As well as his solo recordings and as The Tony Rice Unit, he was a founding member of The David Grisman Quintet (setting the guitar standard for the bluegrass-jazz fusion music often called Dawg after the bearded facial appearance of David Grisman) and The Bluegrass Album Band. He has also recorded as Ricky Skaggs & Tony Rice, Norman Blake & Tony Rice, Tony Rice & David Grisman, Tony Rice & John Carlini, Jerry Garcia, David Grisman & Tony Rice, Peter Rowan & Tony Rice, and John Hartford, Tony Rice & Vassar Clements.
Rice spanned the range of acoustic music, from straight-ahead bluegrass to jazz-influenced new acoustic music, to songwriter-oriented folk. He is remembered as perhaps the greatest innovator in acoustic flatpicked guitar since Clarence White. Over the course of his career, he played alongside J.D. Crowe and the New South, David Grisman (during the formation of “Dawg Music”), led his own groups, collaborated with fellow picker Norman Blake and recorded with his brothers. He recorded with drums, piano, soprano sax, and with straight-ahead bluegrass instrumentation.
Rice was born in Danville, Virginia but grew up in California, where he was introduced to bluegrass by his father. He and his brothers learned a lot from hot L.A. pickers like the Kentucky Colonels, led by Roland and Clarence White. Crossing paths with fellow enthusiasts like Ry Cooder, Herb Pederson and Chris Hillman reinforced the strength of the music he had learned from his father.
In 1970, Rice moved back to Kentucky where he played with the Bluegrass Alliance, and shortly thereafter, J.D. Crowe’s New South. The New South was known as one of the best and most progressive bluegrass groups - even adding drums and electric instruments. But when Ricky Skaggs joined up in 1974, the band recorded J.D. Crowe & the New South, an acoustic album that became Rounder’s top-seller up to that time. With Rice on guitar and vocals, Crowe on banjo and vocals, Jerry Douglas on Dobro, Skaggs on fiddle and mandolin and Bobby Slone on bass, the band’s energy, as well as their instrumental and vocal drive have rarely been matched.
Around this time Rice met mandolinist David Grisman, who played with Red Allen during the ‘60s and was now working on some original material that blended jazz, bluegrass and classical styles. Rice left the New South and moved to California to join Grisman’s all instrumental group. As part of the David Grisman Quintet, Rice expanded his horizons beyond three chord bluegrass, studying chord theory, learning to read charts and expanding the range of his playing.
In 1979, he left the group to pursue his own music. He recorded Acoustics, a guitar-oriented record, and then Manzanita which collected some favorite folk and bluegrass vocals. In 1980, Rice, Crowe, Bobby Hicks, Doyle Lawson and Todd Phillips formed a highly successful coalition, attacking bluegrass standards under the name the Bluegrass Album Band. This group recorded six volumes of music.
Rice’s solo career hit its stride with Cold on the Shoulder, a collection of bluegrass vocals. With this album, Native American and Me & My Guitar, Rice arrived at a formula that incorporated his disparate influences, combining bluegrass, the songwriting of folk artists like Ian Tyson, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs and especially Gordon Lightfoot, with nimble, jazz-inflected guitar work. Simultaneously, he pursued his jazz and experimental “spacegrass” with the Tony Rice Unit on Mar West, Still Inside and Backwaters.
Two highly regarded albums with traditional guitar virtuoso Norman Blake gained a great deal of acclaim, as well as two Rice Brother albums that reunited him with his younger brother, Wyatt. Tony Rice remained one of bluegrass’ top instrumentalists and singers, bringing originality and vitality to everything he played.
Official Website: Tony Rice
Girl From The North Country
Tony Rice Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Remember me to one who lives there
For she once was the true love of mine
See for me if her hair's hanging down
It curls and flows all down her breast
See for me that her hair's hanging down
That's the way I remember her best
When the rivers freeze and summer ends
Please see for me if she's wearing a coat so warm
To keep her from the howlin' winds
If you're traveling in the north country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Please say hello to the one who lives there
For she once was a true love of mine
And if you're traveling in the north country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Remember me to one who lives there
For she once was a true love of mine
True love of mine, a true love of mine
True love of mine, a true love of mine
A true love of mine, a true love of mine
She was once a true love of mine
The opening line of Tony Rice's song "Girl From The North Country" immediately sets the tone for a melancholic ballad about lost love. The singer is addressing a fellow traveler who is heading towards the "north country fair," a reference to the annual music festival hosted in Duluth, Minnesota, which is situated near the border with Canada. The winds in this region are fierce and heavy, creating a palpable sense of isolation and longing. The singer asks the traveler to pass on a message to a former lover who lives there, telling her that she was once his true love.
The second stanza adds a vivid sensory detail, asking the traveler to take note of the woman's hair, which "curls and flows all down her breast." The image suggests a certain intimacy and familiarity with the woman's physical appearance, underscoring the depth of feeling the singer had for her. The third stanza transports us to winter, when the snow falls and the rivers freeze. Here, the singer seems to be asking the traveler for a favor: to make sure the woman has a warm coat to protect her from the "howlin' winds." This line is especially poignant because it highlights the singer's concern for the woman's well-being, even as he has been separated from her for some time.
Overall, "Girl From The North Country" is a poignant meditation on memory, loss, and the power of place to evoke powerful emotions. The singer's use of sensory details and commands to the traveler create a sense of urgency and immediacy, as if he is desperately trying to hold onto memories of a past love that are slipping away. The use of the phrase "true love of mine" several times throughout the song seems to underscore the singer's feelings of regret and longing, and the bittersweet knowledge that he may never be able to recapture the love he once shared with the woman in the north country.
Line by Line Meaning
If you're traveling till the north country fair
If you happen to be going up north to the country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Where the winds are strong and hit the border hard
Remember me to one who lives there
Say hello to someone that lives there for me
For she once was the true love of mine
Because she used to be my true love
See for me if her hair's hanging down
Please check if her hair is hanging down
It curls and flows all down her breast
Her hair should be curly and flowing down her chest
That's the way I remember her best
That's how I remember her the most
If you go when the snowflakes fall
If you go when it's snowing
When the rivers freeze and summer ends
When the rivers turn to ice and summer is over
Please see for me if she's wearing a coat so warm
Check if she's wearing a warm coat for me
To keep her from the howlin' winds
To protect her from the strong winds
Please say hello to the one who lives there
Please give my regards to the person living there
True love of mine, a true love of mine
She was once my true love
She was once a true love of mine
She used to be my true love
Writer(s): Bob Dylan
Contributed by Eliana A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@user-gu2yy6kq9y
Can't duplicate Tony Rice!! ❤❤
@cornstorm666
Excellent cover of Dylan song, love the upbeat sound..RIP Tony 12/25/20, such a loss for us all
@mrpoverty1582
don't get any better than this.i listen to tony most every day...God bless you tony.....#1 fan in the world
@user-ud2sn7wc7k
No, you're not nmuber 1 fan. I know a man who loves this guy here in Japan. He must be Number 1. Or,whould you share the number 1 position with him? :)
@johnnyguitarra3448
Mr Poverty Actually my good man it’s a well-known fact that I am the number one fan in the world and I have the documentation to prove it somewhere around here now dammit where did I put that sugar I’m always losing my number one fan in the world documentation oh well you just have to take my word for it without you ha ha Ha ha ha
@susanreynolds661
Iam also no.1 fan
@susanreynolds661
No 1 fan also
@strawman8
Tony's guitar always sounds good to my ears,Martin or Santa Cruz. Also great vocals and lyrics. Thanks for posting.
@birdsbluegrass
Rest In Peace, Tony Rice. You sure were a guitar picker.
@susanreynolds661
Great song!