Discovering Tony Rice

In October 2021, officials inducted David Anthony (Tony) Rice as the 2021 member of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. Tragically, this 2021 induction was a last recognition of Rice’s achievements and came in the form of a posthumous award as Mr. Rice had passed away at the age of 69 the previous December. Of course this last recognition was just one of many awards that have been bestowed to Tony Rice such as: a Grammy, and numerous awards bestowed by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) including being inducted into the IBMA hall of fame in 2013. Rice had a musical career that saw him as an influential acoustic guitar player in traditional bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, new-grass and acoustic jazz and oft-times lead vocalist with many highly visible bluegrass musical groups.

As I have mentioned often in these pages, I found my way back to this acoustic string-music genre in the early 2000’s after having misspent half a lifetime fawning over music groups comprised of three over amplified electric guitars and a screaming tenor singer. Late-comer me was at Merefest in 2010 when the release of an authorized biography of Tony Rice took place. Tony Rice made a public appearance at that event and spoke a few difficult words of appreciation. The audience stood in mass and raised a deafening cheer. Shameful as it is to now admit, I quietly asked our publisher, “Who is Tony Rice?” (Wait, do remember that at that time I was just then finding my way back to my string-music roots.) Fast forward to 2024 where, with 20 years of emersion in bluegrass through this magazine; I thought by now I was fully aware who Tony Rice was. However, this past September, at the IBMA convention, an agent dropped by our show booth and asked if I knew who Tony Rice was, and I said that I did. The agent then handed me a copy of a just-released biography about Tony Rice written by Bill Amatneek. After reading this book, I think that maybe I did not ever really know Tony Rice at all.

The Book
Discovering Tony Rice, written by Bill Amatneek and published by Vineyards Press, copyright, 2024, is an oral biography about the legendary bluegrass guitarist as told by some of Rice’s closest associates and band-mates. Amatneek, himself a well respected bassist in bluegrass circles, was a member of the same band as was Tony Rice for five years during Rice’s hay-day and became close to him during that time. The book presents a deep dive into the life and times of a highly talented and complicated artist through personal observations by the author and interviews with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, Mark Schatz, Peter Rowan, Ron Rice, Harry Sparks, Frank Poindexter and others who tell true life stories about Tony.

Tony Rice revolutionized bluegrass guitar flat-pick playing in a manner that could not be duplicated and helped to expand the possibilities for bluegrass-rooted instruments. Yet, Tony Rice seemed to be consumed by inter demons that he could or would not address. From the picture one draws from the various interviews, Rice was obsessed with being the best guitarist and bluegrass lead singer ever; even to the determent of his physical health, the well being of his wives (of whom he had three), and his own mental well being. The interviewers all were frank yet not unkind in describing the Tony Rice that they knew and yes—even loved like a brother all the while not fully understanding him. They all described a man who stood beside them on stage yet stood apart from them as well—a man they all said they could never really know.

As far back as the early 1990s Mr. Rice had been diagnosed with Muscle Tension Dysphonia which constricted the muscles around his voice box and ended his singing career. Eventually, he was forced to focus entirely on instrumental music. The struggle with his voice was only the beginning of his physical difficulties. Progressive arthritis that began as tendonitis in the elbow expanded into a full arthritis in his hands that made playing the guitar very painful and ultimately nearly impossible. By 2014, Tony Rice was forced to retire completely from performing.

Complete Guitarist
Playing the guitar better than any of his peers and singing with a skill envied by all in the genre were the things that made Rice feel complete; and when this was taken away, he fell into a deep well of despair. While he was offered possible medical and surgical solutions to his afflictions, Rice convinced himself that these solutions would never make him the great artist he had been and therefore if he could no longer be the Tony Rice that he once was he would not settle for being a shadow of that self. Instead, he medicated his depression with alcohol, pain killers and tobacco and shut out the world—shuttering himself away from everyone and ultimately dying alone

Of all the people who passed through Tony Rice’s life, probably there was none closer than Sam Bush. Those two came together as 18 and 19 year old kids at an early 70’s North Carolina festival and remained off and on band mates and friends throughout Tony’s life. Bush told the author this, “He got where he didn’t answer the phone and would only text. After a while he wouldn’t come out of the house. He wouldn’t even see anyone. Jerry (Douglas) and I would often wonder if we should go over and make him come out of the house but we never got that together. He wouldn’t even see his brothers after a while. We knew he was fragile. He was more fragile than we all realized.”

Bill Aamatneek has written a well put together book. I recommend it without reservation to any who wish to finally know and understand Tony Rice. Some folks have criticized the book as being too harsh and critical. That is not this reviewer’s opinion. The author has put together a through evaluation of a highly talented yet complex and troubled personality. Each person sought out for an interview about their thoughts of Rice came across as honest and forthright. All expressed a love for the man and respect for his immense talent. I offer here a comment from Molly Tuttle after reading this book, “Tony Rice is the most influential guitar player in bluegrass history, but he has always been something of an enigma. This book gets us one fascinating step closer to understanding him.”

Greater Influence
All who put pen to paper or voice to blog in tribute to Tony Rice since his passing and for years before say that Tony Rice always strived to excel with every performance and played every time with the attempt to play better than ever before. If you are a casual fan of bluegrass or a serious student, know this fact: no other talent had greater influence upon the genre that did Tony Rice.

For myself as someone who came late to the party I close with this: True greatness comes along seldom in almost all fields of endeavor; and when that greatness does appear, that appearance is often fleeting. Such was the case of Tony Rice in the bluegrass genre of Americana string music. I truly regret, as should all you other newcomer fans regret, that we will never stand in a festival field somewhere before a stage and feast our ears on the live guitar playing and the singing of the best of the best—David Anthony (Tony) Rice.

By Ed Tutwiler