David Grisman, Del McCoury lead the way at Rohnert Park bluegrass festival

For music fans who want to hear some of the best bluegrass musicians in the country this weekend, a trek to the Appalachian Mountains or Nashville’s Grand Ol’ Opry won’t be necessary. All it takes is a quick trip Sunday, July 12, to Rohnert Park, where the Green Music Center will present the one-day “Dawg Day Afternoon Bluegrass Festival.”

The star of the show is master mandolinist David Grisman, a longtime Petaluma resident who collaborated for decades with his close friend, Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. And his special guest for the concert is Del McCoury, a regular at the Grand Ol’ Opry who started his career playing with Bill Monroe, the founder of bluegrass music.

Currently on tour, Grisman took time last week for an email Q&A interview about this week-end’s festival, bluegrass music and his latest work.

Q: You’ve said in previous interviews that you fell in love bluegrass music and instruments as teen-ager. What was it that caught your imagination?

A: Actually it was the five-string banjo, played in the style of Earl Scruggs by Walter Hensley the banjo player with Earl Taylor and the Stoney Mountain Boys, whose rendition of White House Blues” was on a Folkways LP called “Mountain Music Bluegrass Style,” that I heard when I was in high school. After that I was smitten by the bluegrass bug, and subsequently many other musical bugs.

Q: You’ve crusaded to expand the audience for traditional music. What do you hope the audi-ence will take away for “Dawg Day Afternoon”?

A: An enjoyable experience of some top-flight musicians and their music.

Q: Why do you feel about Del McCoury’s participation in this show? What is his most important contribution to the genre?

A: In my humble opinion, The Del McCoury Band is the finest bluegrass band in the world. Del is one of the great bluegrass singers and rhythm guitarists, and his sons Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (banjo) are fabulous, home-grown virtuosos. Jason Carter is one of the best fiddlers in the idiom and Alan Bartram rounds it out on bass. I’ve been fortunate to call Del my friend for 52 years now, and I saw his first gig (playing banjo) with Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys back in 1963. I’d say his most important contribution to the genre is preservation of a truly American art form.

Q: How about a quick update on your current touring and recording plans?

A: This year is a busy one for me. I have two touring bands, the David Grisman Sextet and the David Grisman Bluegrass Experience and also having been playing duo gigs with Del McCoury and another old friend, John Sebastian, as well as some other special events. The sextet is working on a new recording project, my first album of original tunes in 10 years.

Q: Can you recap for us how the “dawg music” term was coined and what it means to you?

A: Jerry Garcia gave me the nickname Dawg back in 1973 and because I write a lot of instrumental music with various stylistic influences, I’ve been able to utilize that monicker in various ways to name pieces, i.e. “Dawg’s Bull”, “Dawgology”, “Dawg’s Waltz” and as a name for my style as well.

You can reach staff writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @danarts.