Eclectic

Jonny Rice was born October 13, 1989 in Texas into a family of musically gifted individuals. Determined to create opportunity for Jonny and his siblings, his family moved to Ohio where he became a student of music. Rice has never fit comfortably into categories. He follows his own musical and spiritual quest, fueled by his Musical Heroes Ben Harper, G. Love, Lil Wayne, amongst others, weaving together Southern roots with a wide experience of life, and creating new traditions in American music. By the time he had completed high school in Canton, Ohio, he was playing guitar and writing songs which incorporated influences from Polka, Rap, Poetry, Reggae and Zydeco. By his early twenties, Rice was back in Mississippi, where he established some reputation on the local music scene. However, the wandering spirit soon took over again. Rice returned to Ohio and connected with a few prominent individuals that were impressed with his raw talent. He continued to give performances while he worked on releasing his first demo. Rice continues to make short forays to cities around the country to expose other audiences to his distinctive style. Through countless live performances, Rice's music has remained fresh and aggressive, with a sense of deepening spirituality, and a consistent intellectual and artistic challenge, to himself and to his audience. Rice has never been close enough to the mainstream to sustain his occasional brushes with stardom. He has been unwilling to accept the loss of artistic control that the industry expects of it's stars. However, he is working with a team that is determined to embrace his unique style and highlight his creative genius. Rice's debut EP, The Eclectic, is scheduled to be released Thanksgiving of 2012. His debut album, Average Man, will be released the summer of 2013.