David Grossman has once again received critical acclaim by being chosen Folk Artist of the Year by The Rep. Performing professionally since 1981 he has been at the forefront of acoustic music here in the valley and continues to break new ground with projects such as his 10 CD box set, an interactive multimedia CD, and even a book available to read on-line. We caught up with David for a quick Q & A to find out more about what is on the mind of one of Arizona's hardest working musicians.

Music is for me what a carnival is to a carnie. Music is my passion and my way of survival. I love music. I love to listen to it, create it, perform it, and maybe most of all I enjoy the community and relationships it has blessed me with in my life. I still love to jam with other musicians. It is a way to communicate without talking. Music is a as close to that as I get.

I have professional music friends who I've known from before they were pros who tell me they don't like to sit around and jam anymore. Now that they are "signed" or whatever...they just don't feel it is fun to play for the hell of it. I don't disrespect that but I sure as hell pray that doesn't happen to me. In fact I would fight that feeling and jam with people even if I didn't feel like it. I'm not sure if it is ego or just a weird "growing up" faze that hits these people. Don't get me wrong. Some of the folks I'm talking about are incredible songwriters and performers. Some have had more commercial success than I....though ...in all modestly...I play a lot more often then anyone I know. Its like I'm a clown and music is my make up and I can't take it off. So I end up performing all the time.

Or I'm a carnie and music is my carnival. Either way you see it is a way of life...That's what music means to me. That is unique. You see like a lot of Circus people, I never met my real mother and father. In some ways the music community raised me. I was adopted by a couple and they raised me in some ways and the local music communities I lived around also shaped me. I hope that gives you an explanation as to the depth of my commitment and my extreme dedication to this craft.

Where are you performing now?

I'm at Michael's Restaurant in Scottsdale Friday and Saturday Nights. On Monday I host the Open Mic at Joe's Grotto. On Wednesdays I'm at The Coast Bar and Cafe in Scottsdale. On Thursdays I'm at Ice Breakers in Scottsdale. On Sundays I'm at Seasons..also in Scottsdale.

Joe's Grotto has got to be the longest running gig I have ever had. I hope to do it as long as there is Joe's Grotto. When Joe asked me to host the open mic I said I'd do it for a couple months..until he found a real host. I had hosted a lot of open mics and figured I had been there and done that. Well, how wrong I was. I have met and jammed with some great people at the Grotto. I consider it my family down there. We have started filming a movie called OPEN MIC THE MOVIE at the Grotto. I don't know when or if it will ever be finished but it sure has a blast doing it.

When I started the Songwriter's Circus there was a lot of criticism in the local media about the lack of original music in our local music scene. The Songwriter's Circus was a response to the criticism. We had a good thing going there every month for two years. The irony of it all was that not one of our shows was reviewed by any of the big media outlets. The very newspapers that were criticizing our music scene for being all "cover bands" never attended the Songwriters' Circus! They promoted it in the listings section...but they never came to one.

That is all behind me now. There are more and more showcases for songwriters popping up. I believe it is only a matter of time. The entertainment media and the entertainers will have to work together locally to build an audience for original music. When that happens it will be easier to get good songwriter's from around the country to fly out and share that audience. Until then it is like bringing the Circus to a ghost town. We have to build an interest in original music as entertainment. That means local radio and other local media have to have to expose and promote songwriters. That isn't happening yet.

David: Quite a few things going on right now. More than ever. I have been working on CD # 11. Stumbling Off 6th Street. It is available now through web site...but it is the music only version. This CD will be my first multi-media CD. The multi media version is almost finished. It was put together by Andy Kern and Jeff Patton. It is a regular music CD but when you put the CD in your computer you can see live performance footage on video, see photo slide shows put to some of the music tracks, there is a game called "guess which car Dave is sleeping in, and the part I am most excited about.... the book I wrote is there for all to read.

I'm recording with a band called "THE LEGAL LIMIT" . The band is Jason Montero, Greg Lisi, Johnny Kempt, and myself. Right now we are working on a project called "Bars". Half the songs are about being in bars and the other half are about being behind bars. Its about drinking and prison. For me it is a opportunity to share some songwriting and performing things I've never been able to express before. I'm learning from this. You know that is part of the whole "success" thing for me. I might be doing 30 or more gigs a month but I'm learning new songs, writing new songs, and growing. You don't need to play stadiums to create. Though it probably wouldn't hurt to play stadiums now and again.

You have released 10 CD's, including a box set and are now working on #11. That in itself is an accomplishment, but you have also been praised critically and by your peers as an excellent songwriter. Where do you draw your inspiration for such a wealth of material?

Songwriting has been a way of communicating for me since I was a child. I think the easiest answer would be to listen to the music. My early songs draw on imagination and the later songs draw on experience. This is something I observed while putting the 10 CD Box Set together. It makes sense. I was writing songs at 10 years of age. I had little life experience to draw upon. As I grew... life experience became my subject matter. The answer to this question is in the music. There is 20 years of my life reflected in 7 hours of music on 10 CDs. It is a unique collection.

You say you started your first gig in 1981, and now play 30 times a month. What would you tell an aspiring acoustic musician setting out to find gigs in the valley, and do you find Phoenix has enough venues to support the acoustic scene here?

Phoenix is booming. There are plenty of places to perform. You have to ask yourself if you want to be a public artist/entertainer or if you want to be a private artist. I think most people want to be entertainers when they are actuality private artists. Few songwriters want to perform their original music only to be asked to substitute Eagles' songs by their audience. But that is what being an artist/entertainer is about. You have to be able to remove yourself from something very personal and then go back to it at will. This talent can be learned. Granted, the more of yourself you put in your music the more difficult it is to learn. You might have written the best song you will ever write and want to perform it while your audience interrupts your song and asks to hear a song by the Monkees! Is that going to be ok with you? If not..then you are an artist...but not an entertainer. No shame in that.

When you are satisfied when the audience is satisfied regardless of who wrote the song then you are an artist/entertainer.

How do you see the Internet and technology affecting the music industry, or the solo artist who isn't backed by a major label? (or specifically an acoustic musician here in Phoenix?)

This is a huge question. How I see technology affecting the music industry requires a lot of room. I try to look at my position from a historical perspective. 100 years ago (approx.) throughout the rest of eternity there was no music unless someone played it . If you were a musician and you expected to make money from your music you had to show up to work. In some cases songwriters were hired to write music. After they sold the song it was owned by the person who hired them or became public domain. Most folk songs were written to communicate news (like Jesse James) or for the sheer joy of it.

I say this because I think anything that promotes the sharing of music is good for musicians. That means I think recorded music is good. I don't care if it is on a CD, LP, 8-Track, cassette,MP3 file, or Wave File. If you like my song you will probably want to see me perform. If not you might want to share it with someone who will. All these people who are upset about MP3 and Napster give music lovers a bad name. These people care about money more than music. It is that simple. There is also much wrong with the way royalties are distributed from performing rights organizations.

As for being backed by a label ...labels have a lot of money they can loan you. They can use it to promote you and they can get you distribution in stores. They can't make you good. They can't make you even sell. The Internet is taking the power of distribution away from the big labels. Now anyone in the world can download a song that originates from the artist's own home. Some really cool things have started to change the way recording contracts are being handed out. The most progressive example of this is probably www.garageband.com.

Definitely. People purchase CDs from my web site. People sign up for my monthly mailer and get my performance schedule every month then come to the gigs. The strange thing about me as an artist is that I was writing and recording for years without a web site. I got a web site about three years ago. Before that I had 9 albums done with no way to market them. I was working on number 10 when I met The Pattons. They offered to do my web site and all of a sudden I had a place to showcase my work.

Before that - I have no idea what I was thinking. I really had no practical reason for writing or recording most of my music other then the fact that it was a thread of sanity in an otherwise bizarre chain of events. Barry Graham helped me focus on my story and encouraged me to write a novel. I wrote it and put it on my web site. Now people come up to me and want to talk about my book. None of this would be possible without the Web.

I'd like to see the audience expand. Phoenix music will not get national attention without a national music publication based here. That is the 1st thing I would like to see. I'd like to see the next SPIN MAGAZINE have its headquarters in Phoenix. I know that is a lot of pressure to put on Southwest but you asked. Acoustic Scene should go national.

People always say we need record companies here. No we don't. We need a way to showcase the music we have. We need a TV show that mixes local and national acts. You know like "Phoenix City Limits" or "Folk Train".