How RIP Tony Rice 1951-2020 — DjangoBooks Forum can Save You Time, Stress, and Money.

Everyone, it seemed, played like Tony, or a minimum of they played a rather streamlined version of his style focused around his signature bluesy hot licks. However the issue with a musical style specified by copycats is that it's simple to forget what the initial sounded like. Yes, This Piece Covers It Well played Tony's hot licks, but no one played the way he played on "Church Street Blues" or "Faded Love" or "Blue Railway Train," unless they were attempting to play his solos verbatim.

When I signed up with Laurie Lewis's band the main thing I had to work on was playing solid, effective rhythm, so I listened to a great deal of rhythm guitarist, including, naturally, Tony. But one close listen to Tony's playing told me that he need to not be a model for my rhythm playing.

Tony's rhythm playing drove the bands he played with; his guitar stated "this is how it goes, follow me." I, nevertheless, being a rather inexperienced bluegrass rhythm guitar player, needed to find a method to fit into a band that already had a rhythmic director; my role was to help make all the instruments in the band gel.

Which made me return and listen to a few of the records I 'd neglected, particularly Church Street Blues and the first duet record he made with Norman Blake, but likewise a few of his "singer-songwriter" records like Native American and Me and My Guitar. As I was on the road a lot at the time, I was fortunate enough to hear Tony live at festivals a few times a year, with the Tony Rice System (at that time the version with his bro Wyatt on rhythm guitar, Jimmy Gaudreau on mandolin, and Mark Schatz on bass) however likewise in numerous all-star celebration bands, usually consisting of Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Bla Fleck, Mark Schatz, and either Mark O'Connor, Stuart Duncan, or Vassar Clements on fiddle.

Vocal problems required Tony to stop singing in the mid-'90s, and while this was a catastrophe for his fans, it must have been exceptionally tough and demoralizing for him. I do not think I understood just how much until he informed me one night, after sitting in with Tim O'Brien's band (which I played guitar with from 1992 to 1997), "I envy you.