Tony Rice

This article is for the guitarist. For the former football player see Tony Rice.
Tony Rice
Background information
Born (1951-06-08) June 8, 1951
Danville, Virginia, United States
Genres Americana, bluegrass, folk, jazz
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Instruments Guitar
Years active 1970–2013
Labels Rounder
Associated acts J.D. Crowe & The New South, David Grisman Quintet, Bluegrass Album Band, Ricky Skaggs
Website tonyrice.com
Notable instruments
1935 Martin D-28 (previously owned by Clarence White)[1]
Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional

Tony Rice (born David Anthony Rice, June 8, 1951, Danville, Virginia, United States) is an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He is considered one of the most influential acoustic guitar players in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz.[2][3] He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013.[4]

Rice's music spans the range of acoustic 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.[5][6]

Early years

Rice was born in Danville, Virginia but grew up in Los Angeles, California, where his father, Herb Rice, introduced him to bluegrass. Tony and his brothers learned the fundamentals of bluegrass and country music from L.A. musicians like the Kentucky Colonels, led by Roland and Clarence White. Clarence White in particular became a huge influence on 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.[7]

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). When Ricky Skaggs joined them 1974, however, 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.

David Grisman Quintet

Around this time, Rice met mandolinist David Grisman, who played with Red Allen during the 1960s and was now working on 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. To expand his horizons and make himself more marketable, Rice began studying chord theory, learned to read charts, and began to expand his playing beyond bluegrass. Renowned guitarist John Carlini came 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.

RockyGrass 2005

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 Manzanita,[8] a collection of vocals and instrumentals, mostly in the bluegrass, but also folk style. In 1980, Rice, Crowe, Bobby Hicks, Doyle Lawson and Todd Phillips formed a 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. Rice developed a condition in his vocal cords in the 1990s that made it difficult to sing.

During the IBMA 2013 Award show, Rice demonstrated to the audience that his voice is gradually coming back.

Collaborations

In 1980, he recorded an album of bluegrass duets with Ricky Skaggs, called Skaggs & Rice. Two albums with traditional instrumentalist and songwriter Norman Blake garnered 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 (a member of the Byrds original line-up) and banjoist Herb Pedersen, founded the so-called "anti-supergroup" Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen[9] and produced three volumes of music between 1997 and 2001.

Publications

The authorized biography of Tony Rice, titled Still Inside: The Tony Rice Story, has been completed by Tim Stafford and Hawaii-based journalist Caroline Wright, and was published by Word of Mouth Press in Kingsport, Tennessee, United States in 2010. The book's official release took place at Merlefest in North Carolina.[10][11]

Discography

Further information: Tony Rice discography

Awards

Grammy Awards

IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Awards

References

  1. ↑ Kimsey, Bryan. "Tony's Guitar and Discography". Archived from the original on 18 January 2007.
  2. ↑ Kimsey, Bryan. "Tony Rice - Featured Artist". Archived from the original on 2 October 2013.
  3. ↑ "Bluegrass Australia - Home Page". Bluegrass.org.au. 2011-12-24. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  4. ↑ "The Gibson Brothers - for the Second Year in a Row - Named Entertainer of the Year at 2013 IBMA Music Awards | International Bluegrass Music Association". Ibma.org. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  5. ↑ Craig Harris (1951-06-08). "Tony Rice | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  6. ↑ "A day in the life of the world's best guitarist". Bluegrass Australia. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "Tony Rice". Tonyrice.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2014. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  8. ↑ "TONY RICE: Manzanita: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  9. ↑ Zac Johnson (2001-10-30). "Running Wild - Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  10. ↑ "Still Inside: The Tony Rice Story". Tonyricestory.com. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  11. ↑ "Tony Rice". Tonyrice.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2011. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  12. ↑ Graves, Josh (2012). Bluegrass Bluesman: A Memoir. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. p. 60. ISBN 9780252078644. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  13. ↑ Beasley, Sandra (14 February 2014). "Tony Rice, Guitar Hero". Magazine (New York Times). Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "Recipient History". International Bluegrass Music Association. Retrieved 20 January 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, February 11, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.