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@AmericanReality I was there! Whitewater and Freeborn Man from this set are up too, and the flacs are in my Tony Rice download archive

@mrcompletely I meant to ask earlier. Are those flacs shareable?

@AmericanReality yeah, my Tony archive is public. The circulating songs from that set are in the Merlefest 92 collection. See the text file for some info and suggestions

#bluegrass #Music

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GxOds0DpFDKtiQWFSqteioB1Co8z1-jm

@mrcompletely @AmericanReality many thanks for this treasure chest of Tony feel like I just stumbled into a goldmine ~ got some listening to do ahead

@tuneslist @AmericanReality you're welcome - it took a lot of very enjoyable effort to get it to this state. I benefited from many people's time and generosity building a pretty massive music collection and sharing well-organized/curated chunks of it is my way of paying all that forward

@mrcompletely @tuneslist that '82 TRU

@AmericanReality @mrcompletely hot damn you weren’t kidding ~ listened to it this morning ~ that TRU 1982 was something else altogether ~ more jazz in the style of Django than bluegrass

@tuneslist @AmericanReality that's what the original TRU was all about, the 1980-82 lineup, what Tony called "spacegrass". It's a direct extension of the Dawg music Tony helped pioneer as an original member of the DGQ. If you haven't heard the original self-titled DGQ album that's a run don't walk scenario! There are also a couple 77 DGQ shows with Tony in that same folder.

Tony Rice albums in that jazzy style include Backwaters (my fav), Devlin and Acoustics

@tuneslist @AmericanReality for the peak of his career the TRU mostly played newgrass with one or two of the jazzy tunes mixed in. After he lost his voice, he returned to the jazzy guitar style for the late 90s/early 2000s with new sophistication. Check out this sublime solo arrangement of Shenandoah, his late-career masterpiece

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj69Zmb02OM

@mrcompletely @AmericanReality to update on this discussion ~ I’ve been diving into this catalog ~ what I find interesting is that the jazzy/gypsy/Django style shows seem rare - the ones I’ve found that are all or partially jazz include these:

David Grisman Quinet 1977-10-23
DGQ 1977-12-16
Tony Rice Unit 1982-02-12
(may be more haven’t found yet)

can often be identified if one of these songs was performed:

Opus 12
4 on 6
Devlin
My Favorite Things
Gypsy Swing
Opus 57

@tuneslist @AmericanReality it's all the DGQ stuff up thru the early or mid eighties (including after Tony left) and the original version of the TRU, which lasted through 1982 or possibly just after. The 82 show is the only one from that era that circulates; I have a TRU show from 1981 which I can't circulate quite yet, but it's extremely similar to the 82. Both Tony and Dawg kept that material around to some degree but it became blended in with other styles in both groups

@tuneslist @AmericanReality Tony, I think, simply found he couldn't make a living playing only what he called "spacegrass." So he helped form the Bluegrass Album Band and then in the mid eighties reformed the TRU playing hybrid setlists.

One he lost his voice, he returned to the jazzy instrumental style somewhat, but with a richer harmonic vocabulary. See the show from 96 with Wyatt Rice for an example of the return to that style.

@tuneslist @AmericanReality of course by the early eighties the Dawg music/spacegrass influence was starting to spread, influencing Bela and all those guys, kicking off the movement that would culminate in Strength In Numbers

@AmericanReality @tuneslist I've just recently realized that at least some of the songs in his late 90s repertoire seem to have come from/been inspired by the Pizza Tapes sessions. I don't see Summertime or House of the Rising Sun in his setlists before then, and the very laid back, open, lush style he developed on those became his final calling card - culminating in his take on Shenandoah of course - I don't think I'm projecting when I say I hear the influence persisting thru that decade

@mrcompletely @tuneslist the solo on Thailand from DGQ 10.23.77 is startling. Not just because of the chops and musicality, but because it sounds like he's going for runs on the edge of his ability. Not much music stops me in my tracks anymore,but that one got me.

@aburtch @mrcompletely @tuneslist luckily we don't have to choose