Tony Rice Biography

Tony Rice is an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He is the most powerful living acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, dynamic bluegrass, newgrass, and flattop acoustic jazz. In 2013, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.

Tony Rice Age

Tony Rice’s real name David Anthony Rice was born in Danville, Virginia, the United States on June 8, 1951. He is 68 years as of 2019 and he celebrates his birthday on 8th June every year.

Tony Rice Family

Rice was born in Danville, Virginia but grew up in Los Angeles, California. He was introduced to bluegrass by his father, Herb Rice. Tony and his siblings took in the essentials of bluegrass and country music from L.A. performers like the Kentucky Colonels, led by Roland and Clarence White. Running into fellow fans like Ry Cooder, Herb Pedersen, and Chris Hillman strengthened the quality of the music he had learned from his dad.

Tony Rice Wife

Perhaps the most influential living acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, Rice has managed to get quite a good career name for himself. Surprisingly, he has done the same with his personal life. He is married to Pam Rice, however, inside information about their married life is not known.

Tony Rice Facts And Body Measurements

Here are some interesting facts and body measurements you should know about Tony Rice.

Full Name: David Anthony Rice
Also Known As: Tony Rice
Age/ How Old?: 68 years
Date of Birth: June 8, 1951
Place of Birth: Danville, Virginia, the United States
Birthday: 8th June
Nationality: American
Education‎: Not Available
Father’s Name: Herb Rice
Mother’s Name: Not Available
Siblings: Brothers Ron, Larry, and Wyatt.
Married?: Pam Rice
Children/ Kids: Not Mentioned
Height/ How tall?: 5 feet and 9 inches or 1.76 m
Weight: 145.5 lbs or 66kg
Profession: musician
Known For: being a guitarist and bluegrass musician
Net worth: Not Available

Tony Rice Net Worth

An American guitarist and bluegrass musician, Rice’s source of wealth comes from being a guitarist. However, his estimated net worth is still under review.

Tony Rice Career

Rice migrated to Louisville, Kentucky in 1970, where he played with the Bluegrass Alliance, and thereafter, J.D. Crowe’s New South. The New South was known as truly outstanding and most dynamic twang groups—at the end including drums and electric instruments (to Rice’s disappointment).

In 1974, when Ricky Skaggs joined them, the band recorded J. D. Crowe & the New South, an acoustic album that became Rounder Records’ top-seller up to that time. At this point, the group consisted of Rice on guitar and lead vocals, Jerry Douglas on Dobro, Crowe on banjo and vocals, Skaggs on fiddle, mandolin, and tenor vocals, and Bobby Slone on bass and fiddle.

Rice encountered David Grisman a mandolinist, who played with Red Allen during the 1960s and was at the present time managing an extraordinary material that blended jazz, twang, and conventional styles. Rice left the New South and moved to California to join Grisman’s everything instrumental group.

So as to widen his ability and make himself increasingly attractive, Rice started contemplating harmony hypothesis, figured out how to peruse graphs, and started to grow his playing past twang as a feature of the David Grisman Quintet.

Famous guitarist John Carlini came in to show Rice music hypothesis, and Carlini helped him become familiar with the complexities of jazz playing and melodic impromptu creation, as a rule. The David Grisman Quintet’s 1977 introduction recording is viewed as a milestone of acoustic string band music.

In 1980, Rice, Crowe, Bobby Hicks, Doyle Lawson, and Todd Phillips shaped the Bluegrass Album Band and recorded from 1980 to 1996.

With the Tony Rice Unit, he sought after trial “space grass” music on Mar West, Still Inside, and Backwaters. Individuals from the Unit included Jimmy Gaudreau (mandolin), Wyatt Rice (guitar), Ronnie Simpkins (bass), and Rickie Simpkins (fiddle). In the late 1980’s Alison Krauss played consistently with the gathering in the show for about a year yet never showed up on the collections. Alison Brown additionally guested with the gathering during that period.

Skaggs & Rice

He recorded an album of bluegrass duets with Ricky Skaggs in 1980, called Skaggs & Rice. Two collections with conventional instrumentalist and musician Norman Blake accumulated acclaim, just as two Rice Brothers collections of 1992 and 1994 that highlighted him teamed with his late senior sibling, Larry, and younger siblings, Wyatt and Ronnie.

Beginning in 1984, Rice has collaborated on four albums by Béla Fleck – Double Time (Béla Fleck album) (1984), Tales from the Acoustic Planet (1995), Drive (Béla Fleck album) (1988), and The Bluegrass Sessions: Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 2 (1999).

He joined David Grisman and Jerry Garcia in 1993, to record The Pizza Tapes. The following year Rice and Grisman recorded Tone Poems, a unique collection of material, where they utilized authentic vintage mandolins and guitars, distinctive for each track.

Rice recorded a folk album featuring just two guitars with John Carlini, who also worked for David Grisman Quintet in 1995. Rice, together with his brother Larry, Chris Hillman (a member of the Byrds’ original lineup) and banjoist Herb Pedersen, founded the “anti-supergroup” Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen in 1997, and produced three volumes of music between 1997 and 2001.

Solo career
In 1979, Rice left Grisman’s group to record Acoustics, a jazz-roused collection, and after that Manzanita, a country and society collection. A comparable blend was clear on Cold on the Shoulder, Native American, and Me and My Guitar, collections which consolidated twang, energetic guitar work, and the songwriting of Ian Tyson, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Bob Dylan, and Gordon Lightfoot.

Rice’s performing voice was an unmistakable baritone. In 1994 he was determined to have a disorder referred to as muscle tension dysphonia and therefore was compelled to quit singing in live performance. A 2014 analysis of horizontal epicondylitis (“tennis elbow”) made guitar playing difficult and Rice’s last performance playing guitar live was his acceptance into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013.

Still Inside: The Tony Rice Story is the biography of Tony Rice which has been written by Tim Stafford and Hawaii-based journalist Caroline Wright and was published in 2010 by Word of Mouth Press in Kingsport, Tennessee, the United States. The book’s legitimate release occurred at Merlefest in North Carolina.

Tony Rice Awards

Grammy

• Best Country Instrumental Performance – The New South, Fireball – 1983

IBMA

• Hall of Fame Inductee, 2013
• Instrumental Performer of the Year – Guitar – 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2007
• Instrumental Group of the Year – The Tony Rice Unit – 1991, 1995
• Instrumental Group of the Year – Bluegrass Album Band – 1990
• Instrumental Album of the Year – Bluegrass Instrumentals, Volume 6 (Rounder); Bluegrass Album Band – 1997

Frequently Asked Questions About Tony Rice

Who is Tony Rice?

He is an American guitarist and bluegrass musician.

How old is Tony Rice?

How tall is Tony Rice?

He stands at a height of 5 feet and 9 inches or 1,76 m.

Is Tony Rice married?

He is married to Pam Rice, however, inside information about their married life is not known.

How much is Tony Rice worth?

An American guitarist and bluegrass musician, Rice’s source of wealth comes from being a guitarist. However, his estimated net worth is still under review.

How much does Tony Rice make?

According to our reliable sources, his annual estimated salary is yet to be updated.

Where does Tony Rice live?

He was born in Danville, Virginia but his current residence is still under review.

Is Tony Rice dead or alive?

He is still alive and in good health. There have been no news of him having any health-related issues.

Where is Tony Rice now?

He is currently concentrating on his career in music as a guitarist and bluegrass.

Why did Tony Rice lose his voice?

Rice lost his singing voice in 1994 when he was diagnosed with a disorder known as muscle tension dysphonia. Following this, he was forced to stop singing in live performance.