Right, @boxer12?! Even cooler, Todd ended up working with Grisman, as an equal. All it takes is talent! Todd, like the rest of us suburban musicians, became interested in Roots music after hearing it played by The Band and the other great late-60's groups, plus Dylan's John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline albums (recorded in Nashville with all the 1st-call studio musicians): The Byrds Sweethearts Of The Rodeo album, the Will The Circle Be Unbroken album, The Flying Burrito Brothers Sin City album, etc.
We all traced the music back to the 30's, 40's, and 50's, back to the first generation of musicians, songwriters, and singers who created it originally. While most the English guys focused on Blues (Clapton, Page, Peter Green, etc.; Richard Thompson, Albert Lee, and Dave Edmunds were notable exceptions. Thompson's Fairport Convention was very influenced by The Band and their own local music, Albert by Country guitarists and pedal steel players, Edmunds by Chuck Berry and Rockabilly), when we had drunk from the Blues well 'til we were satiated, we turned to the other major Rock & Rock ingredient: Hillbilly/Bluegrass/Western Swing, etc.
Later we would discover the music that was the direct forbearer of R & R, the Jump Blues of the late-40's/early-50's. Louis Jordan rules! Asleep At The Wheel performs Jordan's "Choo Choo Cha Boogie" (as did I in a mid-70's Bay Area band), and Lyle Lovett's Big Band digs into the style. Dozens of "honkers" (sax players) and "shouters" (singers such as Big Joe Turner) were making the music that Elvis, Jerry Lee, and all the other white hillbillies were listening to on the Race stations in the South, along with The Grand Old Opry. There is a great Jump Blues double-LP compilation entitled Honkers & Shouters, a good introduction to the genre.
