It happens to everybody eventually I guess... but I got a shocking phone call yesterday evening from another bass player over in neighboring Tennessee... a mutual friend of ours, gifted guitarist, and mentor to both of us and many more, just suffered a massive heart attack yesterday afternoon. He's currently in an ICU on a ventilator, his condition listed as serious, but (thankfully) stable.
If you're from this part of the world, Tony Collins is well-known for being one of those best-guitar-players-you-never-heard-of cases, albeit an extraordinary one. His style is incredibly distinctive and nuanced, bringing to mind the influence of Norman Blake, Tony Rice, and Clarence White just to name a few. Flatpicking Guitar magazine once did a story on him to that effect, after a project we worked on together got some national-and-beyond exposure.
I first met Tony back in the early 1990's, we bonded through music of course, and became fast friends. Though I went on to play professionally, (sort-of) Tony had a wife and two young kids by that time, and a family-owned jewelry store to run... the road just ain't a life for a family man, at least not with those responsibilities. Anyway, he's just one of those guys, where the first time I met him, I knew we were gonna' be buds. We have stayed friends for years, and still jam a few times a year, (though not enough) occasionally we get to record some together. (wish I had a way to post some of that here)
The past day has been a flurry of blast email and text updates to the musical community around here, but now that there's really nothing new to report, I feel numb and helpless. I know they're pretty good at treating cardiac patients anymore, even these extreme cases, but that's my buddy laid up down there in Bristol, in some state of induced hibernation and life support. And there isn't a thing I can do but pray for him, and hope that some of our brothers and sisters who went on before will send him back here.
