Freewheeling (Rounder Records 0250, 1988) is the debut studio album from David Grier, the Atlanta-born flat-pick guitarist who had already established himself as one of the most technically commanding voices on the instrument. Grier plays guitar throughout; Roland White plays mandolin; Billy Joe Foster plays banjo; Stuart Duncan plays fiddle; and Mark Schatz provides bass and frailing banjo on various tracks. The album announced Grier's combination of velocity and musical intelligence to a wide audience, presenting original compositions alongside reimagined traditional material. Rooted in the Clarence White flat-pick tradition, Grier's playing synthesizes bluegrass mechanics with harmonic sophistication that pushed against genre boundaries. Freewheeling appeared at a moment when the acoustic instrumental album was gaining renewed attention, and it quickly became a reference point for flat-pick guitarists of the following generation.
Tracklist
- 1 Wheeling 2:41
- 2 Shadowbrook 3:09
- 3 The Old Hotel Rag 3:24
- 4 Angeline the Baker alt version 4:28
- 5 Bluegrass Itch 2:22
- 6 Alabama Jubilee Source Recording 2:52
- 7 A Blue Midnite Star 3:47
- 8 Roanoke alt version 2:13
- 9 If I Knew Her Name 4:30
- 10 Gold Rush alt version 3:02
- 11 Fog Rolling Over The Glen 1:53
- 12 The New Soldier's Joy 3:04
