Native American

Description

The late and great guitarist Tony Rice grew up in a bluegrass family and learned to play at the feet of Kentucky Colonel and Byrd Clarence White. In the mid-1970s, he joined the pioneering newgrass group of J.D. Crowe, The New South, thus launching one of the most celebrated careers in bluegrass, folk, and modern string orchestra acoustic music. Along the way, Rice collaborated with David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, Bela Fleck, Alison Krauss, Chris Hillman, Doyle Lawson, Norman Blake... the list is long. This album, Native American from 1988, is one of his most cherished, a beautiful blend of bluegrass, jazz, and folk with soaring interpretations of some of his favorite songwriters, such as Gordon Lightfoot ("Shadows"), Joni Mitchell ("Urge for Going"), Phil Ochs ("Changes"), and Ian Tyson ("Summer Wages"). On the more contemporary side, Mary Chapin Carpenter sings on the album and contributes to a song ("John Wilkes Booth") about Lincoln's assassination, a long-time obsession of Rice's. It's the great Vassar Clements on fiddle and Jerry Douglas on dobro, too...