"The idea that music (and all art for that matter) is progressive - always moving and becoming more 'modern' - is one concept that has, to a certain extent, always bothered me. This goes hand in hand with the notion largely propogated by the music industry that 'old' music is disposable. The frighteneing thing is that 'old' can mean last year's or even last month's music.

"Certainly music is created within timely contexts - Mozart in 1780, Bill Monroe in 1946 - but its intrinsic, aesthetic value is timeless. I like to look at the musical process as a continuum, and although it usually does move forward (old time music evolved into bluegrass) it occassionally can - and should - move backward (or even sideways!). After all, where we've been might be just as enriching as where we're headed."

--David Grisman from the booklet accompanying his CD, 'Retrograss'