PETER ROWAN & TONY RICE RELEASE YOU WERE THERE FOR ME
—Rounder Records captures the first recording collaboration by legendary musical icons—

NASHVILLE, TN, June 22, 2004 — At last, two of the most influential musicians in American music have recorded a full-fledged album together, to be released on Rounder Records this fall. You Were There For Me is the work of two masters of their craft, Peter Rowan and Tony Rice. The two have spent their respective careers creating and transforming music with their renowned innovation and individuality. Both are also at ease in a broad variety of musical genres, as well as widely recognized for expanding musical boundaries in their respective solo and collaborative efforts. In recent years Rowan and Rice have toured extensively together, however You Were There For Me is the extraordinary result of the first recorded collaboration of these two gifted musicians. It is a true duet collection in every sense of the word, featuring Rowan’s sublime vocals on ten of his original compositions, while acoustic guitar virtuoso Rice’s remarkable instrumental work evokes, frames and enhances the emotions of each song with characteristic elegance.

With laudatory liner notes provided by celebrated music critic Robert Oermann, You Were There For Me opens with the achingly heartfelt, yet instrumentally spare title track, followed by the robust blues and deftly-played guitar of “Tin Roof Shack.”  “Shirt Off My Back” is the ideal vehicle for the interplay between Rowan’s voice and the “voice” of Rice’s guitar: the two complement each other perfectly. In “Miss Liberty (Lay My Lonesome Down),” Rice’s guitar solo answers the metaphorical lyrics with the space needed for their expression, and on “Cowboys And Indians” the instrumental support is again essential to the tempo and structure of the song. Both musicians shine impressively on “Ahmed The Beggar Boy,” while on “Angel Island” Rowan and Rice, once again, echo each other’s phrasing flawlessly.  Rowan’s broken-hearted vocal on “Ain’t That Just Like You” is matched by the pain in the notes of Rice’s guitar, and both musicians trade off on lovely jazz-inflected solos. “Old Sante Fe” features Rowan’s lilting, melodic lead vocal and Latin-flavored guitar by Rice, who graces the instrumental break with precision and delicacy. The set closes with Rowan’s ode to freedom,  “Wild Mustang,” showcasing striking Native American vocalizations by Rowan, with Rice’s Spanish guitar inflections underscoring the lyric and his wide-open solo the audio equivalent of freedom itself.

You Were There For Me is also highlighted by the guest artist support of the following outstanding musicians: Billy Bright on mandolin and mandola and Bryn Bright on double bass and harmony vocals (both longtime accompanists on both Rowan and Rice’s live dates); as well as Tony Garnier (Bob Dylan) on double bass; Larry Atamanuik (Alison Krauss + Union Station) on percussion; and Robert Emory (baritone harmony vocal on “Old Santa Fe”).

Grammy-award winner and five-time Grammy nominee, Peter Rowan was born in Massachusetts to a musical family. He began his professional career playing guitar, singing lead vocals and co-writing as a member of the Bluegrass Boys, led by the founding father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe. After his departure as Monroe’s guitarist and lead vocalist, Rowan formed folk-rock band Earth Opera with David Grisman, recording two successful albums for Elektra Records, subsequently joining Richard Greene in jazz-rock fusion group Sea Train. In the early '70s, Rowan, David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, Vassar Clements and John Kahn formed a bluegrass band christened Old & In The Way. He embarked on a well-received solo career in the late ‘70s, releasing such diverse and critically acclaimed albums, as Dustbowl Children and Bluegrass Boy, as well as much-admired collaborations with ace dobro player Jerry Douglas, Flaco Jimenez, and his brothers Christopher and Lorin Rowan.  Rowan’s songs have also been recorded by hit country artists and featured in motion pictures. His recent projects include a recording at Jamaica’s famed Tuff Gong Studios with an imposing array of hardcore reggae and bluegrass musicians, and select performances touring as Peter Rowan and Crucial Reggae, featuring members of both the Burning Spear and Peter Tosh bands.

Arguably the finest flat-pick guitarist of all time, Virginia-born and California-raised 

Tony Rice is revered as perhaps the single most important bluegrass guitarist alive. Introduced to the genre by his musician father, he formed the seminal band Bluegrass Alliance, and later joined J.D. Crowe’s New South, which was one of the best, most progressive and commercially successful bluegrass bands of the time. Rice left to join the David Grisman Quintet, working on original material that blended jazz, bluegrass and classical styles. He then embarked on a highly respected and successful solo career that included a part-time venture in bluegrass supergroup, The Bluegrass Album Band. With his signature subtle touch, beautiful tone, amazing speed and imaginative phrasing, Rice has inspired guitarists far and wide for decades, as both a peerless lead player and the quintessential rhythm player. His inventive syncopation encompasses many acoustic music genres in addition to bluegrass, including jazz, blues, classical, folk, and swing, as is evident in his numerous solo and collaborative recordings. Twice nominated for a Grammy Award, he won for Best Country Instrumental Performance in 1986 as a member of New South. Rounder Records released Tony Rice The Bluegrass Guitar Collection last year, and Rice has recently revived the illustrious Tony Rice Unit, to craft the non-traditional, jazz-tinged “spacegrass” with which he is identified. The Tony Rice Unit is currently playing dates throughout the country.

Peter Rowan and Tony Rice are performing together in support of You Were There For Me on a tour to begin in September, 2004, which also includes Bryn Bright on stand up acoustic bass and Billy Bright on mandolin