After having seen Tony Furtado perform many years ago, I recently arrived at the New Prospect Theatre, expecting a pleasant evening of slide guitar-based blues. My memory must be faulty because what I and the packed Lucas Hicks Auditorium got instead was an evening of music from the Tony Furtado Trio that ranged across, and above, genre definitions.
At New Prospect Theatre on Sept. 10, joining Furtado was Grammy-winning mandolin virtuoso John Reischman and world-renowned violinist Trent Freeman. Reischman, a mandolinist, composer, bandleader, and musical educator in bluegrass and North American roots and folk, emerged in the 1980s as the “new acoustic” bluegrass scene was taking hold in the San Francisco Bay Area. Freeman, from Vancouver BC, is well known in Canada’s roots music scene playing fiddle that “manages to simultaneously relax you into the sweet acoustic sounds while tearing the strings to shreds.”
Tony Furtado has been playing since he picked up a banjo at the age of 12. In 1987, he won the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship in Winfield, Kansas. Shortly thereafter, joining up with Laurie Lewis & Grant Street he was exposed to the “Newgrass” scene emerging in San Francisco. Today, Furtado can credibly be labeled a Renaissance Man, his creative instincts as an accomplished singer-songwriter, and virtuoso multi-instrumentalist (banjo, cello-banjo, guitar, slide guitar and baritone ukulele) resulting in music that is far more nuanced than the slide guitar-based blues I expected and confirming what Relix once wrote about Tony: “True talent doesn’t need categories.”
From the very first song, this evening would be about much more than simply acoustic blues. Between Reischman’s mandolin, Freeman’s fiddle, and Furtado’s expert guitar and banjo work, we experienced a wide-ranging and geographically diverse set of songs, from Irish fiddle tunes to Garcia/Grisman-like progressive bluegrass to hints of rock, blues, and gospel.
Watch Tony Furtado perform “Peggy-O” live with violinist Luke Price in the opbmusic studio on YouTube:
Over the course of two hours, the trio spun musical tales from across continents and time. Following in the footsteps of influences like Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, and David Lindley, Furtado has the ability to interpret, cross, and blend genres all while still remaining true to the roots of those traditions. For instance, the first set ended with a tune that traces its roots back to the Scottish Highlands of the 1600s. Furtado confessed that though the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia were not part of his formative years, the rendition of “Peggy-O” that followed was every bit as compelling as if Garcia and Grisman, or a local trio at historic Sandy Bell’s pub in Edinburgh, were performing it.
Watch Trent Freeman perform “Fenn and Loup” live on YouTube.
Reischman and Freeman each contributed lovely pieces to the setlist with John’s “Coyote Trail” and Trent’s “Fenn and Loup” particular highlights. Other standout performances included a cover of the Ry Cooder, Jim Dickinson, John Hiatt classic, “Across the Borderline,” a nod to gospel, “Amazing Grace,” Furtado’s composition about his home in Portland, Oregon, “Squirrelville,” and a new song (slated to, hopefully, appear on a new album), “The Immigrant.” Inspired by Furtado’s foray into his own ancestry (Portugal), the song speaks of newcomers to the U.S., the chorus ending with a line warning against their marginalization, “just to become a refugee.” The subtle word change in the final line to “just to become a deportee” brought the fraught past into the troubled present.
Watch John Reischman perform “Coyote Trail” live at the 2023 Harmony Arts Festival in Vancouver BC via YouTube:
Listen to Tony Furtado’s latest full-length album, Decembering, on Spotify.
Furtado has released close to two dozen albums, EPs, and singles in a recording career that began in 1989. He thrives on the road, however, playing in a wide variety of formats: solo, duo, trio, or with his full five-person band, and has toured with the likes of Gregg Allman, David Lindley, and Derek Trucks. As Tony has said, “I love playing live. All my energy is focused on the love of playing music and rolling with the moment.” On Sept. 10, that love was clearly expressed through the music.
For more information about Tony Furtado’s music, please visit his website.
Here are some more photos of the Tony Furtado Trio at the New Prospect Theatre on Sept. 10, 2025. All photos courtesy of and copyright Mark Caicedo.
