This month’s Third Thursday musical guest with John Cooper will be Steve Rice from the Band NO JUSTICE on August 16th from 7 – 9 pm at the Cushing Country Club!
Judging by the company that NO JUSTICE keeps it is easy to see that Steve Rice, lead vocalist and acoustic guitarist, had some pretty pivotal insight early on. It is silent knowledge that when you are coming out of Stillwater, Oklahoma’s Red Dirt depot, it had better be about the music. A rather small place on the map known for spawning large talent like Jimmy LaFave, The Great Divide, Cross Canadian Ragweed, and Jason Boland and The Stragglers (just to name a few), it is quickly understood that in this neck of the woods a man is only worth his weight in song.
Rice recounts, “When I first moved to Stillwater, I was introduced to the Red Dirt genre. It was something I had never heard of before. Being that Red Dirt is a genre of music that stands as an equal opportunity employer to all styles of music, the sound is difficult to describe to someone looking for the comfort of labels.” With hammer in hand Rice hits it on the head, and many will agree, that Red Dirt music is indeed, something that is more of a feeling than a sound. That feeling is honest music.
As it is with any good organic creation, there is an aging process that needs to occur in order to harvest the perfect blend. The band was formed in 2001, and in 2003, celebrated their freshman release Far From Everything, which garnered them a Texas size hit with their single “The Toast.” The song hit the Texas Music Chart’s Top 10 and remained there for 27 straight weeks (2005) and was also one of the Top 15 most requested songs in 2005 – a major accomplishment for the only independent artists on the Top 10 chart at that time. Far From Everything was included in Gruene With Envy’s Top Ten list (2003) and voted Best Album of the Year at the Payne Country Line Music awards show (2004). Fulfilling their Red Dirt obligation to uphold with their music, the band also took home the title for Best Red Dirt New Comer of the Year (2003).
In addition to a rigorous touring schedule, the band’s self-titled 2006 release with Smith Music Group helped catapult them to the forefront of the Texas/Red Dirt music scene. Tunes like “Never Come Back,” and “Bend But Don’t Break,” lead with the southern rock badge of authority, but give way to the funk fusion prowess of drummer/ percussionist, Armando Lopez. Lopez shines on “Don’t Walk Away” providing smooth groovy touches in all the right places, and on “Breath,” a melodically addicting ballad, alive with pop essence and a funk pulse. Rice tops it all off with acoustic overlays and a vocal concoction brewed from little grit and a lot of soul.
In 2007, the band welcomed newcomer Joey Trevino on bass, adding to the existing members: Rice on lead vocals/acoustic guitar, Brandon Jackson on vocals/rhythm guitar, Jerry Payne on lead guitar and Lopez on drums. Soon after, NO JUSTICE celebrated their first No. 1 hit with “Never Come Back” which fought its way to the No. 1 position on the Texas Music Chart and stayed there for an unprecedented six consecutive weeks.
On May 5, 2007 the band recorded their Live at Billy Bob’s Texas CD/DVD in an unforgettable night at the world-famous Billy Bob’s Texas in the Historic Ft. Worth Stockyards. The CD/DVD, which was released on September 4, 2007, captures the band’s raw energy and features 11 tracks total, including “Never Come Back” “Red Dress,” “Bend But Don’t Break” and “The Toast.” Capping off the performance are new twists on covers of Ryan Adams’ “Shakedown on 9th Street” and Todd Snider’s “Horseshoe Lake.”
