However, Frisell later reported the class effectively became private lessons from Smith because the emphasis on music theory "was too much for everyone else—they didn't want to be learning scales and inversions.

After graduating from Northern Colorado, Frisell went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston,[1] where he studied with Jon Damian and Jim Hall.

[10] In the early 1990s Frisell made two of his best-reviewed albums: first, Have a Little Faith,[1] an ambitious survey of Americana of all stripes, from Charles Ives and Aaron Copland (the entirety of Billy the Kid) to John Hiatt (the title song), Bob Dylan ("Just Like a Woman") and Madonna (a lengthy, psychedelic rock-tinged version of "Live to Tell"); and second, This Land, a complementary set of originals.

[10] Several of Frisell's songs, including his recording of "Over the Rainbow" and "Coffaro's Theme," originally composed in 1995 for an Italian movie, La scuola, were featured in the film Finding Forrester in 2000.

Also in 1999, he released The Sweetest Punch, which featured a seven-piece jazz ensemble reworking the tunes written and recorded by Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach on Painted from Memory.

[12] Between 2003 and 2005, Frisell acted as musical director for Century of Song, a series of concerts at the German Ruhrtriennale arts festival (produced by Lee Townsend).

Frisell invited artists including Rickie Lee Jones, Elvis Costello, Petra Haden, Jenny Scheinman , Suzanne Vega, Arto Lindsay, Loudon Wainwright III, Vic Chesnutt, Van Dyke Parks, Buddy Miller, Ron Sexsmith and Chip Taylor to perform their favorite songs in new arrangements.

[14] Frisell has united with Matt Chamberlain, Tucker Martine, and Lee Townsend in the Floratone band, and they released an album on Blue Note (2007) featuring guest performances of Viktor Krauss, Ron Miles and Eyvind Kang.

In June 2011, Frisell, Lee Townsend, and their frequent collaborator, Vinicius Cantuaria, participated in TEDx GoldenGateED's program, "Teaching Compassion" in Oakland, California.

Frisell's quintet includes violinist Jenny Scheinman, pedal steel and acoustic guitarist Greg Leisz, bassist Tony Scherr, and drummer Kenny Wollesen.