David Grossman
Troubadour At Large

One great thing about this city is the diversity of its local music scene. We have hundreds of artists performing in dozens of musical genres - within which are sub-genres, and variations of genres, and interpretations of genres- twisted and shaped to please just about any type of musical taste. What a glorious thing this is.

Unfortunately, one thing that can slam the rich enjoyment of being allowed to feast upon this creative smorgasbord right down to the pit of the bowels- even faster than a Tijuana tamale - is the unprofessionalism that inevitably accompany some of these...AHEM... artists. Rock Star Attitude buzzes around the heads of certain performers like flies around piles of shit. Made of the same stuff, I guess. True musicianship takes a back seat to ego. And we've all heard it before. The Heaving Horse Asses won't play this bar be- cause it's not part of the Tempe clique. Or their buds, Drooling Dipshits, will only play if they get eighty per cent of the door. And lets not forget the part some of the bars in this town play when they refuse to hire decent, deserving artists because they don't have the bad hair, bad clothes, bad breath, and bad music sported by too many of the generic bands of the moment.

Now, truly, does it not stink that something as primal and passionate as musical expression should be contaminated by lousy politics? So, when an artist as professional and unpolitical as David Grossman is active and successful on the Valley scene, it's tough not to notice the contrast between a true musician who is in the business for the love of art, and who actually works towards improving and expanding the local situation, and those who strive towards nothing nobler than building themselves up in their own minds, tearing down other artists in the process, and adding to the deterioration of our local scene for as lame a reason as playing in the same two or three cliche bars over and over again.

Now, at this point, I'd like to invite those of you out there who are rolling your eyes and commenting on how David Grossman must be my brother or best friend, or whatever, to bite me. Fact is, I've never even met the guy. But his philosophy on how to keep our local scene thriving is about one of the healthiest I've heard in a long time; and for Those of you who scoff, his performance record should speak for itself. Grossman regularly performs thirty plus gigs a month, sometimes twice in one day. Since his professional debut at the age of fourteen in his home town of San Francisco, he's released eight full-length original recordings, and just debuted his ninth on February 15.

He's worked with Clarence Clemens, Clemens, Michael Hedges, Marty Balin, Michelle Shocked, and even Robin Williams, to name a very few.Four Non-Blondes have opened for him. But while some performers might be tempted to sport a certain amount of attitude after so long and prolific a career, Grossman's objectives remain simple. "I'm happy. I can do this for a living... I'm not looking at getting a major label deal." he states. "I'm not miserable now because I don't have one. I would be more miserable if I got a record deal and then they shelved me." That's not to say that Grossman would necessarily turn his nose up if the right offer came along, however. But with a catalog of original compositions that number three hundred or so, and with many of his compositions being recorded by other artists, and even picked up for use in films and movies, he is in the rare position to be more selective about accepting the right type of deal than most performers - the type of deal that would treat his original material in the right way. "If someone wants to take on my catalog and promote it," he said, "then I would be willing to try to deal with them, including possibly recutting some songs. But it's not something I'm dying for.

So David Grossman focuses mainly on improving the live performance market in his own backyard. It's a system of conducting business that has allowed him to perform his particular brand of folk-oriented live music in clubs and other venues seven days a week for more than a year. But he believes that almost any act, in almost any genre, can keep themselves actively working simply by following a similar plan. "In this town," he said, "there's a little network of cliques with places to play, and if you're not feeding the network somehow with advertising and with funds, you're not going to get anywhere. I don't even attempt to go into those places. I play places where no one else plays... I mean, there are so many things happening in this town, so many places to go. It' a boomtown. There's work for everybody..

But just how does an act go about securing a new place to play... perhaps a place that has never even offered live music before? "You have to be able to start a place off somehow. If you go into a place that doesn't have live music, and they're willing to try it out, you have to be able to tell them 'Okay, I'll play tonight, and if it works out, pay me fifty bucks.' If, at the end of the night, it goes well, they ask you to come back again, and they pay you a little more next time.

But you've got to be willing to work with some of these places, instead of bar owners and bands always working against each other. There's money to be made in this town playing live music, and bars can be successful hosting live music." After a moment, he added with a laugh, "It seems like if you go into a place where nobody else is playing, no one gets pissed off at you for playing there. If you go into a place that already has music, and you've just knocked somebody off their regular gig, there is a lot of bad vibes. It's like everybody is saying, "I've got to get into this bar or that bar." Why even let those places be your ultimate goal? I mean,.they're not the be-all and end-all of places to play in this town - or if they are to you, then you're doing it for a different reason. You're not into it to entertain people. You're in it for the fame and glory."

There is one gig in town in which Grossman's vested interest is purely monetary. Besides keeping busy playing every day of the year, Grossman also likes to lend his time to hosting the Xerox Salsa Challenge, that benefits the Arizona Hemophilia Association. "This is my sixth year doing this," he said. "It's April 4th at Scottsdale Stadium. 1 think the headliners are going to be Dead Hot Workshop, and there'll be a few other bands playing. I'll be playing myself for about four hours during the day. We just go out there and have a good time, and raise some money...for kids with AIDS and hemophilia. They can really use all the support they can get."

So, if you find yourself with a little time on your hands on April 4th, take a ride out to Scottsdale Stadium to help out a good cause. And while you're at it, take a good look at what is, at times, all too rare a sight in this town - an - actual musician.