Today we’d like to introduce you to Butch Rice.
Hi Butch, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m from Louisville, KY. From a young age, I fell in love with music. I am listening to the radio my Grandaddy gave me, Listening to LPs with my family, Local radio, TV performances, MTV, etc. I loved it all. I still own thousands of LPs, cassettes, CDs, and MP3s. I still love holding my music in my hands—the artwork, liner notes, musicians, studio location, producers, and engineers. I like the details that lead to the music.
Louisville, KY, has a great original music scene. I could go and see people performing songs they had written 3-5 times a week. I decided that I wanted to write and perform too. I was lucky enough to have friends and musicians around me that encouraged me to learn guitar and create. It made me what I am today. I spent years playing covers in local bars and booking original music shows in Louisville, KY, and the surrounding Tri-State area. Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio.
In 2011 and 2013, I showcased at the Durango Songwriter’s Expo. I have met many amazing artists and songwriters from Seattle, Denver, LA, Florida, and Nashville. As those friendships and connections grew, the recurring question became, “Butch, why don’t you live in Nashville?” After the 2013 Expo, the ASCAP rep got me a meeting at ASCAP Nashville with the late Ralph Murphy. We went through my songs. I listened hard and tried to learn as much as possible from the meeting. During the second meeting, he gave me some positive feedback and some (ahem) not-so-positive about the areas where I needed to grow, but I was grateful. That’s part of the journey. At the end of the second meeting, he asked me about my plans. Would I continue to drive back and forth from Louisville, KY, to Nashville, TN, or move to Nashville. At that point, I decided to move to Nashville. Then told Ralph, ” I’m moving here.” He looked at me, smiled, and said, “Welcome home!” That was winter 2013. I moved to Nashville in the Fall of 2014.
The move was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It’s been an amazing, wonderful, painful, and joyous journey. The amount of talent, opportunities, gifted songwriters, musicians, and live music is epic. I’ve recently released two singles and preparing for a fall release for the next one. I co-wrote a song called Daddy’s Shadow with Aaron Crane and Doug Pinson. I’m honored to be part of the Nashville community.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has been a rollercoaster with a few sections of shakey track. Moving to Nashville between 2014 and 2018 was about survival and laying roots in a new town. I had two different day jobs, totaled my car, and moved 4 times during those four years. It was more than a little on the exhausting side.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m an acoustic guitar-centric singer/songwriter. I’m none for my voice and sincere heartfelt approach to performing. I think the promo story is below. It is a good representation of who I am. What sets me apart? I love the music. It fills my heart, and it shows with each performance. I’m most proud of the two indie CDs, the singles, and that I’ve persevered in the fight to create.
“Singer-Songwriter Butch Rice sings with all the colors of love and loss. With every melody, the heartstrings resound as if one too many has handled his acoustic guitar, left slightly bruised and worn but stronger in character and warmer in sound. His rich falsetto radiates warmth, adding powerful depth to each heartfelt word he sings. All the overwhelming desires of the heart, Butch Rice understands. Raised in Louisville, KY, His soulful acoustic pop fills the air with themes each of us can identify. Having shared the stage with the talented artists Edwin McCain, Augustana, David Mead, Shawn Mullins, Matthew Ryan, and Vanessa Carlton and been honored by ASCAP, Performing Songwriter Magazine, and the Kentucky Arts Council, Rice has stuck to his path. And developed into one of the unique singer-songwriters of his era, all the while developing a following who eagerly takes to heart his melodic stories in song; if music is the tale of our emotions and lives, Butch Rice is one of our truest storytellers. Listen and embrace each moment.”
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success as being able to stay on the creative path. To continue to create, learn, write, record, co=write, rinse, and repeat. If I can share it with others, and the music means something to them too, EVEN BETTER.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://butchrice.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butchricemusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/butchricemusic
- Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/butchricemusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/BookerTmusic
