Wyatt Rice and Santa Cruz

Rice, the youngest of the four Rice brothers, had spent his career up to then mostly in support of Tony, and he used the pause in the Unit’s work to develop his own ideas. Santa Cruz was a five-piece: Rice on lead and rhythm guitar, Junior Sisk on rhythm guitar, Elmer Burchett on banjo, Ricky Riddle on mandolin and Timmy Massey on bass, with Sisk, Massey, Burchett and Riddle all singing. Sisk and Massey divided the lead vocals between them.

Picture in a Tear was recorded at Doobie Shea Studios in Ferrum, Virginia, engineered by Tim Austin and Scott Bolen, and produced by the band with Ronnie Bowman; Rounder released it on 8 October 1996 as Rounder CD 0372. Guests filled out the sound: Dan Tyminski on mandolin, Aubrey Haynie, Jason Carter and Rickie Simpkins on fiddle, Kim Gardner on Dobro, and Bowman on harmony vocals. Sisk sang the lead on the title song, “The Sweetest Rose,” “He Died a Rounder at Twenty-One,” “Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound,” “I Just Don’t Know What I’ll Do” and the gospel closer “In His Love I’ll Abide”; Massey sang “Molly,” “Separate Ways,” “Katy Did,” “Someone’s Telling Lies” and “It’s Goodbye and So Long to You.” The one instrumental was “Santa Cruz Breakdown.”

The band broke up soon after the album came out. Rice went on to instructional and concert projects with Flatpicking Guitar Magazine, played lead and rhythm guitar in Ronnie Bowman’s band, the Committee, and returned to the Tony Rice Unit when it resumed.