Tony Furtado (born October 18, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter, banjoist, and guitarist.

History

Furtado was born in

Pleasanton, California Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the Amador Valley, it is a suburb in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 79,871 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. In 200 ...

. He took up the banjo at age 12, inspired by the

Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family from ...

television show and a sixth-grade music report. He studied music and art at California State, Hayward. He first attracted national attention in 1987, when he won the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship in Winfield, Kansas. Then he toured with bluegrass musician

Laurie Lewis Laurie Lewis is an innovative American singer, musician, and songwriter in the genre of bluegrass music. History Laurie Lewis was born in Long Beach, California on September 28, 1950. Her family moved regularly from place to place until she w ...

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Al ...

released his debut album, ''Swamped'', in 1990. In 1990, Tony signed a recording deal with

, one of the country's preeminent independent record companies. Beginning with Swamped in 1990, he recorded six critically acclaimed albums for the label, collaborating with such master musicians as

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin "Jerry" Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. Career In addition to his fourteen solo recordings, Douglas has played on more than 1,600 albums. As a sideman, he has ...

, Tim O'Brien,

Stuart Duncan Stuart Duncan (born April 14, 1964) is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo. Life Duncan was born in Quantico, Virginia, and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school band. He ...

Kelly Joe Phelps Kelly Joe Phelps (October 5, 1959 – May 31, 2022) was an American musician and songwriter. His music has been characterized as a mixture of delta blues and jazz.Ann Powers, ''The New York Times'', February 9, 2000. Career Kelly Joe Phelps grew ...

and Mike Marshall. During this period, Tony also performed and recorded with the band SugarBeat and the Rounder Banjo Extravaganza with

Tony Trischka Anthony Cattell Trischka (born January 16, 1949) is an American five-string banjo player. Sandra Brennan wrote of him in 2021: "One of the most influential modern banjoists, both in several forms of bluegrass music and occasionally in jazz and ...

and Tom Adams. Beginning in the late 1990s – influenced by such musicians as

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

, David Lindley and

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

– Tony added slide guitar, singing and songwriting to his musical toolbox and began leading his own band. Furtado is an accomplished sculptor.

Performance

Furtado is a tireless road musician who performs in a variety of formats: solo, in a duo, or trio or with his full five-person band. He has toured with such legendary musicians as

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...

and with such esteemed slide guitarists as David Lindley, Derek Trucks, and

Sonny Landreth Clide Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Bre ...

. He has performed throughout the world at top venues and appeared at such prestigious music festivals as the

Telluride Bluegrass Festival Telluride Bluegrass Festival is an annual music festival in Telluride, Colorado hosted by Planet Bluegrass. Although traditionally the festival focuses on bluegrass music, it often features music from a variety of related genres. History The tow ...

, High Sierra Music Festival, Jazz Aspen, Kerrville Folk Festival, Strawberry Music Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Sisters Folk Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival and countless others. . His second album, ''Within Reach'' (1992), featured bluegrass veterans

and

. He recorded a duet album with

Dirk Powell Dirk Powell (born 1969) is an American fiddler, banjo player, and singer. Powell was born in Oberlin, Ohio into a family with deep Kentucky roots. He has lived in Louisiana since 1992. He is considered one of the world's leading experts on traditio ...

Band

His band Sugarbeat also featured Ben Demerath (vocals, guitar),

Matt Flinner Matt Flinner is an American mandolinist, music transcriber, and ensemble leader. Mike Marshall has called him "one of the truly great young mandolinists of our generation." Biography Early years Flinner's first musical experiences were in Sal ...

(mandolin), and Sally Truitt (bass).

Awards and honors

* Won

National Bluegrass Banjo Championship National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Winfield, Kansas Winfield is a city and county seat of Cowley County, Kansas, United States. It is situated along the Walnut River in South Central Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 11,777. It is home to Southwestern College. Hi ...

, 1987 and 1991

Musical style

Tony is an evocative and soulful singer, a wide-ranging songwriter and a virtuoso multi-instrumental-ist adept on banjo, cello-banjo, slide guitar and baritone ukulele who mixes and matches sounds and styles with the flair of a master chef. Comparisons to

were rooted in Furtado's combination of jazz, Celtic, and old-time music. On his third album, ''Full Circle'' (1994) he concentrated on acoustic blues and

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

, with Cooder as an influence. "Furtado mixes Americana, folk, indie-rock, blues, and jazz styles." "As a banjo virtuoso, Furtado is well known for his envelope-pushing, progressive bluegrass stylings. His picking is rapid-fire quick, sharp and clear, and puts him in the school of Béla Fleck and

David Grisman David Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acoustic mu ...

.""Furtado brings eclectic bag of tricks to Opera House"
by Katie Klingsporn, March 8, 2007, ''Telluride Daily Planet''. "He mixes bluegrass roots with a mainstream pop streak, easily holding the spotlight, thanks to his restrained virtuosity on acoustic and slide guitar and a warmly engaging voice reminiscent of T Bone Burnett, sans preachiness. – ''Paste'' magazine

Discography

* ''Swamped'' (

Rounder Rounder(s) or The Rounder(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''The Rounders'' (1914 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounder'' (1930 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounders'' (1965 film), a western comedy * ''Rounders'' (film), a 1998 poker f ...

, 1990) * ''Within Reach'' (Rounder, 1992) * ''Full Circle'' (Rounder, 1994) * ''Roll My Blues Away'' (Rounder, 1997) * ''Tony Furtado & Dirk Powell'' (Rounder, 1999) * ''Tony Furtado Band'' (Rounder, 2000) * ''American Gypsy'' (What Are, 2002) * ''Live Gypsy'' (Dualtone, 2003) * ''These Chains'' (Funzalo, 2004) * ''Bare Bones'' (Funzalo, 2005) * ''Thirteen'' (Funzalo, 2007) * ''Deepwater'' (Funzalo, 2008) * ''Golden'' (Funzalo, 2010) * ''Live at Mississippi Studios'' (Funzalo, 2012) * ''The Bell'' (Yousay Furtado Records, 2015) * ''Cider House Sessions'' (Yousay Furtado Records, 2017) * "Decembering" (Yousay Furtado Records, 2021)

References

External links

Official websiteTony Furtado Band collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

's live music archive *

allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Biography: Tony Furtado
"Tony Furtado: Thirteen"
by George Graham ''The Graham Weekly Album Review'' No. 1460, as broadcast January 10, 2007 on ''WVIA-FM''.
Oregon Art Beat: Musician and Sculptor Tony Furtado
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furtado, Tony American bluegrass musicians 1967 births Living people American musicians of Portuguese descent American banjoists Musicians from Oakland, California Blue Coast Records artists Guitarists from California 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from California