The Pilgrim Jubilees

19. Meridian, Mississippi: Fred Rice

19. Meridian, Mississippi: Fred Rice A dvertising and political wisdom has it that if something is said often enough, it will become the truth. The Super Inn motel, next to the I-2O in Meridian, Mississippi, defies this belief No amount of repetition is going to make the Super Inn super. Its blocks of units are separated by pitted asphalt that hurls the summer heat against the walls, helping the sun's direct rays peel paint and split timber. Someone has smashed a bottle against the base of the tall sign proclaiming to passing freeway traffic the motePs superiority. But the Super Inn's rooms are com' fortable enough, the air-conditioning works, and it's cheap. So it is ideal for a traveling gospel group needing a base away from home for an on-the-road rehearsal or a place to stay between programs when it'scheaper to do so than return home. The motel's owners know the Jubes as regulars and can always find them quiet rooms and somewhere to rehearse. But Fred Rice, the group's youngest member, doesn't stay at the Super Inn. He lives i Meridian with his partner and their daughter. Fred can sing tenor and baritone —and bass, if the Jubes ever want to reverse history and reinstate the part—and plays guitar, bass guitar, and drums. He's also teaching himself to 182 Meridian, Mississippi: FreJ Rice 183 play keyboards but says, "I don't think I'm ready for the stage yet." Because of his versatility, he has no defined role in the group but is what he calls "a spare" and what the old quartets called a "utility." In conversation, his man' ner is guarded, and he thinks carefully about each question before delivering a slow-spoken, precise answer. "I wasliving in Starkville, Mississippi, when I joined the group. Thatwas in May of '93.1 just got laid off my job—I was working at a steel plant. Got laid off on Wednesday, and the Jubes came to town on Thursday. I knew Eddie—we were from the same part of Mississippi—so I talked to him and asked where Mike was. He said, 'Mike's not here.' And I said, 'Well, can I play?' He said, 'Yeah. Talk to Clay.' I played that night—and been playing ever since. I wasborn [onOctober 5, 1972] and raised in Starkville—I moved to Meridian after I got with the group. I had a daughter born there, started a family. We're not married. Not yet. I've been living with her about four years. I want to marry, but I want to take my time. I was previously married —I waseighteen. It lasted about four years. We didn't have any children. So I've got the one daughter—she turned three years old last month. "I was singing at an early age. I didn't have a choice. I had to sing in the choir and ... my father wasa singer. He sang in groups, and he started me singing with a group. He showed me how to sing all the parts of the background , and I took it from there. So I wassinging with the choir on Sunday morning, then I'd leave there and go to the program. That was with the Southernaires of Starkville. Drums was the first instrument I played. I was really young, about five or six years old. My father and his group would be rehearsing, and when they finished, I would go in there and mess around. He bought me a guitar when I was about eight years old and showed me two keys. And I went from there to listening to records and learning, and when groups played I would be there watching, trying to see what they were doing. I just worked on it until the Lord blessed me. One of the guys I listened to was Bobby. I always wanted to play like Bobby. There were some guys in the area who played, but the only one I wanted to play like was Bobby. Bobby put a sound on the road, and his sound went across this country. "The Violinaires, the Mighty Clouds of Joy, the Canton Spirituals, I listened to them all. The Jackson Southernaires, the Bright Stars of Michigan —quite a few groups. But my favorite groups now, I would say,would be 184 Meridian...