Kris Howland Brings Classic Bluegrass LPs Back to the Future

Photos by Chelsea LaFond It’s an excellent time for bluegrass LP seekers and collectors. And the folks at Heady Wax Fiends, with help from Real Gone Music, have certainly sweetened the pot by bringing classic bluegrass LPs back on premium vinyl.       Their rerelease of Manzanita by the Tony Rice Unit sparked our initial interest. Turns out, there’s much more to the story than just reproducing that majestically mysterious black album, its cover showing only Tony embracing the Antique, SN: 58597, and wearing a florid polyester shirt that somehow still looks cool 46 years later.        Long since out of print on vinyl, Kris Howland decided to see if Manzanita could be reissued in a limited edition so fans could experience it on vinyl today. Howland is a founder of the Facebook group of vinyl record fans called Heady Wax Fiends that post about favorite LPs, both popular and obscure. Discussion in that group runs to legendary albums across genres. And those discussions of