Tony Rice
David Anthony Rice (June 8, 1951 – December 25, 2020) was an American bluegrass guitarist. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz.[1][2] He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013.[3]
For the football player, see Tony Rice (gridiron football).
Tony Rice
David Anthony Rice
June 8, 1951
Danville, Virginia, U.S.
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
December 25, 2020 (aged 69)
Reidsville, North Carolina, U.S.
- Musician
- songwriter
Guitar
1970–2013
- Larry Rice (brother)
- Wyatt Rice (brother)
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 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 recorded with drums, piano, soprano sax, as well as with traditional bluegrass instrumentation.[4][5]
Early years[edit]
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.[6]
Solo career[edit]
In 1979, Rice left Grisman's group to record Acoustics, a jazz-inspired album, and then Manzanita,[9] a bluegrass and folk album. A similar combination was evident on Cold on the Shoulder, Native American, and Me & My Guitar, albums which combined bluegrass, jazzy guitar work, and the songwriting of Ian Tyson, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Bob Dylan, and Gordon Lightfoot.
Rice's singing voice was a distinctive baritone. In 1994 he was diagnosed with a disorder known as muscle tension dysphonia and as a result was forced to stop singing in live performance.[10] A 2014 diagnosis of lateral epicondylitis ("tennis elbow") made guitar playing painful and Rice's last performance playing guitar live was his induction into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2015, Rice was quoted as saying "I am not going to go back out into the public eye until I can be the musician that I was, where I left off or better. I have been blessed with a very devout audience all these years, and I am certainly not going to let anybody down. I am not going to risk going out there and performing in front of people again until I can entertain them in a way that takes away from them the rigors and the dust, the bumps in the road of everyday life."[11]
The authorized biography of Tony Rice, titled Still Inside: The Tony Rice Story, written by Tim Stafford and Hawaii-based journalist Caroline Wright, 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.[12][13]
Death[edit]
Rice died at his home in Reidsville, North Carolina, on December 25, 2020,[14] at age 69. He died while making his coffee, according to a statement from longtime friend and collaborator Ricky Skaggs.[15]
Rice's 2013 induction into the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame reportedly was the last time he played guitar in public due to the lateral epicondylitis that affected his ability to play in his last years.
Influence[edit]
Tony Rice is said to have "redefined bluegrass guitar playing and left a lasting imprint on the genre."[16] David Grisman called Rice "a complete musician of the highest caliber",[17] and Ricky Skaggs said he was "the single most influential acoustic guitar player in the last 50 years."[17]
In a guitar lesson exploring Rice's style, Molly Tuttle noted "the beauty of Tony's playing is that there's something for everyone to learn from. I've been playing guitar for a long time, and I still go back to this and just want to listen to him strum the guitar."[18] Rice was a big influence on the bluegrass band Punch Brothers who devoted their album Hell on Church Street as a tribute to Rice and to Rice's 1983 album Church Street Blues.[19][20] Members of the Punch Brothers band said that Rice's earlier album had a huge impact on their music.[20] In addition, guitarist Chris Eldridge was a student of Rice's.[21] The group had intended that their album be a surprise gift to Rice, but Rice died before they could finish it.[20]