DON GRIESER

Don Grieser, whose stirring mandolin melodies punctuate Raising Cane’s music, is a country boy from the Indiana cornfields. He started off playing the piano when he was six, but switched to guitar and later added mandolin, mandola and octave mandolin to his musical toolbox. Don, a gifted songwriter, earned a journalism degree at Indiana University, but made his way to New Mexico more than 25 years ago to teach on the Ramah Navajo Reservation.

These days, he lives in an adobe home at the base of a 200-foot mesa near Pine Hill and teaches visual imaging and music. Don, a founding member of the acclaimed Red Mesa Rounders, was a finalist in the1998 RockyGrass mandolin contest. With Gregg Daigle, he co-founded Raising Cane, New Mexico's hottest new bluegrass group. Don has studied with Frank Wakefield, Mike Compton, Lou Martin, Roland White and Butch Baldasarri. He counts Bill Monroe, the Beatles, and J.S. Bach among his musical influences.

Don's sincere lyrics and powerful bluegrass refrains, such as "The Adobe in the Pines," which is also featured on Raising Cane's album, have earned him accolades as a fresh, innovative songwriter grounded solidly in the magic of the Southwest. As Grieser promises in his lyrics, "… we call this place our home. And though the road beckons me, I never more will roam." >> back