Pam Rice Talks About the New Tony Rice Festival, and Letting Billy Strings Play Tony’s D-28
It has been a rough two-and-a-half years for Pam Rice. On Christmas Day of 2020, her long-time husband passed away at their house in Reidsville, North Carolina. For Pam, it meant witnessing the transition of her beloved spouse. For the rest of the world, however, that was the day that Tony Rice—simply one of the best and most influential musicians to ever pick up an acoustic guitar—left this world.
Tony’s career covered a lot of bases, from the traditional bluegrass music of J.D. Crowe and the New South and the Bluegrass Album Band to more progressive acoustic sounds found in his recordings with the David Grisman Quintet and on his own albums, which featured many other forward-thinking artists of his generation. All of that led up to one of the most memorable speeches ever given at an International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards Show when Rice was inducted into the IBMA Hall of Fame in 2013.
After his passing, Rice left behind a void in the life of his family and friends. On the musical side of his time on Earth, however, he left behind an extensive legacy of recorded music that will go hand-in-hand with his plaque on the walls of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky.
Rice also left behind one of the most famous guitars in the world. Rice’s legendary pre-war Martin D-28, once owned by Clarence White, was the main instrument through which he shared his musical gifts.
For two-and-a-half years, that so-called ‘million dollar guitar’ has stayed within the family’s care. On March 4, 2023, however, the acclaimed axe magically appeared onstage at a sold-out concert at the Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in the hands of the modern day bluegrass phenom Billy Strings.
In this interview with Pam Rice, we learn of the wonderful, unplanned series of events backstage that led to Strings making some musical history with the guitar numbered #58957.
The March 4th, 2023 concert by Billy Strings marked the end of one of the most impressive two-week runs of live performances in bluegrass history. Nine days earlier, he sold out two shows at the big Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville, and he followed that up with over two hours of classic bluegrass cuts performed live at the Ryman Auditorium, the venue where Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs first played together in 1945.
Strings then moved his musical tour-de-force to Winston-Salem where on March 3, he honored the 100th birthday of the late and great IBMA Hall of Famer Doc Watson by playing over 40 of his songs with special guests, including long-time friends and collaborators of the flatpicking guitar hero.
After all of that, Strings had one more show to do in North Carolina on Saturday evening, March 4, 2023. On that special night, connections were made and the end result was Strings inviting Pam Rice and her friends and family to the show, giving them their own private box in the arena. Before the concert, Strings and Rice met for the first time.
“Lucas White (musician, director at the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation and long-time friend of the Rice Family) was playing with his band on Friday night at one of the pre-shows in Winston-Salem before Billy Strings’ concert, and that led to Lucas and I, my grandson Donovan Scott and more friends and family to be invited to the show,” said Pam Rice. “Billy put us in a private box, but before then we were waiting in another room meant for Billy’s friends and family, which had a lot of food in there and all kinds of beverages. Because we were in there for about 30 minutes or so, my grandson began playing ‘More Pretty Girls Than One’ and Lucas and I were harmonizing with him and I looked up and I saw Billy peep around the door, but we just kept on singing. My grandson had seen Billy before, but I don’t think they realized that he was going to be that young looking in person, and I didn’t either. But, when he walked in, and you know what; he was the cutest thing ever, and he was the sweetest and kindest person you could ever meet.”
Strings knew that the Rice entourage was coming, but according to Pam, he had no idea that she was going to bring the infamous Tony Rice guitar with her, which is sometimes referred to as “The Antique.” Suddenly, Strings had one of the most famous guitars in the history of American roots music in his hands.
“Billy did not know that I brought the D-28,” said Rice. “He said, ‘Man, I never even thought I’d ever see this guitar for real and on my own. I can’t believe I’m holding it.’ I said, ‘Well, I’d like to hear you play it.’ He said, ‘Really? I can play it?’ When I was letting him hold the guitar, he was like a 12-year-old boy at Christmas that just got a gift that he never expected to get. His eyes were just twinkling. Billy played the guitar and said, ‘Well, it sounds beautiful, but it doesn’t sound like Tony playing it, though.’ I said, ‘Well, I’ll tell you what, Tony’s spirit is still in that guitar. You just relax and I’ll guarantee you, he is going to show up and play with you.’
“But, I also gave him some directions as he played it,” continues Rice. “I said, ‘I’m going to explain something to you about this guitar. This guitar has a feminine spirit to it, and you have to let the guitar play when it wants to play. Tony told me, ‘When I get to a place where I don’t really know what I want to play next, sometimes I’ll swipe the strings and wherever my fingers land, I’ll play it, no matter what, and so far it has always been right.’ But, I never saw him swipe the strings like that.”
Eventually, Rice suggested that Strings play The Antique during the show, and that is exactly what he did during his encore. As Strings brought out the legendary six-string, he quieted the sold-out crowd down to a whisper and then told the audience that, “These strings are the last strings that Tony Rice put on this guitar before he died.” Then, Strings and his band played the songs “Likes Of Me,” “Freeborn Man,” “Tipper” and “Freedom.”
“Billy played that guitar beautifully,” said Rice. “I told him, ‘Here is what I want to tell you. Tony left me the guitar and everything else to finish what he started. I’ve just now been able to get myself to the point that I can do this kind of thing. This was pre-ordained, not by me or you, perhaps, but because under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible for me to be here or have brought the guitar here at an earlier time, and I just want you to know this.’ And, Billy just turned out to be one of the most gentle and proper men that I’ve ever met. He was generous with the accommodations, making sure everything was just perfect. I was glad that I got to meet him and spend that time with him, and it made me feel good that he had such a high appreciation of Tony. At one point, I looked down and noticed that Billy had on a ‘Manzanita’ shirt, and I almost asked him where he got it because I don’t have one. But ultimately, Billy was a perfect gentleman, and he was so nice to my grandsons as well. ”
There is another thing that has happened in recent months that has motivated Rice in a positive way during this time of trial and tribulation, and that is the creation of a new music festival dedicated to her late husband. During the encore, Strings made it official from the stage in Winston-Salem by letting the captivated audience know that the First Annual Tony Rice Memorial Day Music Fest was going to take place just 50 miles away on Memorial Day Weekend.
Run by Festival Promotor Cody Johnson along with his wife Donna Johnson, the First Annual Tony Rice Memorial Day Music Fest will take place on May 26 and 27, 2023, at the famed Camp Springs Blue Grass Park in Elon, North Carolina.
Friday’s lineup will feature Darin and Brook Aldridge, Blue Highway, The Church Sisters, Megan Doss, and Caroline Owens. Saturday’s bill will include The Seldom Scene, Southern Legacy, The Kody Norris Show, Franklin Station and the Backporch Orchestra.
For those that know your history, yes, this is the same Camp Springs Blue Grass Festival grounds where the first-ever multi-day bluegrass festival took place in 1969, which was run by Carlton Haney. For years, the Camp Springs Park was in disrepair and was overgrown. But now, it has been revived. Not only did that first festival 54 years ago help the bluegrass genre to survive by showing the viability of multi-day outdoor events, it is also the ground where many great musicians performed back in the day.
Camp Springs is also the place where a young Tony Rice first met Sam Bush at a campfire jam, which led to Rice joining the Bluegrass Alliance and then joining J.D. Crowe and the New South once the Alliance returned to Kentucky.
“At one point, Tony was going out to the Camp Springs grounds and planting long leaf pine trees,” said Rice. “We would go and buy some long leaf pines and we’d go out there and plant them. Tony was planting them too close together, and I told him that was not going to work. He said, ‘Alright, how about every 7 feet?’ I said that they would probably grow better in the long run if they were every 12 feet. So, we planted them. Eventually, years later, somebody came along and cut all our pines down. But, we would go out there a lot. One day, Tony said, ‘This place is real important to me, Pam, and I’m really sentimental about it.’”
More information about the First Annual Tony Rice Memorial Day Music Fest can be found at
campspringsevents.com/tickets-and-info/events/the-tony-rice-memorial-day-musicfest
