Tony Rice/AKUS @ Constitution Hall

Tony Rice with Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas
May 16, 2007
DAR Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C.

Several years ago, a voice disorder ravaged Tony Rice's vocal cords, robbing modern bluegrass of one of its greatest singers. On May 16 at Washington, D.C.'s Constitution Hall, Alison Krauss and Union Station in effect gave Rice his voice back, performing material culled primarily from the 56-year-old acoustic guitar master's back catalog.

Rice, who suffers from dysphonia, has long claimed that he doesn't miss singing all that much (even if his fans do), and that the guitar is his first love. For those who miss Rice's singing (and I'd bet for Rice, too), there could be no better substitute vocalist than Krauss, who at age 35 already has won more Grammy awards (20) than any other woman in history. Rice and Krauss have history, too. Krauss as a teenage fiddle star toured with the Tony Rice Unit in the late 1980s, before her solo career took off. Early in the show, Krauss spoke at length of the admiration she had for Rice as an artist, an innovator and an influence.

Rice certainly is a worthy mentor. From his start as a young Clarence White devotee, his career path has taken him through several influential groups and accomplished albums that have expanded the boundaries of bluegrass into genres with names such as "newgrass," "spacegrass" and "new acoustic music." Krauss proved that she was an attentive student by lending the same grace to the singer-songwriter material that Rice did on some of his landmark recordings, songs such as Gordon Lightfoot's "Shadows," "Early Mornin' Rain," "Sixteen Miles" and "Song for a Winter's Night" and Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds" and "Summer Wages."

If one were to look for a singer equally capable of subbing for Rice, they'd have to look only one microphone stand to Krauss' left. There stood Dan Tyminski, who is already pretty well known, if not by name, for being the singing voice for the lip-synching George Clooney in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and in turn helping to spark the roots-music explosion in that film's wake.

Rice said that there was no better choice than Tyminski to sing Norman Blake's "Church Street Blues," the title track to one of Rice's most enduring albums. Tyminski proceeded to show why, lending his smooth mountain tenor to the tune while Rice deftly picked the chords. It was a touching performance, and served as a reminder of the amazing ability Rice once had to superbly perform both parts at the same time.

While it was great to hear Rice's vocal material back in circulation, most Rice fans turn out to see great guitar playing. With Krauss (fiddle) and Union Station � Jerry Douglas (dobro), Tyminski (mandolin), Ron Block (guitar, banjo) and Barry Bales (bass) � backing him up, Rice seemed inspired to kick his playing into a higher gear.

He took a short solo on the opener, "Shadows," but got his first chance to really cut loose on the second number, "Sawing on the Strings." As he leaned into his microphone, the crowd responded with applause, acknowledging that they were in the presence of a guitar great, an innovator in the flatpicking world on par with Jimi Hendrix in the electric one.

Rice later displayed all of the skills on which he built his reputation as a solo artist and in bands such as the Bluegrass Alliance, J.D. Crowe & the New South, The David Grisman Quintet and the Tony Rice Unit. Midway through the main set, the rest of the musicians exited the stage and left Rice under a spotlight. He began to play licks that were shaded in tones of bluegrass, blues and jazz. He played runs that were at times blindingly fast and at others slow and soulful. For a few minutes he explored, riffing, running his fingers across the fretboard and searching. Slowly he eased into the chord progression of "Summertime." After a couple of turns through the chords, Douglas emerged from the wings and began to pick out the melody. They jammed on the tune for several minutes, switching from rhythm to lead and back again, going from a straightforward presentation to freeform and back again. As they raised the bar higher and higher, it was hard not to be awestruck by the sight of quite possibly the greatest dobro player and the greatest flatpicker who ever lived going toe to toe on a classic.

The idea of the tour was to showcase Rice's influential material, but he fit right into the band as well. The only thing that could make AKUS a more formidable unit than it already is would be the addition of a hotshot lead guitar player. They had it in Rice, and he relished the role, but he was just as happy blending into the band. When they played traditional bluegrass material, Rice stayed true to those roots and stayed away from guitar solos. Even so, his famous rhythm playing was a sight to behold, his right hand displaying impeccable timing and helping drive the songs along.

The musicians seemed to be having fun, and displaying genuine affection as well. After duets with Rice on "Summertime," "Church Street Blues" and "Streets of London," respectively, Douglas, Tyminski and Krauss each embraced Rice before returning to the setlist.

A later highlight was the back-to-back performance of songs from Rice's 1979 album "Manzanita": Norman Blake's "Ginseng Sullivan" and then the instrumental title track. All the soloists shined on "Manzanita," but Block's contribution was noteworthy as there was no banjo on the original recording.

The main set ended with a red-hot version of an early signature tune for Rice, "Freeborn Man," with Tyminski on lead vocals. As the band burned through the Jimmy Martin classic, a slide show on the backdrop depicted some of the musicians on stage, primarily Rice, Krauss and Douglas, at various points in their careers. Also included were musicians who they had played with or were influenced by, such as Vassar Clements, David Grisman and Jerry Garcia. A shot of Rice, Grisman and Garcia drew the biggest reaction from the crowd.

The band returned for a two-song encore comprising "Summer Wages" and Bill Monroe's "On My Way Back to the Old Home." It was a tribute to Rice (who recorded the song with the Bluegrass Album Band), but Krauss and Union Station could just as well have been saluting the man who created bluegrass. Monroe had no way of knowing it, but his invention drew in each of these musicians individually and ultimately put them on the stage collectively for this unforgettable night.

Setlist
Shadows
I'm Walkin'
Sawing on the Strings
Early Mornin' Rain
Four Strong Winds
Sixteen Miles
Down the Road
Born to be With You
Summertime
Church Street Blues
Streets of London
This Sad Song
Let Me Touch You for a While
Ginseng Sullivan
Manzanita
Song for a Winter's Night
I Think it's Gonna Rain Today
Any Old Time
Freeborn Man
Encore
Summer Wages
On My Way Back to the Old Home