Lookout Sessions: Tony Furtado

Very few musicians personify a musical genre as completely as Tony Furtado embodies Americana roots music. Furtado is an evocative and soulful singer, a wide-ranging songwriter, and a virtuoso on banjo, cello-banjo, slide guitar, and baritone ukulele who mixes and matches sounds and styles with the flair of a master chef.

Inspired by the television show The Beverly Hillbillies, Furtado first picked up a banjo at age 12. He went on to win the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship in 1987 and 1991 and signed with Rounder Records in 1990. He recorded six critically acclaimed albums for the label, collaborating with such master musicians as Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien, Stuart Duncan, Kelly Joe Phelps, and Mike Marshall.