THE TONY RICE UNIT’S GENRE-DEFYING DEBUT, ACOUSTICS, RETURNS TO VINYLIN HONOR OF THE BLUEGRASS ICON’S 75^TH BIRTHDAY

 

The 1978 instrumental album is released on December 4 featuring an all-star line-up of musicians, including David Grisman, Sam Bush, Richard Greene, and Mike Marshall

 

 

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Click here to pre-order now/stream “Blues for Paradise”

 

Los Angeles, CA (October 14, 2026)—Craft Recordings closes out its year-long celebration of what would have been bluegrass icon Tony Rice’s 75th birthday with a reissue of Acoustics, the 1978 debut from his innovative ensemble, The Tony Rice Unit. Featuring a who’s who of the genre’s brightest talents—including David Grisman, Sam Bush, Richard Greene, and Mike Marshall—the instrumental album takes listeners far beyond the sounds of traditional bluegrass, as heard in selections like “Blues for Paradise,” “Gasology,” and “New Waltz.” Out of print for nearly 50 years, Acoustics returns to vinyl on December 4 and features all-analog (AAA) mastering by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. The album will also be available in standard and HD digital. Click here to pre-order the album and stream the advanced single, “Blues for Paradise,” today.

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One of the most revered names in bluegrass, Tony Rice (1951–2020) shaped the sound of the genre throughout his lengthy career, while his distinctive touch on the guitar influenced countless others. Born in Virginia and raised in Los Angeles, Rice launched his career in Louisville, KY, where he became the lead vocalist and guitarist of J.D. Crowe’s legendary group, The New South. In the mid-’70s, not long after the release of their self-titled bestseller (featuring fellow bluegrass icons Jerry Douglas and Ricky Skaggs), Rice returned to California to join David Grisman’s esteemed quintet. Working alongside the celebrated mandolinist, Rice broadened his musical palette—exploring jazz, classical, and other styles—while honing his technique on the guitar.

That same passion led Rice to form The Tony Rice Unit as an outlet for his musical explorations. The group—who would later coin the term “Spacegrass” to describe their boundary-pushing work—blended extended improvisations with elements of jazz, plus dashes of classical and even prog-rock, all on acoustic instrumentation (a style broadly referred to as “new acoustic”). Their 1978 debut, Acoustics, set the groundwork for the innovative new style.

Unlike the vocal-driven repertoire of Rice’s earlier solo work, Acoustics is wholly instrumental, giving each soloist room to trade and build on the melodies in real time. Joining Rice are some of progressive bluegrass’ biggest talents, including mandolinist and violinist Sam Bush, violinist Richard Greene, mandolinist Mike Marshall, bassist Todd Phillips, and mandolist David Grisman, who makes a cameo on “Blues for Paradise.” Other standout tracks include the high-energy opener “Gasology,” the swooning “New Waltz,” the jaunty “Swing ’51” (a nod to the musical stylings of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli), and an inspired, acoustic interpretation of Wes Montgomery’s jazz standard “Four on Six.”

Released that November, Acoustics helped set the tone for the “new acoustic” sound over the next decade. In a retrospective review, AllMusic declared, “Acoustics gives notice that acoustic musicians, like jazz musicians, possess the skills required to create spontaneous and vital music.” In the years following Acoustics, Rice continued to push the band’s sound further on titles like Mar West (1980) and Backwaters (1982), while his solo work turned toward more traditional folk and bluegrass repertoire on such albums as Church Street Blues (1983).

Over the course of his four-decade career, Rice released more than a dozen albums under his own name and more than two dozen collaborative titles—including recordings with The Rice Brothers, Norman Blake, and The Bluegrass Album Band—a supergroup he co-founded alongside J.D. Crowe. Hailed by Ricky Skaggs as “the single most influential acoustic guitar player in the last 50 years,” Rice was also a sought-after session musician who appeared on recordings by Mary Chapin Carpenter, Béla Fleck, and Emmylou Harris, among others. A GRAMMY® Award winner and multiple IBMA recipient, Rice delivered his final public performance in 2013, upon his induction into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.

Click here to pre-order Acoustics.

Acoustics Track Listing (Vinyl)

Side A:

1. Gasology
2. Blues for Paradise
3. Old Gray Coat
4. Four on Six

Side B:

1. So Much
2. Swing ’51
3. New Waltz
4. Fast Floyd

 

Acoustics Track Listing (Digital)

1. Gasology
2. Blues for Paradise
3. Old Gray Coat
4. Four on Six
5. So Much
6. Swing ’51
7. New Waltz
8. Fast Floyd

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About Craft Recordings:

Craft Recordings is home to one of the largest and most essential collections of master recordings and compositions in the world. Its storied repertoire includes landmark releases from icons such as Joan Baez, John Coltrane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Celia Cruz, Miles Davis, Isaac Hayes, John Lee Hooker, Little Richard, R.E.M., and Joan Sebastian. Plus, the catalog recordings of celebrated contemporary acts including A Day to Remember, Daddy Yankee, Evanescence, Alison Krauss, Nine Inch Nails, Taking Back Sunday and Violent Femmes, to name just a few. Renowned imprints with catalogs issued under the Craft banner include Fania, Fantasy, Fearless, Musart, Nitro, Panart, Prestige, Riverside, Rounder, Specialty, Stax, Vanguard, Varèse Sarabande, Vee-Jay and Victory, among many others. Craft creates thoughtfully curated packages, with a meticulous devotion to quality and a commitment to preservation—ensuring that these recordings endure for new generations to discover. Craft is also home to the Billie Holiday and Tammy Wynette estates which preserve and protect their respective names, likeness and music through day-to-day legacy management of these cultural trailblazers. Craft Recordings is part of BMG.

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