Truefire – David Grissom’s Open Road Guitar (2014)

You’d only need fingers and toes to count up the number of guitarists whose sound is so singular that you’d recognize them immediately by ear alone. David Grissom would definitely make that list long before you even got to your toes. In fact, David’s tone, style and musicality is so distinct that it likely wouldn’t take more than a measure or two to crack a smile of recognition.

“David Grissom is a guitar geek’s dream, an inventive player who combines power, finesse, theory and good taste into a disturbingly virile mix that straddles the line between beautiful abstraction and full-tilt boogie. Grissom is both virtuoso and journeyman, sideman and leader, merciless road dog and insouciant studio gun-for-hire.” – William Michael Smith, Houston Press

We are majorly stoked to welcome David to the TrueFire family. He’s been on our personal wish list for a very long time and he’s also one of the most requested artists on student surveys. All good things come to those who wait and indeed, Open Road Guitar is chock-full of very, very good things.

David has toured and recorded with Storyville, John Mellencamp, Joe Ely, Allman Brothers, Dixie Chicks, James McMurtry, Webb Wilder, Chris Isaak, Robben Ford, Ringo Starr, Buddy Guy, John Mayall and many other brand name bands and artists. He’s also got four critically acclaimed albums of his own under his belt.

Fortunately for we students of the fretboard, David is also a passionate and generous educator who is willing to pass on what he’s learned from his own mentors as well as lift the hood on the key concepts and techniques that he’s developed on his own.

“When I first started playing guitar there were very few places to go to get information. I’m still unlearning many of the things that I was taught very early on! I’m known for mixing styles, genres, cross-pollinating things into all sorts of situations that are not usually deemed conventional. Hopefully some of the things that I’ve learned along the way I can pass along to you in this course to help you along your own journey.”

David organized Open Road Guitar into two sections. In the first section, he presents the 25 key concepts and techniques that comprise his signature style: Hand Position, Picking Technique, Hybrid Picking, Hybrid Hammers & Pulls, Double Stops, Soloing with Triads, Vibrato, String Bending, Pedal Steel Style Bends, Pedal Steel Licks in Other Styles, Using the Thumb, Texas Shuffle Feel, Pedal Tones, Using Sus Chords, Rakes, Chord Voicings For Rhythm, Soloing Within Chords, Major Scale Fingerings, Mixolydian Mode, Dorian Mode, Pentatonic Scale Fingerings, Adding Chromatics, Incorporating Open Strings, What Makes A Great Solo and Gear Talk.

In the second section, David guides you through 10 soloing studies where he demonstrates and breaks down solos, which apply all of the key concepts and techniques from the first section: A Funky Vamp, Rolling E Train, Minor Pedal, Texas Shuffle, Taking the A7 Train, The Milk Truck, Slow B Groove, Slow E Groove, Wide Open E and Major All Over. As a special bonus for Grissom fans, David also shows you the “correct” way to play What Passes For Love (worth the price of admission alone!).

David demonstrates all of the key concepts and techniques over rhythm tracks, and then breaks it all down in a clear and very accessible manner. All of the performance examples are likewise performed over killer rhythm tracks and then broken down technique-by-technique. The performances are tabbed and notated, plus all of the rhythm tracks are included for you to work with on your own.

SIDE NOTE: This course took twice as long as usual to get out of the studio because the boys in post-production were frequently observed with guitars in their hands copping David’s moves instead of editing and color correcting the footage.

We can’t blame them and neither will you. Click on!