Tag: acoustic guitar

Chris Eldridge, Molly Tuttle, Chris Thile, Bryan Sutton – Toy Heart: Remembering Tony Rice

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

In the final chapter of Toy Heart’s three-part tribute to Tony Rice, host Tom Power speaks to several musicians who have been inspired by Tony Rice throughout their career, pickers and artists through whom Tony’s music will certainly live on.

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On episode 3 of Toy Heart: Remembering Tony Rice, MacArthur “Genius” and Punch Brothers frontman Chris Thile tells a story about a jam with Tony Rice backstage that changed his musical life. Chris “Critter” Eldridge (pictured), also of the Punch Brothers, talks about the time he spent living with and learning from Tony — not just about music, but about life. Guitarist and singer-songwriter Molly Tuttle speaks about Rice’s influence on her guitar playing and how she sees his music living on even through musicians like herself, who never knew him personally. Finally, in-demand Nashville guitarist, session player, and sideman Bryan Sutton talks about recording with Tony and how he learned to be himself thanks to Tony Rice’s example.

Editor’s Note: Hear Thile at timestamp 01:58; Eldridge at 33:17; Tuttle at 01:03:17; and Sutton at 01:21:09

Photo credit: Jeromie Stephens

WATCH: Rod Abernethy, “My Father Was a Quiet Man”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Rod Abernethy
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Song: “My Father Was a Quiet Man”
Album: Normal Isn’t Normal Anymore
Release Date: February 5, 2021

In Their Words: “About two years ago around the holidays, I had a dream that my dad called me and we were talking on the wall-hanging, rotary dial phone in the kitchen. He was talking up a storm, like a teenager… funny thing was he never really talked that much in real life. We had a great talk on the phone that night and he asked me how I was doing and how the family was getting along. It was so unlike him to be so upbeat, asking me about things — I’ll never forget that dream.” — Rod Abernethy

Photo credit: Neilson Hubbard

Peter Rowan, Béla Fleck, Sharon Gilchrist, Josh Williams – Toy Heart: Remembering Tony Rice

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Host Tom Power speaks with Peter Rowan, Béla Fleck, Sharon Gilchrist, and Josh Williams all former bandmates, collaborators, and peers of Tony Rice, in the second edition of our special tribute, Toy Heart: Remembering Tony Rice.

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • SPOTIFY • MP3

On episode 2 of our limited series, Toy Heart: Remembering Tony Rice, host Tom Power begins with Béla Fleck, talking about the making of two legendary albums: Drive and The Bluegrass Sessions: Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol.2. Fleck relates what it was like to work with Tony in studio and some wild stories about their touring together.

Also in the episode, mandolinist and instructor Sharon Gilchrist displays a rare perspective on Tony’s life. Something of a recluse, Tony would often drive by himself after gigs, hours and hours overnight. Gilchrist had the rare opportunity to join him for some of these drives and tells some stories of what she learned on those trips to and from Quartet shows. Later in the episode, a conversation with Peter Rowan about his early memories of Tony – and how he compared with his mentor Clarence White. To conclude, Josh Williams talks about being Tony Rice’s “voice” in his band, the Unit, how Tony helped him get through one of the darkest periods in his life, and why Tony was and is his hero.

Editor’s note: Heart part three of our special tribute to Tony Rice here

Photo credit: Michael Sheehan

 

LISTEN: Wolf van Elfmand, “Sweet Regret”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Wolf van Elfmand
Hometown: Edwards, Colorado
Song: “Sweet Regret”
Album: All Blue
Release Date: January 29, 2021 (single), February 12, 2021 (album)

In Their Words: “‘Sweet Regret’ is a song that grew out of loss and its lessons. We all lose things and likely sometimes we flail about in anger or get lost in lonesomeness that follows. This song is about the long road towards discovering the only other option: acceptance. Learning to live with the darker parts in the journey and recognizing that old feelings sometimes live with us forever is a strangely beautiful lesson from losing.” — Wolf van Elfmand

Photo credit: Carolyn Pender

Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, David Grisman – Toy Heart: Remembering Tony Rice

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Host Tom Power speaks with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, and David Grisman about their old friend and bandmate Tony Rice, in the first edition of our special tribute, Toy Heart: Remembering Tony Rice.

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • SPOTIFY • MP3

Critically acclaimed bluegrass podcast Toy Heart returns with a special, limited series, Toy Heart: Remembering Tony Rice. In the first installment of three, host Tom Power (CBC’s q) interviews Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, and David Grisman, each lifelong friends and collaborators with Rice, who passed away unexpectedly on Christmas day. This extra-length episode includes reminiscing, storytelling, and remembrances of the flatpicking legend and Bluegrass Hall of Famer who not only blazed an innovative, often jaw-dropping trail in bluegrass – and all of American roots music – with his technical prowess, but also left a limitless musical legacy with his warm-honey voice, his tender songwriting, and his uncanny ability to inhabit each and every note he emitted, each and every stroke of his pick.

We hope you enjoy the first in this trio of episodes, Power’s and Toy Heart’s humble attempt to pay homage to a towering figure in bluegrass.

Editor’s note: Heart part two of our special tribute to Tony Rice here

 

WATCH: Molly Tuttle Reinterprets Rancid’s “Olympia, WA”

Posted on by Editor

One of Molly Tuttle’s strongest suits is her fluency in an array of instruments and styles. Using her experience as an excellent clawhammer banjo player and a masterful guitarist, she has forged a unique style of clawhammer guitar-playing. Similarly, Tuttle is at home in old-time music, traditional bluegrass, and more modern roots styles. Already an artist who seemingly can do it all, the California native’s newest endeavor is showcasing an even broader range of musicianship.

Her 2020 album, titled …but i’d rather be with you, is made completely of cover songs by artists from many different genres, including the National, the Rolling Stones, and Grateful Dead. In her interpretation of Rancid’s “Olympia, WA,” Tuttle’s ability to match her voice to the energy of the song speaks volumes of the caliber of musician that she is. In her trademark effortless way, she brings an acoustic guitar to a punk rock song and somehow still delivers an inspiring performance. Watch the video here.

Photo credit: Zach Pigg

BGS Wraps: Tommy Emmanuel, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (Live)

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Tommy Emmanuel
Album: Live! Christmas Time
Song: “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Release Date: December 4, 2020

In Their Words: “This live Christmas album was recorded at The Big Room at the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, California, which is the same place I filmed and recorded my album, Center Stage. That room just has some mojo for me. When I listen to this recording, I hear the joy, soul, and fun we had at that show. Christmas music is so joyous to me and I feel we rose to the occasion that night. I’ve always felt a connection to the song ‘I’ll Be Home For Christmas.’ It just speaks to the heart, especially to anyone who travels for a living. Annie Sellick’s singing is just beautiful on that song. ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘Guitar Boogie’ are also standout tracks for me. Pat Bergeson’s harmonica playing seems to push me to another level.” — Tommy Emmanuel, CGP

Enjoy more BGS Wraps here.

WATCH: Jesse Colin Young, “Sugar Babe”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Jesse Colin Young (of The Youngbloods)
Hometown: Aiken, South Carolina
Song: “Sugar Babe”
Album: Highway Troubadour
Release Date: November 27, 2020
Label: BMG

In Their Words: “I found some lyrics in an old book of American folk songs… and they were an entrance into a life in the rural South that I knew nothing about. But I went there in my imagination and started this song while I was still in school. It’s been with me the whole way. …Highway Troubadour is not only a return to my roots, but the beginning of a surprise adventure of solo performing. I have begun to take guitar playing to a whole new level while revisiting my decades of musical catalogue.”” — Jesse Colin Young

Photo credit: Brent Cline

LISTEN: Garrett Owen, “Souvenir”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Garrett Owen
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Song: “Souvenir”
Album: Quiet Lives
Release Date: September 18, 2020

In Their Words: “I wrote the opening guitar figure and first verse to ‘Souvenir’ a long time ago. I showed what I had written to a friend — ‘I put our love in a jar and drove it around in my beat-up car….’ He thought it was catchy. I started slowly trying to coax the rest of it out of myself and used it as an opportunity to take some really tricky chord work in the chorus and impose a massive key change for the second chorus. I have a lot of songs inspired by a long-term relationship I was in; the rest of the lyrics are a mix of abstract expressions of pain and emo-dramatic statements about how things with her ended.” — Garrett Owen

Photo credit: Melissa Laree Cunningham

Jordan Tice, “Stratford Waltz”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Do you remember the soundtrack to your earliest childhood memories? Do you remember the songs that wafted from the car radio to the backseat as you rode along the highway, en route to a family reunion or summer vacation? My earliest memories of seemingly interminable, minivan-filled-to-bursting road trips are often scored by solo acoustic guitar. My older brother, a fingerstyle enthusiast and acolyte, had an equally interminable collection of Phil Keaggy albums. At one point, I could tell you the exact title of the tune that was my favorite to fall asleep to on the road — though by now I’ve long forgotten which one. 

Guitarist and Nashville transplant Jordan Tice counts many a virtuosic, acoustic guitar aesthetician (cutaway or not) among his influences, from Norman Blake to Mississippi John Hurt — two pickers Tice references as direct inspirators of his upcoming solo album, Motivational Speakeasy. The record was written pre-pandemic and, despite its “stripped down” nature, feels impetuous, mischievous, and adventure-ready, even in a song as languid and buttery as “Stratford Waltz.” Named for Stratford Avenue in Nashville’s Inglewood neighborhood, the tune immediately recalled to mind the family road trips of my childhood, my brother’s CD carrying case, and my sleepy head bonking against the back window in our circa 2004 Chevrolet Astro Van.

The intimate setting of the album — it’s just Tice and his “beloved and well-worn Collings guitar,” as a press release puts it — and the subtly lush reverb magnify the gentle, magnetic momentum of “Stratford Waltz.” With that motion and the sly adventuresome spirit we know from Tice’s writing, both lyrical and instrumental, it’s no wonder a mind might leap immediately to the open road, with hundreds of miles ahead. And personally, it’s certainly fitting because, nowadays, when I turn off the highway and head south on Gallatin Pike in Nashville towards my current home, my most direct route is down — did you guess it? — Stratford Avenue

Photo credit: Jacqueline Justice