TONY FURTADO
tonyfurtado.com

"Stagger Lee" Audio Sample

In an ever-evolving recording career that's consistently defied genre restrictions and stylistic boundaries, Tony Furtado has emerged as one of America's most influential and respected young roots musicians. Continually reinventing and redefining his musical persona, the charismatic composer/bandleader/multi-instrumentalist combines a restless creative spirit with a deep affinity for all manner of roots styles to make music that's both adventurous and accessible. He's also a tireless live performer who's shared the stage with such kindered spirits as Leftover Salmon, String Cheese Incident, Galactic and David Lindley.

Tony began playing in earnest at the age of 11 and was soon recognized as a prodigy. By the end of his teens, he'd won a pair of National Bluegrass Banjo Championships and joined noted fiddler Laurie Lewis' string band Grant Street. Although Furtado won widespread acclaim as one of bluegrass' hottest young players, one genre was hardly enough to satisfy his musical wanderlust. Striking out on his own with his 1989 solo debut Swamped, he quickly began adding new elements - including Latin, Cajun, Jazz, Swing and Celtic influences - to the mix. 1992's Within Reach saw Furtado collaborate with such stellar players as Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas and Stuart Duncan, while 1994's Full Circle delved deeply into acoustic blues and marked the artist's early explorations of slide guitar.

A life-altering encounter with Ry Cooder's classic Paradise and Lunch album helped to crystallize Furtado's eclectic interests into a cohesive musical approach. He spent an intensive two-year woodshedding period mastering his new passion, the slide guitar. He debuted his new, high-energy style on 1997's blues-steeped Roll My Blues Away, on which his new slide guitar mastery merged acoustic textures with a rock rhythm section.

Furtado's emergence as masterful slide guitarist was accompanied by a high-energy live show and a tireless touring schedule that's helped him to win a large and loyal grassroots following. "This album is close to what I do on-stage," Furtado reports, "but I think the live show's a little more intense. The audience is really diverse, from kids who want to rock out to older folkies. But I think it's basically people who appreciate good tunes."