RIP Tony Rice
When I hear Tony Rice play, my first reaction is usually “How did he get a guitar to do that?” As an acoustic finger picker, he has no electronics to amplify his creativity. It’s all phrasing and timing and grace.
This performance of “Shenandoah” from an instructional DVD (produced by fellow guitarist Happy Traum) purports to show Rice’s “method,” but no matter how carefully I watch the video, all I see is magic.
Bluegrass tends to be a niche genre — too complex for many country fans, too tradition-bound to appeal to rock or pop listeners.
Rice, however, continually sought to expand the genre. His version of “My Favorite Things” pays homage to John Coltrane — not by reproducing Coltrane’s notes, but by celebrating the energy and joy of the jazz classic (the studio version is on “Backwaters”).
Tony Rice died on Christmas morning, 2020, at age 69. (Rolling Stone obituary)
