Sam Grisman Project (SGP) recently made a highly anticipated return to Bellingham, Washington’s Wild Buffalo House of Music, 2024. After SGP’s successful debut at the Wild Buffalo nearly two years ago, we were ready for another evening of Grateful Dead-Dawg inspired music.

Samson Grisman is the son of David Grisman, the revered musician whose mandolin playing has delighted millions for decades. The elder Grisman’s curiosity and talent took a traditional bluegrass instrument to innovative and unexpected musical spaces. With Hot Dawg, the groundbreaking album recorded in 1978 (released 1979 on his Acoustic Disc label), Grisman combined the diverse influences of bluegrass, manouche jazz, folk, and Old-World Mediterranean string band music to create what he called Dawg music.

Jerry Garcia and David Grisman’s musical relationship had begun with Grisman’s mandolin work on “Ripple’ and “Friend of the Devil” from the Grateful Dead’s 1970 album, American Beauty, and renewed in 1973 as fellow bandmembers in Old and in the Way, a short-lived but more traditional reading of bluegrass music. But it was their work in the early 1990s, resulting in a powerful musical concoction blending Django Reinhardt/Stéphane Grappelli-influenced jazz, bluegrass, folk, and blues, that produced the beloved and groundbreaking Jerry Garcia/David Grisman (1991, Acoustic Disc). That album, with tunes ranging from the aforementioned “Friend of the Devil” to B.B. King’s “The Thrill is Gone” to the Irving Berlin classic, “Russian Lullaby,” set a standard for boundary breaking interpretations of American music. Their collaboration and friendship would result in hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of recordings, most of which would be released posthumously following Jerry’s death in August 1995. It was those sessions, and environment, in the early 1990s in which young Sam was immersed and, as an adult, has informed his musical foray into the world of Dawg.

When I arrived at the Wild Buffalo on Nov. 14, the crowd was already buzzing with anticipation. Chatting with a fellow concertgoer who’d seen SGP perform on the same stage almost two years prior, we compared notes and pondered what might be on the set list this time. By the time the band hit the stage, the crowd had swelled to near the spacious venue’s capacity. By the evening’s end, it was clear that SGP has progressed down a path of musical exploration and invention. (The band! Sam Grisman: bass, vocals; Chris J. English: percussion, vocals; Logan Ledger: guitar, vocals; Max Flansburg: guitar, vocals; Victor Furtado: clawhammer banjo, vocals; John Mailander: fiddle.)

A pre-show announcement requesting that the audience refrain from talking during songs (but keep the enthusiasm high) foreshadowed the acoustic nature of the show. Indeed, the stage set-up revealed that we’d experience “wooden music” (to use an old David Crosby reference), as instruments would be played through microphones set up on-stage. Truly an unplugged concert.

The January 2023 show had featured two electric sets with an acoustic set placed in between, and a set list chock full of Grateful Dead covers. This time around the 26-song set featured material more suited to the acoustic bluegrass feel of the show, with fewer Dead covers, more traditional folk tunes, and selected original compositions.

Watch Sam Grisman Project perform Bruce Cockburn’s “Waiting for a Miracle” backstage at Delfest 2024 on YouTube:

Opening with the latter day Grateful Dead classic, the Robert Hunter-penned “Liberty,” established the band’s bluegrass bonafides. Dylan’s “The Wicked Messenger” followed and led into the evening’s first original; Logan Ledger’s “(I’m Gonna Get Over This) Some Day.” By the time we got to The Beatles’s “I’ve Got a Feeling,” I knew we were in for an eclectic, wide-ranging musical evening.

Although the evening would include a few more Dead covers (“Ramble On Rose,” “New Speedway Boogie,” and the show would close with “Going Down the Road Feelin’ Bad”), I had the feeling that the younger Grisman was (and is) blazing his own musical path. Compared to the previous Wild Buffalo show, the emphasis was placed on a more traditional approach, more folk, less rock. Performing two sets of all acoustic music in a venue known for hosting rock shows, DJ nights, and dance, SGP’s trust in its audience was evident. Despite a lone audience request to, “turn it up,” and Sam’s gentle response to “simply listen,” that trust was returned by an audience all in on the band’s commitment to, and performance of the songs. In making this an all-acoustic show featuring more original compositions, and covering songs outside the Garcia/Grisman canon, SGP furthered its own musical footprint and independence.

Watch the second set from Sam Grisman Project at the Hamilton Live in Washington, DC from October on YouTube:

SGP’s line-up has evolved over the last year to become a collective where new band members add musical texture and a magical dynamic. The ever-expanding catalog of new songs produces moments of on-stage spontaneity that keeps the players, and audience, on their toes. In much the same way the elder Grisman sought new and challenging avenues for musical expression, so too does his son. I, for one, can’t wait for Sam Grisman Project’s return to Bellingham, if only to see (and hear!) the next step in its musical evolution.

Sam Grisman Project has tour dates planned well into next year, including June 11, 2025, at DC’s Atlantis.

Check out Sam Grisman Project’s tourdates.

Here are some more photos of Sam Grisman Project at the Wild Buffalo on Nov. 14, 2024. All photos courtesy of and copyright Mark Caicedo (except where noted).