Tony Rice
It’s not surprising to hear that a Los Angeles teenager in the 1960s would pick up a guitar. But where other kids were drawn to surf rock, Tony Rice had bluegrass in his veins. At 19, he moved east to join J. D. Crowe in a band that would push the boundaries of the genre, guided by Rice’s sure-handed acoustic fretwork and clear baritone. Rice would go on to partner with mandolin genius David Grisman on some of the most influential bluegrass records of our time. In later years, he collaborated with the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Bela Fleck and Emmy Lou Harris. Tony Rice. He saw it as his calling to keep a tradition alive. But in his hands, it was always new.