1. David Anthony Rice was an American bluegrass guitarist and singer.
21 Facts About Tony Rice
1. 2.
Tony Rice was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz.
3.
Tony Rice was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
4.
Rice was born in Danville, Virginia, Growing up, Tony had somewhat of a nomadic childhood.
5.
In 1960, when Tony Rice was nine years old, he met Clarence White, his all-time favorite guitarist, at a show.
6.
Tony Rice was so enamored that White allowed him to try out his 1935 D-28 Martin.
7.
In 1971, Tony Rice met Kate Freeman, whom he married in Lexington church a year later.
8.
The couple moved to California when Tony Rice joins David Grisman in creating Grisman's Dawg, a newly imagined form of acoustic music.
9.
That year, Tony Rice moved to Louisville, Kentucky, playing with the Bluegrass Alliance and shortly thereafter with JD Crowe's New South.
10.
Around this time, Tony Rice met mandolinist David Grisman while recording for Bill Keith's first album with Rounder Records called Something Auld, Something Newgrass, Something Borrowed, Something Bluegrass.
11.
Tony Rice left the New South and moved to California to join Grisman's all-instrumental group, the David Grisman Quintet.
12.
Tony Rice followed that with two albums alongside traditional instrumentalist and songwriter Norman Blake both well received and two Rice Brothers albums that featured him teamed with his late elder brother, Larry, and younger brothers, Wyatt and Ronnie.
13.
Tony Rice joined David Grisman and Jerry Garcia in 1993 to record The Pizza Tapes.
14.
In 1995, Tony Rice recorded a duo album with John Carlini who played with the David Grisman Quintet.
15.
In 1979, Tony Rice left Grisman's group to record Acoustics, a jazz inspired album followed by Manzanita, a bluegrass and folk album.
16.
The authorized biography of Tony Rice, called 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.
17.
Tony Rice died at his home in Reidsville, North Carolina, on December 25,2020, at age 69.
18.
Tony Rice died while making his coffee according to a statement from longtime friend and collaborator, Ricky Skaggs.
19.
Tony Rice's rhythm playing was driving and clear, while his solos were strategic and melodic.
20.
Tony Rice stepped outside of what any other guitarist was doing at the time.
21.
Tony Rice was one of the most influential bluegrass guitar players of all-time.