Born and raised in Memphis, TN, Rice Drewry has been playing guitar and writing songs for over twenty years. Early influences included the Beatles, James Taylor, Crosby, Stills and Nash (& Young) and Memphis own Stax sound. On his new release, “When You Smile”, you’ll hear some of those influences along with a hint of the Allman Brothers and John Mellencamp thrown in the mix. The CD was recorded at Sounds Unreel studios, engineered and produced by Jack Holder (Johnny Lang, Travis Tritt, Tracy Chapman).
Two of the cuts on his current effort, “Still Have You” and “Don’t Talk About That” were included on the recent Best of MSA compilation that came out in 2005. MSA, for those unaware, is the Memphis Songwriters Association, of which Rice has been an active member since 1997. He also had an original Christmas song “Let Me Be Your Santa Claus” on the Santa Cause, a CD released in 2003 to benefit ALSA, a group supporting the debilitating neuromuscular disorder also known as Lou Gherig’s Disease. Another compilation CD put out in 2005, entitled Flyin’ Memphis, featured an original song, “Mr. Jenkins” that is getting some local radio play in Memphis.
The singer/songwriter continues to be an active member of Memphis band, the Tumblin’ Sneakers and penned 5 of the 13 original songs on their self-titled CD released in 1999. Although the Sneakers are largely a cover band, they always include some crowd-pleasing original material during their shows.