Bill Cheathum

[courtesyofdickboak]

All three are great, but Wyatt is just the epitomy of economy of motion in guitar technique.  Really unbelievably perfect.

[1957chev100]

ALL OF THESE MEN ARE GREAT FLATPICKERS. GREAT TO SEE KENNY PLAYING HIS MARTIN. GREAT TO SEE MICS. BEING USED. THE SANTA CRUZ SOUNDS AND LOOKS GREAT. CANT UNDERSTAND WHY SANTA CRUZ ISNT MAKING A WYATT RICE GUITAR.

[JimmyDeLocke]

Another awesome video from FPG Magazine! Keep 'em coming, boys.

[SlickD217]

just beautiful : )

[1980kyboy]

Burn it up boys!!!! YES SIR!!!

[1980kyboy]

wyatt rice can wear it out!!!!

[miller201149]

wish i could play like this

[bluegrassjtb]

Wyatt is the BEST guitar player in this video........ Period!

[FiddlinMikeRolland]

Grier is such a crazy inventive genius! Although the wildest thing about this video is the semi-sweeping technique used by Wyatt. Those Rice style double down strokes where he digs into the string are just nuts

[mephistofleas]

Wyatt Rice is my hero. He picks like H, his tie is terrible, and hair... luxurious.

[greekflatpicker]

Amen to that!

He's one of my favorites too.

[JLDB1987]

All three great but...Kenny!!!!

[Bilco1949]

Three monster pickers. I love how Wyatt digs in with his pick.

[BX500]

Great playing, to be sure. But don't you think the music gets a little boring? Just a thought.

[Shoshoni2]

@BX500 If you mean "the music" as a whole, I would say no because a lot of bluegrass songs make me feel happy inside. I also like the techniques associated with this style of playing. Just see for example how much you can do with 3 chords. It is almost the same as Rembrandt's mastery of colors.

[theacousticguitarist]

fantastic

[peterdolson]

Lovely cross-picking on that SCGC!

[jimh269b]

thats a great job

[steeltunes]

The DVD that this comes from is one my big time favorites. It's all great

[skydogz1]

I dig Wyatt's pickin'.

[kenshin1224]

i dont blame them for not singing.. even if i could play like that i doubt i'd have the focus to be able to sing at the same time... that's some real music played with real skill right there!

[mist339]

flawless

[Flatpicker84]

Wow, so this one has the smoothest guitar out there(Smith), a fellow who never plays the same phrase twice(Grier) and arguablyey the most underrated guitar player in bluegrass music(Rice). Awsome stuff!

[TheJamdolinPlayer]

man oh man . kenny smith is smooth..

[kcaissie]

these guys are superb players (flawless)and for the record monroe couldn't sign or play mandolin.he was given way too much credit for his music.....

[lordofthemoodring]

you are so proud to show your ignorance. any one of those guys would surely sing bill praises... you also are probably only familliar with music bill played after he was into his sixties. get a clue please.

[jocwalk]

I am very familiar with his early stuff but, as I said before, if even Bill Monroe felt he needed to have someone else do the lead singing, then what does that tell you?

[lordofthemoodring]

bill was a tenor... der.

[bluegrass4me1]

Even in his sixties, hell in his eighties, he was better than most!

[flatpikinguitar]

Yeah he was. He gave bluegrass its name with his bluegrass boys, but as far as his music is concerned, im far from his biggest fans.

[pickinpete]

@kcaissie nothing you say after this is worth reading

[pickinpete]

@kcaissie nothing you say after this is worth reading

[flatpicker15]

Wyatts wearing black pants!!!!! douche and its khaki not beige get your facts straight!

[jocwalk]

Bill Cheatham is "new agey?" You're aware it's an old-time fiddle tune, right? Also, these guys aren't a band. They are three superb guitarists brought together specifically for this video shoot. For the record, Bill Monroe couldn't sing his way out of a paper bag. His best selling albums were when two guys named Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs were in The Bluegrass Boys, defining the sound bluegrass. Monroe gets far more credit than he deserves.

[clean3]

Monroe couldn't sing? You forgot to add, 'in my opinion'....somewhere on here you'll find him singing 'Body and Soul'..if you still say he can't sing ( whatever that means, like Pavorroti?) then maybe you don't have any....soul that is.

[jocwalk]

Monroe obviously knew he wasn't a singer so it couldn't have just been my opinion. Why do you think he did very little lead singing in his career? He left that to others such as Lester Flatt and Peter Rowan most of his career.

[jmartens2004]

how does not singing lead mean you're not a singer? Singing harmony is just as hard if not harder than singing lead try it sometime

[TheJamdolinPlayer]

@jmartens2004 Harmony is way more difficult...

[PCPrabbit]

i guess people like dylan , hendrix and david byrne arent singers either.

[pauljcat]

This is a bad video. These guys believe it or not are real good guitar players. I've seen them on you tube killing it, espeacialy David Grier.

[keithsmartin]

Kenny Smith is a beast... and personally I like Wyatt's playing better than David but I'm a Rice fan. All 3 of these guys are awesome.

[beakwithteeth]

This is the first thing I have ever seen with Wyatt taking a break. He seems like he is other people's rhythm-bitch most of the time. It's a shame, his playing sounds pretty good to me.

[flatpicker15]

he is a great rhythm player but also a wonderful lead:)

[beakwithteeth]

That's what I mean, how come he always gets demoted? He seems like he is holding his own with David Grier here, that's good enough for me.

[flatpicker15]

hes one of the best rhythm players there are so that's probably why you always see him play rhythm i wouldnt say hes being demoted thats just what hes best at

[flatpikinguitar]

well he started off big time with tony rice, so they already had the lead part filled up with tony. but he does take cuts on most of the instrumentals such as tipper. but i gues you have to be a good lead and rythm player to grow up around tony.

[bleedx2]

wyatt = borat ftw

[anamorales55]

bill cheathum..

can go fucking burn..

he ruined my family... i hate his son

if this is him... go burn in hell you ripped my family appart my mom cindy cheated on my dad with u..

vete a la mierde

[hempnotapimp]

you notice how whenever wyatt starts to play his second break, it's pretty close to what his brother played on the rounder album he recorded this song on. Kenny and david both notice this and kinda look at each other and smile...everyone knows every note tony has ever played.

[dodgewaldo]

no they don't..

there is about 20.000.000 ppl why try and copy alot of his lick's but no one knows how to incorporate them into the song the way tony doe's nor do they play them as smooth

then there's those ppl who play smooth but they're playing has like no drive to it at all

like Grier play's stuff that's technically hard and maybe sound's cool but put him in a bluegrass group and its just a big clusterfuck of note's that have no meaning whatsoever..

[dodgewaldo]

and whats with this gay ass driveless rhythm shit like dan Tyminski wtf is that?????????

[beakwithteeth]

Are you saying Dan Tyminski's rhythm playing has no drive? If so you are a moron, he rhythm playing is beastly.

[oui]

Show me these "20.000.000 ppl"

[Piper146]

Now THAT is the way an acoustic guitar is supposed to sound.

Wow.

[we552003]

Grier's interpetation retarded? Hardly. Different, yep. Cerebral, yep. Not your cup of tea, obviously. But not retarded on ANY level.

[abridg20atuncc]

Good JOB, Grier, Rice, And Kenny Smith. Inspiration for me to do better!!!!

[BluesBrother93]

Sweet Martin guitars!

Awesome solos.

[abridg20atuncc]

Rice is playin Santa Cruz

[dodgewaldo]

grier totally missed the entire concept of the song that was absolutely retarded

[lordofthemoodring]

yeah right.. he's only the best of all three of those guys.

[TheRipleys]

why do you say that?

[dodgewaldo]

nothing he played really fits the song..

but thats just my opinion..

if other's like this then whatever..

it just didn't seem like they were playing Bill Cheathum when he played a break

[hempnotapimp]

hey dodgewaldo, why don't you dodge this waldo--you suck!

[chiwawacsi]

From left to right. Santa cruz tony rice signature model. "Not the pro" just the standard model., not sure in the middle, and Martin d18. LOL. an no 'Not sure" is not a brand of guitar but It almost looks like a revival. at least the headstock symbol does. I have a world of respect for Wyatt, hes a great player. No offense Wyatt but I always thought he looked like "BEAKER" from the muppets. LOL...

[flatpikinguitar]

is grier using notes

[flatpikinguitar]

look at the botom of davids mic. stand at about 15 seconds it looks like a sheet of notes

[ny10980]

I don't know how many live concerts you go to but most performers use set lists especially if you have 3 different artist playing each others tunes!

[flatpikinguitar]

i said it looked like a sheet of notes i didnt say it was

[brendantullywalsh]

no, I think he's just reading the paper...;)

[SteveGaines]

Grier is playing a "NASHVILLE COMPANY" guitar built by Luthier Marty Lanham

[jocwalk]

Are you sure? When I saw him play live a year and a half ago, he was playing a guitar made by a luthier in Maryland as I recall. I was completely unfamiliar with the luthier but it sounded great. It definitely wasn't an NGC guitar as I'm familiar with Marty Lanham's guitars. I can't tell from this video.

[flatpikinguitar]

i know kenny and wyatt use d-28s but what does david use

[boldberthold]

It looks like Smith is using a D-18 and Rice is using a Santa Cruz.

[tnguitarist]

David is playing a Nashville Guitar Co. rosewood on spruce D. (I think)

[flatpikinguitar]

yeah i found out it is a 35 d-18.

[OldieMusic]

I can't get enough of Kenny Smith, he's just so honest and true in the way he plays it's amazing. Put that guitar behind Amanda's voice, and it's really hard to find a better combination.

[lieberman33]

I agree. Kenny Smith in general probably has the sweetest sound of the three (although not necessarily exhibited in this tune played here.) Grier has a matter of fact, go anywhere style, which I appreciate but prefer the sweeter licks of Smith (in general). You should check out Smith's Tunes and Techniques DVD- there are some amazing tunes he plays solo.

[jblflatpicker]

me three.

[jocwalk]

Grier is an excellent guitarist but I never understood how he could play lead without anchoring his right hand at all. Most guitarists at least anchor the little finger on their right hands to give them a point of reference. Grier doesn't do that which just seems odd to me and incredible that he can play lead as well as he does.

[markie65]

It's all in the hand/wrist training and comes from a correct approach to rhythm playing which is to keep the wrist loose and relaxed

[jocwalk]

Yeah but lead and rhythm have different mechanics. With rhythm, you usually can keep a loose wrist and free hand due to the repeating rhythm patterns appropriate for the song. Rice and Smith are both doing what is most common with loose wrists but anchoring while Grier is doing what is highly unusual. I just find it interesting that Grier can accurately play lead doing what he does but it works well for him.

[markie65]

Yeah,he must have the shiniest bridge in bluegrass

[RaggedTime]

I agree - theoretically the others have better technique and they are more loose when they sit with the guitar. Grier's shoulders also look tense and he plays with his right leg elevated.

All of that is nice, but in practice I think he plays the best of the three of them, and his leads are the most beautiful.

[jocwalk]

I've seen Grier play in person (with Shad Cobb and Noam Pikelny) at a small local venue. I was on the same level as the band and within 10 feet of Grier. He was darn impressive.

[tinian33]

On the flip side, Gypsy jazz players never anchor their wrist, and it has to do with the fact that their soloing is very much arpeggio oriented as opposed to straight line melody. Moreover, you can't rest your wrist on the bridge of those Selmer style guitars. Check out Stochelo Rosenberg or Joscho Stephan doing some crazy flat picking.

[jblflatpicker]

you guys realize that Grier doesn't rest his hand on the saddle of the guitar, it is actually free-floating.  i do it the same way.

[lieberman33]

If you like Grier on this cut, you must check out his album I've got the house to myself. His Cheathum is truly remarkable, as well as other tunes on that CD.

[steeltunes]

I have this the DVD that this came from. There is a whole ton of great stuff on it.

[popoaggie]

Those guys played more notes in that one song than I did all year. Wow! I need a beer.

[guitarice]

All three are great players, but of the three I prefer Wyatt

[hankmacgregor]

I got a itch and man your scratching it, thanks

[vibrasonic99]

Wyatt has got to be one of the most under-rated pickers in the bluegrass world............I'm sure with Tony around it's hard to get heard, but he's just an incredible picker.

[lordofthemoodring]

you may be a guitar player, because i think of wyatt as like a guitar players guitar player. hope that makes sense! i agree he is fantastic.

[SantaCruzOM]

I completely agree. Wyatt is a fantastic player. He does use quite a few of the same phrases that Tony uses, but I guess that's to be expected. He still rips it up! Look for his tune, Damascus. It's sort of jazzy. Excellent stuff.

[GoldFish2434]

Wyatt reminds me of Marty Feldman from the Gene Wilder movie young frankenstein. lol. Great playing, but kenny smith gets boring after about 5 minutes.

[bigdjindustriez]

the video is 3:43 long?

[flatpikinguitar]

how is it boring

[gareof]

THANKS for posting this - what a great lesson just watchin' these great talents

[deadwoodmountain]

World class pickers...all of them!

[blugrastooth]

wyatt is a smooth operator. you'd never guess he would be such a top notch picker. I can't wait to see them today at merlefest.

[boldberthold]

Kenny Smith just destroys me. I saw him at the National Folk Festival and it was the best guitar sound I've ever heard.

[bamertide]

I love Kenny Smith's pickin. ScruggsPicker, I agree w/ ya on Wyatt's pickin.

[ScruggsPicker]

For some odd reason, I think I like Wyatt's picking. I didn't think I ever would. It is soft and confident, coming from a guy who doesn't have all that confident of a personality.

[peppeollarn]

That's true. He doesnt look that confident about himself while he talks. (Or play maybe)

[TheCaveDwellers]

Nice close ups!