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Andy Rice

Andy Rice grew up in rural Northern Maine. While growing up, although he didn't have any formal bass or jazz training, he absorbed music from wherever he could. He played at church, in the tiny school concert band, and with various local rock musicians in barns, basements, gymnasiums, bedrooms, and potato fields. He spent all of his spare time copping the style of Red Hot Chilli Peppers bassist Flea and practicing scales and various things he would pick up from bass player magazine. He also participated in the Aroostook Regional Gifted and Talented program where he studied music theory and practice at a local University.

After high school, his journey led to southern Illinois where he studied Contemporary Christian Music and gigged in the St. Louis scene a bit with an original band called Mary and singer/songwriter Sarah Jahn. After a year, he moved to Nashville, TN. While there he played with Byron Keith and Project.Simon. Although gigs were few and far between during the four years he was there, he discovered what it was going to take to get serious about music and he returned to Maine to attend the University of Southern Maine.

While there he studied Bass with Bronek Suchanek and George Calvert. This was a time of immense growth and when he discovered his true calling as an improviser. He quickly latched on to jazz rhythms, as well as the melodic and harmonic language of the idiom under the tutelage of all of the professors at USM.

After graduating, Rice gigged with numerous bands in the Southern Maine area and was known for being comfortable in many styles of music and for being a quick study of new music. He adapted his playing to whatever gig came his way from jazz to funk to folk, and relished each new experience as an opportunity to learn something new and test his skills as an improviser.

After a brief stint of living in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico playing in the jazz scene there, Andy made his way to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and into the popular local duo, The Wilder Brothers.

Currently, he is finishing up his Master's Degree at the University of the Arts in Philaelphia, PA.

Tags

Primary Instrument

Bass

Credentials/Background

Private bass teacher: 2000-Present

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