Born on This Day in 1938, the Bluegrass Guitar Master Who Has Played With Tony Rice, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Bob Dylan

On this day (March 10) in 1938, Norman Blake was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is an enormously talented multi-instrumentalist, but is best known for his guitar work. Early in his career, he toured and recorded with Johnny Cash. Later, he joined Kris Kristofferson on the road. His work also appears on Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline, among other influential albums of the 1970s. Blake also recorded collaborative albums with bluegrass great Tony Rice.

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Blake got his first guitar when he was eleven years old and quickly learned how to play. Over the next few years, he took up mandolin, dobro, and fiddle. Finally, when he was 16 years old, he dropped out of school and joined the Dixie Drifters, where he played mandolin. The band played bluegrass and rockabilly on radio stations and TV shows in East Tennessee and North Georgia.

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Blake spent two years in the Army between 1961 and 1963. After his discharge, he taught guitar lessons and recorded Twelve Shades of Bluegrass with the Lonesome Travelers, according to the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. He also began touring with June Carter, which is how he met Johnny Cash. He played on many of Cash’s Columbia Records recordings, including Walk the Line. Additionally, he was part of the Johnny Cash Show house band.

Blake’s connection with Cash opened several doors for him. For instance, he met Kris Kristofferson and Bob Dylan through Cash. He played on one of Dylan’s most popular albums and toured with Kristofferson. Additionally, he toured with Joan Baez and John Hartford in the early 1970s.

Norman Blake’s Recording Career

In 1971, Norman Blake joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to play dobro on Will the Circle Be Unbroken. The album introduced the likes of Doc Watson, Roy Acuff, and the Carter Family to a new generation of fans. It revived the careers of multiple classic artists and ignited a widespread interest in old-time and bluegrass music.

The next year, he released Home in Sulphur Springs. The album contained multiple traditional songs and fiddle tunes alongside a handful of songs penned by Blake. This was the beginning of a string of solo and collaborative albums that spans five decades. His latest release, Day By Day, was released in 2021. He also appeared on the soundtracks of O Brother, Where Art Thou, Walk the Line, and Cold Mountain.

One of the most important and longest-lasting changes Blake made to his solo act was the addition of celloist Nancy Short in 1974. A year later, they were married and began recording as Norman and Nancy Blake.

Norman Blake’s style is elegant and understated, contrasting with many flatpickers in the modern bluegrass world. “I’m more interested in the music and the tone than I am the licks,” he told Fretboard Journal. “I want the licks to be subtle and say what they’re gonna say. And I want to put in the right things and leave out the wrong things. Just making a lick is not my goal,” he explained.

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