Grace Constable Archives - Bluegrass Today

Grace Constable tribute to Tony Rice

As part on our ongoing goal of highlighting young bluegrass artists of note, and as a further appreciation of the late Preston Thompson, here is video of Grace Constable doing her tribute to the great Tony Rice. She is playing her Thompson guitar, with Spencer Hatcher providing the vocal.

Grace is currently studying in the bluegrass program at East Tennessee State University, and taking lessons there from Wyatt Rice, Tony’s younger brother. She is following in the footsteps of her older sister, Chelsea, also a highly accomplished performer on both acoustic and electric guitar.

Here Constable demonstrates her crosspicking skills on Tony Rice’s iconic arrangement of Church Street Blues. His version of the Norman Blake classic is widely pointed out as an example of the many variations to traditional guitar technique that Rice popularized in bluegrass, particularly playing multiple downstrokes with the pick at a higher speed.

Well done, Grace – and Spencer, a fellow ETSU student now playing banjo with Nick Chandler & Delivered.

Grace Constable plays Gasology at ETSU

We’ve written approvingly many times about the opportunities now available for young people to study bluegrass music and instruments at the undergraduate level at colleges in the United States. Associate and bachelor’s degrees can be obtained from at least a half dozen universities, and music departments at other schools are opening up to the idea of including banjo and mandolin as principal instruments of study.

At this time of year when these programs are finishing up for the year, and students are prepping for exams, we wanted to highlight one stellar pupil, Grace Constable, who is studying guitar in the ETSU Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies program in Johnson City, TN. A primary reason for her attending there is the chance to work directly with flatpicking legend Wyatt Rice, as well as learn all the other basics of music performance she’ll need looking towards a career in the business.

Grace was lured into bluegrass guitar as a young girl by her older sister, Chelsea, who has become a YouTube sensation through her numerous videos online. Chelsea starting garnering attention as a young teen herself, and now has her first solo album of guitar music available online. So what would any younger sibling do but follow in her footsteps.

Big sister plays both electric and acoustic guitar, while Grace prefers to stick to flatpicking. Both are endorsers for Taylor Guitars, and they asked Grace to do a demo at ETSU during this semester. One song from the demonstration was captured on an iPad, and despite the lower resolution video, it is an excellent t example of what she can do while still in school.

She is supported by Chelsea on second guitar, along with Anysley Porchak on fiddle and Max Etling on bass for a take on Tony Rice’s Gasology.

Grace is on the left and Chelsea on the right.

Keep an eye on this young lady. And her big sister too.

Two hot young pickers – Chelsea and Grace Constable

Bluegrass lovers know that hot young pickers show up just about everywhere you look. You see them at festivals all over the world, at fiddler’s conventions, and at amateur pickings in every imaginable setting. Some may just be precocious youngsters, but others will develop into the top artists of the next generation.

Here’s a pair of sisters from East Tennessee who can wear the strings off a guitar, 25 year old Chelsea Constable and her 13 year old sister, Grace. Both are very capable players, with Grace showing tremendous promise at such a tender age.

Here is a video they put together as Taylor Guitar endorsers. That’s Grace on the left and Chelsea on the right.

Chelsea says that they have been studying the instrument as a team for some time, chasing after their idol.

“Grace and I have been playing together for several years and love all styles of music. Bluegrass has always been very familiar to us in the region we live in (East Tennessee). We both started out early on Tony Rice licks/songs. I personally got to meet him, and it was a thrill to meet my favorite flat-picker of all time! Grace would love to meet him sometime, but we hear his health isn’t the best these days. Grace is currently taking online lessons from Bryan Sutton. We are both officially endorsed by Taylor Guitars.”

You can find out more about Taylor Guitars online.