Tony Rice
Encyclopedia
Tony Rice is an American
acoustic
guitarist
and bluegrass
musician. He is considered one of the most influential acoustic guitar players in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz.
Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from traditional bluegrass to jazz-influenced New Acoustic music, to songwriter-oriented folk
. Over the course of his career, he has played alongside J. D. Crowe
and the New South
, David Grisman
(during the formation of “Dawg Music”) and Jerry Garcia
, led his own Tony Rice Unit, collaborated with Norman Blake
, recorded with his brothers Wyatt, Ron and Larry and co-founded the Bluegrass Album Band
. He has recorded with drums
, piano
, soprano sax, as well as with traditional Bluegrass
instrumentation.
but grew up in Los Angeles, California
, where he was introduced to bluegrass by his father, a semi-professional musician named Herb Rice. Tony and his brothers learned the fundamentals of bluegrass and country music from hot L.A. pickers like the Kentucky Colonels
, led by Roland and Clarence White
. Clarence White in particular became a huge influence on Tony Rice. Crossing paths with fellow enthusiasts like Ry Cooder
, Herb Pedersen
and Chris Hillman
reinforced the strength of the music he had learned from his father.
In 1970, Rice had moved to Louisville, Kentucky
where he played with the Bluegrass Alliance, and shortly thereafter, J.D. Crowe's
New South. The New South
was known as one of the best and most progressive bluegrass groups - eventually adding drums and electric instruments (to Rice's displeasure). But when Ricky Skaggs
joined up in 1974, the band recorded "J. D. Crowe & the New South", an acoustic album that became Rounder’s top-seller up to that time. At this point, the group consisted of Rice on guitar and lead vocals, Crowe on banjo and vocals, Jerry Douglas
on Dobro
, Skaggs on fiddle, mandolin, and tenor vocals, and Bobby Slone on bass and fiddle.
, who played with Red Allen
during the '60s and was now working on some original material that blended jazz, bluegrass and classical styles. Rice left the New South and moved to California
to join Grisman’s all-instrumental group. As part of the David Grisman Quintet
, Rice expanded his musical horizons beyond three chord bluegrass, studying chord theory, learning to read charts and expanding the range of his playing. Renowned guitarist John Carlini was brought in to teach Rice music theory, and Carlini helped him learn the intricacies of jazz playing and musical improvisation in general. The David Grisman Quintet's 1977 debut recording is considered a landmark of acoustic string band music.
, a collection of vocals and instrumentals, mostly in the bluegrass, but also folk style. This album doesn't include the five-string banjo. In 1980, Rice, Crowe, Bobby Hicks
, Doyle Lawson
and Todd Phillips
formed a highly successful coalition, attacking bluegrass standards under the name the Bluegrass Album Band
. This group recorded six volumes of music from 1980 to 1996.
Rice’s solo career hit its stride with "Cold on the Shoulder", a collection of bluegrass-inspired vocals. With this album, "Native American" and "Me & My Guitar", Rice arrived at a formula that incorporated his disparate influences, combining bluegrass, the songwriting of folk artists like Ian Tyson
, Joni Mitchell
, Phil Ochs
, Tom Paxton
, Bob Dylan
and especially Gordon Lightfoot
, with nimble, jazz-inflected guitar work. Simultaneously, he pursued his jazz-infused, experimental “spacegrass” with the Tony Rice Unit on the albums "Mar West", "Still Inside", and "Backwaters".
.
Two highly regarded albums with traditional instrumentalist and songwriter Norman Blake
garnered a great deal of acclaim, as well as two Rice Brothers albums (1992 and 1994) that featured him teamed with his late elder brother, Larry and younger brothers, Wyatt and Ronnie.
In 1993 he joined David Grisman
and Jerry Garcia
, to record The Pizza Tapes
. Year after, Rice and Grisman recorded Tone Poems
, an original collection of material, where they used historical vintage mandolins and guitars, different for each track.
In 1995, Rice recorded folk album featuring just two guitars with John Carlini, who also worked for David Grisman Quintet
.
In 1997, Tony, his brother Larry, Chris Hillman
(founder of Byrds) and banjoist Herb Pedersen
, founded so-called "anti-supergroup" Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen and produced three volumes of music between 1997 and 2001.
Since the early nineties, Rice's singing voice has silenced due to dysphonia
, but he remains one of new acoustic music's top instrumentalists, bringing originality and vitality to everything he plays.
He has often collaborated with Peter Rowan and they have recorded two CDs for Rounder Records
: "You Were There For Me," released 2004, and "Quartet
," released in 2007. For the second recording, Rice and Rowan were joined by Bryn Davies
on vocals/bass and Sharon Gilchrist
on vocals/mandolin.
2007 saw Tony team up with Alison Krauss
and Union Station for a string of spring concerts, drawing material from Rice's 35-year career. Krauss always has cited Rice as being her prime musical influence. Rice resides in Reidsville, North Carolina
.
) and Hawai`i journalist Caroline Wright, and was published by Word Of Mouth Press in Kingsport, TN, USA in 2010. The book's official release took place at Merlefest
in North Carolina, USA.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
musician. He is considered one of the most influential acoustic guitar players in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz.
Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from traditional bluegrass to jazz-influenced New Acoustic music, to songwriter-oriented folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. Over the course of his career, he has played alongside J. D. Crowe
J. D. Crowe
James Dee Crowe is an American banjo player and bluegrass band leader. He first became known during his four year stint with Jimmy Martin in the 1950s.-Biography:...
and the New South
New South (band)
The New South is a bluegrass band formed around 1973 by banjo player J. D. Crowe. Their first two albums, Bluegrass Evolution and the eponymous record known by the album number, "Rounder 0044," established them as a dominant force in bluegrass, though the two albums are wildly different.-Band...
, David Grisman
David Grisman
David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...
(during the formation of “Dawg Music”) and Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
, led his own Tony Rice Unit, collaborated with Norman Blake
Norman Blake (American musician)
Norman Blake is an instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter. In a career spanning more than 50 years Blake has played in a number of folk and Country groups...
, recorded with his brothers Wyatt, Ron and Larry and co-founded the Bluegrass Album Band
Bluegrass Album Band
Bluegrass Album Band was a bluegrass supergroup, founded by Tony Rice and J.D. Crowe in 1980. Originally, there was no intention to build a group and the main reason for the collaboration was to record a solo album for Tony Rice...
. He has recorded with drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, soprano sax, as well as with traditional Bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
instrumentation.
Early years
Rice was born in Danville, VirginiaDanville, Virginia
Danville is an independent city in Virginia, United States, bounded by Pittsylvania County, Virginia and Caswell County, North Carolina. It was the last capital of the Confederate States of America. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Danville with Pittsylvania county for...
but grew up in Los Angeles, California
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where he was introduced to bluegrass by his father, a semi-professional musician named Herb Rice. Tony and his brothers learned the fundamentals of bluegrass and country music from hot L.A. pickers like the Kentucky Colonels
Kentucky Colonels (band)
The Kentucky Colonels was a popular bluegrass band in the 1960s. They included Clarence White, later with The Byrds.-History:The White brothers started out as the Country Boys in 1954, with their brother Eric. With the addition of Latham, Mack and Sloane, and Roger Bush replacing Eric, they changed...
, led by Roland and Clarence White
Clarence White
Clarence White was a guitar player for Nashville West, The Byrds, Muleskinner, and the Kentucky Colonels. His parents were Acadians from New Brunswick, Canada...
. Clarence White in particular became a huge influence on Tony Rice. Crossing paths with fellow enthusiasts like Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
, Herb Pedersen
Herb Pedersen
Herb Pedersen is an American musician, guitarist, banjo player, and singer-songwriter who has played a variety of musical styles over the past forty years including country, bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, folk, folk rock, country rock, and has worked with numerous musicians in many different...
and Chris Hillman
Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
reinforced the strength of the music he had learned from his father.
In 1970, Rice had moved to Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
where he played with the Bluegrass Alliance, and shortly thereafter, J.D. Crowe's
J. D. Crowe
James Dee Crowe is an American banjo player and bluegrass band leader. He first became known during his four year stint with Jimmy Martin in the 1950s.-Biography:...
New South. The New South
New South (band)
The New South is a bluegrass band formed around 1973 by banjo player J. D. Crowe. Their first two albums, Bluegrass Evolution and the eponymous record known by the album number, "Rounder 0044," established them as a dominant force in bluegrass, though the two albums are wildly different.-Band...
was known as one of the best and most progressive bluegrass groups - eventually adding drums and electric instruments (to Rice's displeasure). But when Ricky Skaggs
Ricky Skaggs
Rickie Lee "Ricky" Skaggs is a country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo.-Early career:...
joined up in 1974, the band recorded "J. D. Crowe & the New South", an acoustic album that became Rounder’s top-seller up to that time. At this point, the group consisted of Rice on guitar and lead vocals, Crowe on banjo and vocals, Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas may refer to:*Jerry Douglas , actor, who was on The Young and the Restless for 25 years*Jerry Douglas, country/bluegrass musician*Jerry Douglas , director and writer of adult films such as, Score...
on Dobro
Dobro
Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
, Skaggs on fiddle, mandolin, and tenor vocals, and Bobby Slone on bass and fiddle.
David Grisman Quintet
Around this time, Rice met mandolinist David GrismanDavid Grisman
David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...
, who played with Red Allen
Red Allen
Henry James "Red" Allen was a jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose style has been claimed to be the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong.-Life and career:...
during the '60s and was now working on some original material that blended jazz, bluegrass and classical styles. Rice left the New South and moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to join Grisman’s all-instrumental group. As part of the David Grisman Quintet
David Grisman Quintet
David Grisman Quintet is a self-styled alternative bluegrass/ acoustic jazz band founded by David Grisman in 1975 in San Francisco, California, USA. Following the Bill Monroe's bluegrass legacy and Django Reinhard's 30s swing, the David Grisman Quintet comes with entirely new style to the acoustic...
, Rice expanded his musical horizons beyond three chord bluegrass, studying chord theory, learning to read charts and expanding the range of his playing. Renowned guitarist John Carlini was brought in to teach Rice music theory, and Carlini helped him learn the intricacies of jazz playing and musical improvisation in general. The David Grisman Quintet's 1977 debut recording is considered a landmark of acoustic string band music.
Solo career and Bluegrass Album Band
In 1979, Rice left Grisman's group to pursue his own brand of music. He recorded "Acoustics", a jazz-inspired acoustic record, and then ManzanitaManzanita (Tony Rice album)
Manzanita is an album by American guitarist Tony Rice, released in 1979. It is credited to the Tony Rice Unit.Manzanita is considered breakthrough album combining traditional bluegrass and folk songs with more progressive playing...
, a collection of vocals and instrumentals, mostly in the bluegrass, but also folk style. This album doesn't include the five-string banjo. In 1980, Rice, Crowe, Bobby Hicks
Bobby Hicks
Bobby Hicks is a Grammy Award bluegrass fiddler and a professional musician with more than fifty years of experience.Hicks was born in Newton, North Carolina and learned to play the fiddle before he was 9 years old. He attended several fiddlers conventions and at the age of eleven, he won the...
, Doyle Lawson
Doyle Lawson
Doyle Lawson is an American bluegrass and gospel musician. Doyle is best known as an accomplished mandolin player, vocalist, producer, and leader of the 5-man group Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.-Biography:...
and Todd Phillips
Todd Phillips
Todd Phillips is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for directing the comedy films Road Trip, Old School, The Hangover, and Due Date.-Early life:...
formed a highly successful coalition, attacking bluegrass standards under the name the Bluegrass Album Band
Bluegrass Album Band
Bluegrass Album Band was a bluegrass supergroup, founded by Tony Rice and J.D. Crowe in 1980. Originally, there was no intention to build a group and the main reason for the collaboration was to record a solo album for Tony Rice...
. This group recorded six volumes of music from 1980 to 1996.
Rice’s solo career hit its stride with "Cold on the Shoulder", a collection of bluegrass-inspired vocals. With this album, "Native American" and "Me & My Guitar", Rice arrived at a formula that incorporated his disparate influences, combining bluegrass, the songwriting of folk artists like Ian Tyson
Ian Tyson
Ian Tyson CM, AOE is a Canadian singer-songwriter, best known for his song "Four Strong Winds". He was also one half of the duo Ian & Sylvia.-Career:Tyson was born to British immigrants in Victoria in 1933, and grew up in Duncan B.C...
, Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, Phil Ochs
Phil Ochs
Philip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...
, Tom Paxton
Tom Paxton
Thomas Richard Paxton is an American folk singer and singer-songwriter who has been writing, performing and recording music for over forty years...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and especially Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...
, with nimble, jazz-inflected guitar work. Simultaneously, he pursued his jazz-infused, experimental “spacegrass” with the Tony Rice Unit on the albums "Mar West", "Still Inside", and "Backwaters".
Collaborations
In 1980 he recorded an album of bluegrass duets with Ricky Skaggs, called Skaggs & RiceSkaggs & Rice
Skaggs & Rice is an album by American guitarist Tony Rice and muti-instrumentalist Ricky Skaggs, released in 1980.- Track listing :# "Bury Me Beneath the Willow" – 2:43# "Mansions for Me" – 3:39...
.
Two highly regarded albums with traditional instrumentalist and songwriter Norman Blake
Norman Blake (American musician)
Norman Blake is an instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter. In a career spanning more than 50 years Blake has played in a number of folk and Country groups...
garnered a great deal of acclaim, as well as two Rice Brothers albums (1992 and 1994) that featured him teamed with his late elder brother, Larry and younger brothers, Wyatt and Ronnie.
In 1993 he joined David Grisman
David Grisman
David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...
and Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
, to record The Pizza Tapes
The Pizza Tapes
The Pizza Tapes is an acoustic album by the American musicians Jerry Garcia, David Grisman and Tony Rice. The album was made over a series of two evenings in 1993 featuring completely unrehearsed songs recorded in Grisman's own recording studio.-History:...
. Year after, Rice and Grisman recorded Tone Poems
Tone Poems
Tone Poems is an album by American musicians David Grisman and Tony Rice, released in 1994. It's a Grisman's collaboration with guitarist Tony Rice, Tone Poems...
, an original collection of material, where they used historical vintage mandolins and guitars, different for each track.
In 1995, Rice recorded folk album featuring just two guitars with John Carlini, who also worked for David Grisman Quintet
David Grisman Quintet
David Grisman Quintet is a self-styled alternative bluegrass/ acoustic jazz band founded by David Grisman in 1975 in San Francisco, California, USA. Following the Bill Monroe's bluegrass legacy and Django Reinhard's 30s swing, the David Grisman Quintet comes with entirely new style to the acoustic...
.
In 1997, Tony, his brother Larry, Chris Hillman
Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
(founder of Byrds) and banjoist Herb Pedersen
Herb Pedersen
Herb Pedersen is an American musician, guitarist, banjo player, and singer-songwriter who has played a variety of musical styles over the past forty years including country, bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, folk, folk rock, country rock, and has worked with numerous musicians in many different...
, founded so-called "anti-supergroup" Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen and produced three volumes of music between 1997 and 2001.
Tony Rice today
Dysphonia
Dysphonia is the medical term for disorders of the voice: an impairment in the ability to produce voice sounds using the vocal organs . Thus, dysphonia is a phonation disorder...
, but he remains one of new acoustic music's top instrumentalists, bringing originality and vitality to everything he plays.
He has often collaborated with Peter Rowan and they have recorded two CDs for Rounder Records
Rounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
: "You Were There For Me," released 2004, and "Quartet
Quartet (Rice/Rowan album)
Quartet is a second collaboration album of guitarists Peter Rowan and Tony Rice. On this record, the duo becomes a quartet with the addition of mandolinist Sharon Gilchrist and bassist Bryn Davies, both of whom sing as well...
," released in 2007. For the second recording, Rice and Rowan were joined by Bryn Davies
Bryn Davies
Brinley Howard Davies, usually known as Bryn Davies is a British trade unionist, actuary and politician who was Leader of the Inner London Education Authority in the early 1980s....
on vocals/bass and Sharon Gilchrist
Sharon Gilchrist
Sharon Gilchrist is an American bluegrass musician, singer, and the sister of Troy Gilchrist, also a bluegrass musician..-Youth:...
on vocals/mandolin.
2007 saw Tony team up with Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
and Union Station for a string of spring concerts, drawing material from Rice's 35-year career. Krauss always has cited Rice as being her prime musical influence. Rice resides in Reidsville, North Carolina
Reidsville, North Carolina
Reidsville is a city located in Rockingham County, North Carolina. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 14,485.Originally established in the early 19th century as an outpost and stop on the stage line that ran between Salisbury, NC and Danville, VA called Wrights Crossroads,...
.
Publications
The authorized biography of Tony Rice, titled "Still Inside: The Tony Rice Story," has been completed by Tim Stafford (a member of award-winning bluegrass ensemble Blue HighwayBlue Highway
Blue Highway is an American contemporary bluegrass band. They have released eight CDs, their sixth and seventh – Wondrous Love , and Marbletown – received Grammy Award nominations.-Personnel:...
) and Hawai`i journalist Caroline Wright, and was published by Word Of Mouth Press in Kingsport, TN, USA in 2010. The book's official release took place at Merlefest
MerleFest
MerleFest is an annual "traditional plus" music festival held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on the campus of Wilkes Community College . The festival, which is held the last weekend in April, is hosted by Grammy Award winner Doc Watson and is named in memory and honor of his son, Eddy Merle Watson,...
in North Carolina, USA.
IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Awards
- Instrumental Performer of the Year - Guitar - 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2007
- Instrumental Group of the Year - The Tony Rice Unit - 1991, 1995
- Instrumental Group of the Year - The Bluegrass Album Band - 1990
- Instrumental Album of the Year - Bluegrass Instrumentals, Volume 6 (Rounder) ; The Bluegrass Album Band - 1997
External links
- Official site
- http://www.classicwebs.com/bg_allia.htm
- 1998 Flatpicking Guitar Magazine Article
- Tony Rice on You Tube