David Grisman and Tony Rice
Band · Active 2017–present
Classic Bluegrass
Jazz / Dawg
David Grisman and Tony Rice's duo and small-group collaborations produced some of the most intimate acoustic recordings of either musician's career. Their shared history stretched back to 1975 when Rice left J.D. Crowe to join Grisman's Quintet in Mill Valley, and through the 1980s and 90s they returned to each other periodically for sessions that showcased their unforced conversation as two of the preeminent acoustic improvisers of their generation.
- First crossed paths in the early 1970s while Rice was still with Bill Keith's recording project Something Auld, Something Newgrass, Something Borrowed, Something Bluegrass. Grisman was working on original material that would become Dawg music. Rice left J.D. Crowe's New South in late 1975 to move to California and join the David Grisman Quintet.
- The David Grisman Quintet's debut (Kaleidoscope, 1977) featured Rice's flatpicking on Grisman's jazz-inflected compositions — a radically different context from the traditional bluegrass Rice had been playing in Kentucky.
- Rice left the Grisman Quintet in 1978 to form the Tony Rice Unit (see separate entry). The two remained close friends and occasional collaborators through multiple projects.
- The Pizza Tapes (Acoustic Disc, 2000) preserved a 1993 kitchen session with Jerry Garcia at Grisman's house — bootleg cassettes circulated for years before the official release. Features Rice, Grisman, and Garcia trading traditional material like “Shady Grove,” “Little Sadie,” and the title reference to the pizza delivery man who allegedly stole the original tape.
- Tone Poems (Acoustic Disc, 1994) paired Grisman and Rice playing a different vintage guitar and mandolin on each track — a concept album documenting the sound of historic fretted instruments. Widely considered one of both musicians' finest recordings.
- Tone Poems 2 (Acoustic Disc, 1995) continued the vintage-instrument theme, though this volume featured Martin Taylor on guitar with Grisman on mandolins rather than Rice.
- Grisman produced Rice's Acoustic Disc release Unit of Measure (2000) and frequently engineered and mastered at Dawg Studios.
- Grisman's Acoustic Disc releases after Rice's vocal-cord problems prevented him from singing (Rice's last public vocal performance was 1994) gave Rice continued instrumental recording outlets when his main vocal career had ended.
- Rice's death on December 25, 2020 closed out nearly half a century of friendship and musical partnership. Grisman recalled Rice as “my brother” in tributes after the passing.
- The Grisman-Rice catalog includes several additional appearances on each other's records: Grisman on Rice's Manzanita (1979), Rice on Grisman's Dawgwood (1993) and various live Acoustic Disc releases.
- Rice's authorized biography Still Inside (Tim Stafford and Caroline Wright, 2010) devotes extensive space to the Grisman friendship and its impact on both musicians' trajectories.
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Fireball MailThe Gasoline Brothers: Bluegrass Pickin' and Singing (2022)
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Grandfather's ClockTone Poems (1994)
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Watson BluesTone Poems (1994)
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Wildwood FlowerTone Poems (1994)
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David GrismanPlayed on recordings with David Grisman and Tony Rice
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Tony RicePlayed on recordings with David Grisman and Tony Rice
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Todd PhillipsPlayed on recordings with David Grisman and Tony Rice
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Bill KeithPlayed on recordings with David Grisman and Tony Rice
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Richard GreenePlayed on recordings with David Grisman and Tony Rice
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Steve ArkinPlayed on recordings with David Grisman and Tony Rice