Musician Tony Furtado brings virtuoso skill to Great Northern

Banjo and slide guitar master Tony Furtado plays at the Great Northern Bar and Grill in Whitefish on Tuesday, July 15, at 9:30 p.m. 

Furtado has lived primarily on the road for the last two decades. He is gregarious, engaging and entertaining, on and off stage. He’s been called a genius on banjo and slide guitar, and his own creative interpretation-hybrid of Americana and indie folk/rock is engaging and captivating. Often compared to Ry Cooder in style, he comes off more as a Paul Simon in his latest albums as he guides his attention to detail and proclivity for traditional music into the pop framework.  

Onstage, whether playing with a band or solo, he owns the room, mixing stories of his travels with musicianship that is off the charts.

Furtado grew up in Pleasanton, California, and took up the banjo at age 12. At age 19, he won his first of a pair of national banjo championships in Winfield, Kansas. Hailed as a banjo prodigy, he got his first record deal with Rounder Records in 1992. 

He went on to record six albums for the prestigious label, collaborating with Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Mike Marshall and Kelly Joe Phelps, among others. In the late 1990s, with the inclusion of slide guitar and songwriting, Furtado began fronting his own band and touring heavily throughout the United States.

This shift was inspired and influenced by the paths taken by musical heroes such as Ry Cooder, David Lindley and Taj Mahal among others. He has gone on to record and produce albums for Dualtone, What Are Records, and Funzalo Records. And now, with his latest release, “Live at Mississippi Studios,” he lets it all shine with his deftly talented band.