Me And My Guitar – Tony Rice Unit at Grass Valley in 1988

Many thanks to Danny “Hootenany” Clark with The Bluegrass Bus Museum for sharing this vintage video from California’s Grass Valley Festival back in 1988.

It features The Tony Rice Unit playing an extended version of Me and My Guitar, the title track of Tony’s 1986 album for Rounder Records. The song is one written by James Taylor, transformed into a bluegrass classic by Rice and his compatriots.

Those who recall seeing the Unit back then, recall that it was common for them to jam out on this number, as you can see in the video below.

If you didn’t recognize them all, the Unit here included much younger versions of Tony, his brother Wyatt, Jimmy Gaudreau on mandolin, Ricky Simpkins on fiddle, and Mark Schatz on bass.

Thanks Danny!

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.