Tony Rice
Once in a while someone comes along who creates such a strong and unique musical
identity that he transforms the way other think about music itself. A musicians‟
musician, Tony Rice epitomizes the best in bluegrass and acoustic music.
Tony is a mighty successor in a long line of musical icons. Bill Monroe and Earl
Scruggs, two of the original creators of bluegrass music, dropped a huge rock in the
musical thought-pond of their time with their original approaches to reinventing tradition.
The waves from that rock are still radiating outward sixty years later as their radical
innovations have come to be seen as “traditional.” This ability to assimilate tradition and
fashion it into an entirely personal expression has always been the lifeblood of bluegrass
music. Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers, Reno & Smiley, Jimmy Martin,
Jim & Jesse, the Country Gentlemen, Doyle Lawson, J.D. Crowe – all pillars of the genre
– were all innovators in their respective times.
Each era, too, has consistently spawned its own distinctive lead guitar stylist. Earl
Scruggs often switched from banjo to guitar on gospel songs, finger-picking melodies in
a banjo-esque Merle Travis style. Don Reno would lay down the banjo to burn a lead
guitar break with a flatpick every now and again. George Shuffler played his crosspicked
lead guitar with the Stanley Brothers. Theses stellar musicians – along with others of that
era – laid some of the groundwork, but bluegrass guitar, as we know it today simply
didn‟t exist. A comprehensive and definitive lead guitar style in bluegrass did not begin
to evolve until the late 1950‟s and early 1960‟s.
Out on the East coast, Doc Watson provided a foundation by playing note-for-note fiddle
tunes on the guitar, extending the guitarist‟s reach in the world of old-time and bluegrass
soloing. Out west, Clarence White‟s style combined fiddle tunes, crosspicking, extended
eighth-note runs, and a sophisticated sense of syncopation with a big rhythm sound.
Watson and White forever revolutionized the definition of bluegrass guitar, making it a
totally viable and acceptable soloing option in the bluegrass band. From the mid-sixties
until his tragic death in 1973 no other guitarists, except Doc Watson, had such a popular
impact on bluegrass guitar as Clarence White.
In 1959 his band, the Country Boys, were playing on a radio show in Los Angeles called
Town Hall Party. A nine-year-old boy named Tony Rice was there, singing a Buck
Owens tune called “Under Your Spell Again.” Tony, previously exposed mainly to the
bluegrass music of Flatt & Scruggs, Reno & Smiley, and the Stanley Brothers, turned the
teenaged Clarence into an instant idol.
Tony began to imitate Clarence‟s style and technique, the first building blocks to creating
a sound of his own. In the mid-sixties Rice heard Doc Watson, who became the second
most important influence on his early development. Although Tony began by imitation,
it wasn‟t long before he moved from duplication to reaching into the heart of Clarence‟s
and Doc‟s artistry – personal expression pushing traditional boundaries. Throughout his
early teen and high school years, Rice was developing the guitar voice of his own unique
musical personality, grounded in the technical and conceptual advances of Clarence
White and Doc Watson.
Tony first heard modern jazz in 1967, and suddenly had a realization: “Music is not all
hands-on. It‟s not all just playing and practicing and sitting there with your guitar eight
hours a day…. It was a very important time for me in that I realized that you can absorb
these ideas by not even being near a guitar. If you listen to stuff enough, you can
eventually incorporate part of that into your overall musical identity…” His love of
listening to jazz comes in his guitar work from that time until the present day.
As he was developing and expanding his technique and musical concept, Tony‟s
contributions played a major role in many innovative and influential bands throughout the
„70‟s, 80‟s, and 90‟s. In 1970 he made the move from California to Kentucky, joining
the Bluegrass Alliance, replacing Dan Crary, who had made great strides in carving out a
niche in bluegrass for guitar solos. On Labor Day, 1971, Rice joined the original J.D.
Crowe & the New South, staying until Labor Day, 1975. Their self-titled LP on
Rounder, with Crowe, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, and Bobby Slone, has been a huge
influence on contemporary bluegrass since its release in 1975 and has redefined the
possibilities of tasteful innovation. Rice‟s tenure with Crowe raised his profile in the
bluegrass world and helped build the platform for his own career.
Around that time, Tony met David Grisman. Tony remembers hearing Grisman‟s
innovative sound: “This music…had never been heard before…it was mind-boggling, it
was so pleasant. It had a beauty all its own, and a gustiness.” After his four years with
Crowe, Tony joined the David Grisman Quintet. Working with John Carlini, Grisman‟s
departing guitarist, Rice began to expand his knowledge of chord theory, scales, and
modal concepts. With Grisman, Tony began to step outside of the boundaries of normal
bluegrass lead while still retaining the physical power of his bluegrass technique in this
new form of string jazz. In 1977, the Quintet released its debut album, setting another
acoustic standard, this time for the jazzier sounds of New Acoustic and “Dawg” Music.
Tony left Grisman‟s band in 1979 to follow his own musical vision. His recordings
continued to reach new heights, setting ever-higher standards for the genre. The seminal
Manzanita of 1979 provided a benchmark for vocal-oriented acoustic music, as did Cold
on the Shoulder, on of his more bluegrassy projects during this period. His instrumental
experimentation continued with the spacegrass sounds of Acoustics, Mar West, Still
Inside and Backwaters. With Me and My Guitar and Native American, Tony achieved a
wide-ranging synthesis of his ideas, incorporating his bluegrass, jazz, and folk influences
into a pop sensibility without sacrificing the coherency of each project. The guitar work
is exquisitely improvisational, jazz-influenced, and yet still melodic. These recordings
have made an everlasting impression on countless musicians – including a young Alison
Krauss, whose musical taste and production skills have been greatly influenced by
Tony‟s musical thought.
Alongside Tony‟s unique and experimental vision, his love of straight-ahead bluegrass
continued. 1981‟s The Bluegrass Album with Tony, J.D. Crowe, Doyle Lawson, Bobby
Hicks and Todd Phillips, a powerful collection of bluegrass standards mostly from the
Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs repertoire, became the measuring stick for much of the
bluegrass recorded over the next generation. This traditional expression continued in a
series of five more recordings with what came to be known as “The Bluegrass Album
Band”: The Bluegrass Album Volume 2, Volume 3: California Connection, Volume 4,
Volume 5: Sweet Sunny South, and the last of the series, Volume 6: Bluegrass
Instrumentals. In addition, Tony recorded another collection, 1993‟s Tony Rice Sings
and Plays Bluegrass.
This new compilation represents years of Tony‟s instrumental work, with an emphasis on
fiddle tunes and the more traditional side of his music. It demonstrates his impeccable
technique, timing, musical sensibility, unequalled tone, and mastery of traditional styles
as he imbues the tunes with his own personality and touch. Two of his original
instrumentals – “Tipper” and “Port Tobacco,” both from Me and My Guitar – show his
complex compositional skill; the fiddle-based tunes “Monroe‟s Hornpipe,” “Jerusalem
Ridge,” “Blackberry Blossom,” “lost Indian” with Doc Watson and Norman Blake,
“Stoney Point,” “Gold Rush,” “Bill Cheatham,” “Stoney Lonesome,” “Soldier‟s Joy,”
and “Big Mon” are testaments to his backing and soloing powers on more traditional
tunes. “Cheyenne” and “Foggy Mountain Rock” are from the now-classic Bluegrass
Album Band series, which opened the minds and ears of scores of newgrass and acoustic
music aficionados to traditional bluegrass. The Bela Fleck composition “Whitewater”
shows a small part of Rice‟s contribution to Bela‟s classic Drive recording.
His right hand picking style has been widely imitated but never equaled. Many guitarists
use alternate picking, a nearly constant down-up-down-up pattern. Tony uses no pattern;
instead his pick goes down or up depending on what is most economical. This technique
gives his playing an incredible power, sensitivity, and economy of motion, even at higher
speeds. It is one of the foundational aspects of his unique sound. His left hand is no less
unique in its control, fluidity of movement, and ability to effortlessly traverse the full
range of the neck. Also, Tony plays from the dynamic center. This gives him full range
to play soft or loud, depending on what he feels is appropriate; his talent for creating
musical moods leans heavily on this part of his playing.
Tony Rice has created an entirely fresh approach and sound, complete with a new lead
guitar vocabulary and a unique way of playing rhythm that drives a band, bringing out the
best of any focal point he happens to be backing at the time. This kind of unique artistry
– personal expression pushing traditional boundaries – is the heart and soul of bluegrass
music.
Yet beyond the personal expression, the tone, the timing, the technique, there is
something else. It is a quality, ethereal yet nearly tangible, like a dream on can‟t quite
remember but still feels upon waking. It‟s the factor all truly great musicians have in
common – an ability to invite the listener to touch the musician‟s deepest self thought the
music. This aptitude transcends notes, chords, songs, or even entire records, using them
all as a channel for the musician‟s soul. This is the surpassing trait that makes Rice‟s
music so magnetically attractive; it is a place where the listener can touch soul to soul
with another human being.
When I was a teenager, I could only describe that intangible quality as “big.” He makes
every recording sound bigger, fuller, and more complete because of his powerful
presence. It is that quality of “bigness” in all aspects of his music that has made Tony
Rice one of the greatest acoustic innovators of our time.
-Ron Block, 2003
Guitarist/banjoist with
Alison Krauss + Union Station