His  monumental electric guitar solo on Letter to L.A. by Joe Ely would be enough to define David Grissom. Or on the album Lord of the Highway, but even more so in the visceral Live at the Liberty Lunch. David Grissom is one of the greatest guitarists in the world, capable of making songs and records take off in a few notes and with his own indelible trademark sound. This happens in the records by Joe Ely, James McMurtry and John Cougar Mellencamp, who together with Grissom in the band has written the best rock pages in the book of his carrier, among which Human Wheels. 

Over the years Grissom has played with dozens of great music stars: Buddy Guy, Dixie Chicks, John Mayall, Robben Ford, Allman Brothers Band, Ringo Starr, Chris Isaak, Bob Dylan. He also founded the super-band Storyville, with Stevie Ray Vaughan’s rhythm section.

Ten years ago, I was organizing a tour in Italy for Joe Ely, full band when I got a call from my friend Mario from Vicenza, who works as a solicitor but who organizes concerts for the love of it.
"You should ask Joe to bring David Grissom”, he said.
“Mario, that's not how it works!  Grissom hasn't played in Joe Ely's band for many years, it's up to Joe to pick his musicians. And there’s already Robbie Gjersoe on guitar!"
“Try anyway, come on, make them both come!”.
Mario was right, you’ve  always got to dream big, because sometimes even big dreams come true. It was an epic tour. Every single night something great would happen on stage,  but I would like to recall two anecdotes in particular. After the first date in Como the van literally caught fire and I can remember David braving the flames to save the equipment. The last stop of the tour in Livorno was equally surreal:  Joe Ely decided to open with a bottle of Barolo from the 60s that we’d been having around in the van for a few days, a special gift from a fan.

So, I wanted to dream big once again and what David Grissom brings to my record is just another crazy solid dream come true. The album starts with his electric guitar in Buon Anno Fratello. He turns Elijah Quando Parla into the most powerful song on the whole cd and - finally -  makes the horses of Where the Wild Horses Run fly, while playing along with Guzman's accordion. This is the only English song on the album and will be sung by 5 very special guests. I will soon reveal who they are. When the pandemic will be over, if you happen to be in Austin Texas, don't miss his concerts at the Saxon Pub which have been immortalized in a beautiful record that has just been released: Trio Live 2020.

David Grissom & Andrea

David Grissom - Trio Live 2020 CD Cover

David Grissom on stage with Joe Ely

Joel has got clearly defined ideas of the sound he intends to give to his albums and of how important his to record a solid rhythm section, with a powerful, resonant speaker. “I learned this trick from Buddy Miller and you’re lucky, Andrea, ‘cause you’re gonna have one of the best drummers in Austin playing on your record.  He’s a real force of nature and he’s got a brilliant path ahead”. Joel was talking about Brannen Temple, a drummer of jazz upbringing who can boast playing with Eric Burdon, Robben Ford, Ruthie Foster and Alejandro Escovedo. In studio he gives it all and in no time, together with David Carroll on bass guitar, he can put together the scaffolding of the songs structure he has in mind. Joel is absolutely right about Brannen: last year, he even won two grammy awards and he’s one the most requested musician in Austin.  

Brannen Temple plays on every track of the record. David Carroll does the same, except for  Se vedessi la baia ora where’s Angie playing and Where the wild horses run where Glenn Fukunaga is (another legendary musician who delighted me on his live gigs  and on the records together with my  favorite songwriters  (Joe Ely, Terry Allen, Flatlanders, Tom Russell, Eliza Gylkison, Dixie Chicks, Kevin Welch, Robert Plant, Bob Dylan and many others). Glenn Fukunaga learned to play his first instrument, the ukulele, at 11 in Hawaii, and later on he learned to master also piano, guitar, sax and of course, the bass guitar, which would become the one thanks to which he’s now known everywhere in the world.

David Carroll on stage with Bill Kirchen

Glenn Fukunaga

Brannen Temple

Let’s continue this journey to discover another musician who played on this record: the legendary Joel Guzman. It takes two notes of his accordion, or squeezebox as they call it over there, to be instantly enraptured towards Mexico.  Joel Guzman and Flaco Jimenez marked masterpiece albums with their instruments.

Most of my life, I had dreamed to visit Austin and after recording the guitar and vocal backing track of a dozen songs in Genzano, I finally flew there to record them with Joel, who at the time was playing with Paul Simon, Buddy Miller and Ricky Lee Jones.

Joel began playing as a child, touring America with his father's band and playing piano for Chuck Berry at a very young age. He’s probably the best accordionist in the world of his genre, right now. He got several Grammys for the albums Los Super Seven from 1998, and Polkas, Gritos y Acordeones from 2004, plus another for the 2010’s Crazy Heart soundtrack, a movie in which he also starred.

The first time I saw Joel, he was playing with Joe Ely. Their duo concerts had an incredible power. I got Joe and Joel to tour in Italy several times, through which we cemented our friendship. I have a beautiful memory of when we went together to Castelfidardo, the Italian town of accordions. Back then, Joel used to play a wonderful Baffetti accordion and so we went to visit the family factory were those were made. They welcomed him as if I had brought them Bruce Springsteen and there was mutual admiration. An unforgettable moment which the beauty of the Marche hills around us, covered with blooming sunflowers, vines, olive trees under a bright blue sky, made even more special.

Every time I went to Austin, I would host a dinner at the Guzman’s. Finding for the right ingredients was quite a challenge, but then somehow I would always make it, by enhancing the sauce with capers, anchovies and chili. I remember that time with the Parilla pasta all'arrabbiata and a Tuscan (?) wine called Bastardo which unleashed the best gritos ever!

Joel Guzman playing Hohner accordion

Joel Guzman as Producer

Joel and Andrea jamming @ Antone's

We started recording in Austin, Texas several years ago. Well, actually this goes further back and further away, in a small town in Italy called Genzano, in  the so-called Roman Castles (Castelli Romani) a group of municipalities on the hills surrounding the metropolitan city of Rome.

Today, I’m happy to introduce to you the first great guest of this album: Alex Valle, whom many of you will know as Francesco De Gregori's multi-instrumentalist player.

My friendship with Alex started, in fact, at a De Gregori concert that I myself had organized in Seveso in the early 2000s. A few weeks later, we started playing, hanging out and making memories of a wonderful summer together.  After playing with De Gregori in the most prestigious arenas in our country, every night, Alex, his dobro and mandolin on his back, would ride his motorcycle half through Italy to join me, in a small club, on a beach, or in the weirdest and extreme places I ended up playing at.

Because Alex would always get there, as soon as he could, no matter how far, even as far as Rotondella, a picturesque ancient village on the top of a mountain in the Basilicata region! Those were our roaring years of miles and miles and beers and beers after a concert. And the miles would multiply over and over because, at the time, I was also working as a roadie for the American songwriters I was touring with. One of my favorites was definitely Greg Trooper. Both as an artist, but above all as a person. It was a blast to tour with him. I saw Trooper for the first time in Italy in the mid 90's, when Carlini brought him here. A few years later, he looked for me, found me and set up a meeting in Coney Island in order to discuss his big return to Italy. Back then, my life was changing pretty fast, I was becoming a dad and so I decided to pass the torch to Alex, who became Greg's guitarist, roadie and eventually great friend.

Same thing happened also with James Maddock and other American songwriters. Alex Valle, as well as Paolo Ercoli and Max Malavasi, has been a precious partner during these years, besides giving proof of being an extraordinary musician. One of those friends, as my friend Malcolm Holcombe would say, who’s worth taking a bullet in the back for.

Alex is a tough guy, like a character out of a movie but - at the same time – a sensitive soul who works the land, produces his own wine and oil and can organize a moving cacio e pepe reunion in the middle of the night.

Alex would ride for miles with his motorcycle to reach me up till here where I live, or would sometimes drive his old Fiesta, but anyhow, there would always be a special room for him at my mom’s house. Just like I had mine at his place in a very central street of Genzano, where in June the town gets prepared for the annual magical flower display.

Beneath Alex’ house you’ll find find the Trattoria dei Cacciatori. Right in this restaurant, more precisely in front of the legendary pappardelle with hare sauce, the first ideas for this record arrangement were born. Most part of the acoustic guitars are those from Slide Area Studio of Genzano and, a few days ago, Alex added his pedal steel on  the track ‘È Solo Un Fiore’, which  combines just perfectly with David Immerglück’s electric guitar, with Radoslav Lorkovic’s piano and especially with Tim Lorsch’s strings. But I’ll tell you more about them in the next episodes…

Alex Valle on stage with Lucio Dalla & Francesco De Gregori

Alex Valle & James Maddock

Alex Valle with Greg Trooper & Woody