Legendary California guitar pickers Tony Rice and Peter Rowan passed through the Front Range of Northern Colorado over the weekend, playing at the Mishawaka Amphitheatre in Bellvue on Saturday and the Bluebird Theatre in Denver on Sunday.
The Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet included Josh Williams on mandolin and ex-Del McCoury Band bassist Mike Bub — an unannounced substitution in place of Californians Bryn Davies and New Mexico-based Sharon Gilchrist, who regularly performs with Peter Rowan and the Free Mexican Air Force.
Rowan, 66, ripped into several of his staple tunes near the beginning of the one-set concert at the Mishawaka, playing such originals as Panama Red, Moonlight Midnight, The Hobo Song and Land of the Navajo.
Once a member of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys in the 60s, Rowan resembled a classic Bluegrass musician at the front of the stage aside the Poudre River.
To his left stood Rice, whose facial expression varied little during the show. Well regarded as a legend of the Bluegrass flat-picking style as well as one of the best Bluegrass vocalists ever, Rice loomed silently by Rowan’s side. His tall, slender body leaned over his guitar as he took the majority of instrumental breaks, including those of several staple instrumental tunes like Salt Creek and Shady Grove.
At times the look on Rice’s face seemed as if he wanted to sing along side the fellow Bluegrass legend. Rice didn’t say one word during the concert, likely a result of his vocal dysphonia, a disorder that has silenced one of the great Bluegrass voices of the ages.
Rice’s most noticeable reaction of the concert came from when the song Muleskinner Blues was requested — a song that both Rowan and Rice would sing with the several bands with which they performed.
At the end of the concert, Rowan walked out on stage and chatted with several of the fans. I had a chance to ask him what advice he would give to an up-and-coming Bluegrass band.
Rowan’s advice to me was, “Feel the pulse, and let it slide.”
