcolo]

David did a great job of weaving the melody into a crosspicking self accompaniment. I think it is really artistic and well done. I play a straightlaced version of RHB for flatpick contests but I think I'll lift some of David's stuff from here ;) Regarding guitars. I have a Martin D35 that makes a great sound but I have to say that my Roy Nobel (built in 1980) beats the Martin hands down for both volume and beautiful sound.

[@GeordieHalma]

Dude plays this song like it's a George Winston piece.

[@merlynschutterle7242]

It probably isn't that other players can't play this the same way. What makes it different is that he invented it.

[@diver923us]

Is there an mp3 of this available? I have a different performance I pulled from his website which is excellent but this one is outstanding.

[@jocwalk]

Interesting. His right hand position has changed. For years, he did what some call a "paw" (closed right hand) right hand technique. He's great, as always but I just find it interesting that it's changed after all these years.

[@ztahs]

Grier's styles is totally unique. Cross picking on steroids if you will. Very fluid and it often sounds as if there is more than one person playing.

[@jimsatterfield8748]

You could drive a truck through that groove

[@bstimy]

Holy F !

[@alcoholya]

Ben Jammin uck.

[@bstimy]

well done, ha.

[@nickfox3146]

It that a Dake Traphagen BRS Steel guitar that David is playing here?

[@bertlau569]

Yes, David's Traphagen

[@jamesbusse1543]

this is to reality what Picasso is to art/

[@alcoholya]

with a tad of Bartok thrown in, but they'll never notice...

[@crispinpartridge4466]

However good the performance is it is spolied by the sound quality - exessive low frequency booming.

[@cburns3256]

What is that chord ar 2:26 ?😀

[@dooweegp]

Go to your local music store and play some guitars. As far as quality of tone, workmanship, clarity and ease of playing, a few guitars such as Martin or Taylor blows every other brand away, especially the non-USA brands.

[@alan4sure]

Preston Thompson's too. Played by Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Jake Workman...

[@gravekeepergrier]

That's my name.

[@customcom]

@wacissa27 Traphagen Guitars made by Dake Traphagen

[@lukeman3001]

Did you listen to the whole thing?

[@popoaggie]

@wacissa27 I don't know but it has some killer bottom end, don't it?

[@Ahaseheset]

@wacissa27 It's got a Guild bridge....But, I don't know if that means anything.

[@alcoholya]

Traphagen guitar, I think.

[@GuitarSlinger2112]

This appears to be a Guild with crown inlay on the headstock, but it's hard to tell with that mic stand in the way.. But yeah, nothing beats Martin. Taylor can't even come close w/o post processing.

[@robhintz9263]

It's a Traphagen

[@USNAVDC]

Did David Grier invent the guitar? :-/

[@HAMILTONPROVIDEO]

Everybody in the audience went home and threw away their guitars.

[@softailspringer9915]

Nice take on an old chestnut. But here’s a question. Why in Bluegrass do we play the same old tunes over and over. It’s like going to hear rock bands and everyone of theM plays Twist and Shout! What’s your theory on this?

[@alan4sure]

So that anybody from anywhere playing bluegrass can play the standards together in a jam. We all know them.

[@softailspringer9915]

@@alan4sure yup, you’re right, gotta have the standards

[@turrafirmaguitarchannel]

Though in Irish they put several tunes in a set for the dancers. They match tunes by tempo but in different keys. It’s very cool.

[@oldtimetinfoilhatwearer]

Wouldn't be traditional music if we didn't keep playing traditional tunes now would it?

[@bjornfranzen1022]

Who needs the TAB? ;) Got it, PM me

[@guitthis4728]

sheet music? pm ;)

[@digitalsketchguy]

My Bert Weedon book doesn't cover this. Damn! I want a refund.

[@JLDB1987]

He Kenny Smith and Bryan Sutton are the best, IMHO

[@dobrodave123]

Depends on the store I suppose. A few that come to mind are Borgious, Collings, Santa Cruz, Froggy Bottom, and about a zillion boutique builders. I suspect he's playing some custom build, but that takes nothing away from Martin. Every instrument is unique; Martin is simply the standard to start at. There's some so-so , good & great Martins. The old stuff sure sounds good, but not many folks can afford Braz Rosewood instruments. We're in the 2nd golden era of instrument building. Go find 1 u love

[@michaelmoyer4268]

And The devil laid the golden guitar at David’s feet…

[@moonwoofmars]

The amazing Troy Grady turned me on to David (What a wicked,awesome player)There's also a younger man named Martin Miller who can lay down some killer licks of his own,but then he'll through a few bars of hybrid picking,OMG that hybrid thing is just retarded,absolutely mind blowing talent in Mr Grady himself...

[@Teleman01]

One of my fav guitar players! But those strings sound dead as can be lol.

[@G_Demolished]

He has the wallet from Pulp Fiction.

[@snakesandsticks]

I guess I haven't heard Red Haired Boy either... It's reminiscent of RHB, but seems more than a little artistic liberty has been taken. The guitar work is great, don't get me wrong. But it is certainly not what folks typically recognize as RHB.

[@alan4sure]

True. But till amazing.

[@jackgriffith9229]

😂Red Haired Boy ? Really? By a Bald man who is probably the most amazing musician to have to play a song about hair !!😂

[@alienwatch2121]

Red haired boy ? Dont you mean baldhead old man 😜

[@gjkarreman6284]

Uuupu

[@tjmeade1996]

This guy is masterclass level! But that guitars low end sounds like garbage. Outstanding performance though.

[@jocwalk]

Great guitarists no doubt but what about Cody Kilby, Roy Curry, Josh Williams, and Clay Jones to name just a few?

[@lazaruscome4th]

welp, if'n you're done warmin' up with all that big long series of hot licks, how bout playing us some red haired boy now,

[@seanearnest]

Jesus Christ

[@jimbuck2996]

Excellent playing, but that is not Red Haired Boy.

[@legalize.brokkoli]

Did the *Official Bluegrass Society Of The United States Of America* refuse to certify this version? What a bummer.

[@isaacbeen2087]

yes it is! get better ears!

[@mermaidcandy]

sounds nothing like red haired boy, it should be titled something else

[@monsterzero1965]

Red Haired Stepchild

[@isaacbeen2087]

didn’t you get past the intro?

[@monsterzero1965]

Not recognizable as Red Haired Boy or sumpin lahk dat

[@isaacbeen2087]

didn’t you get past the intro? it’s quite recognizable!

[@Striker7.62]

I think it's funny how you flat pickers are so obsessed with martins.

[@alan4sure]

They set the standard decades ago, that's why.