First Furman, Then Fame

When Jesse Rice ’01 was set to graduate from Furman with a bachelor’s degree in history, he felt at a crossroads: Apply to law school or chase down a gut feeling that he could make music professionally.

Despite growing up surrounded by music, it wasn’t until college that it really took hold of him. His father was a steady influence: playing guitar in bands throughout Conway, South Carolina, where Rice grew up, taking him on trips to Nashville when he was young, and writing songs together at home.

The turning point, though, came when Rice left home for Furman.

“My dad said, ‘I’m going to give you a guitar, teach you how to play a few chords, just so you have something to pass the time with if you want to.’ And that was it,” Rice says.

While juggling studies and a spot on the Furman football team, Rice played guitar at nearby coffee shops and bars to make some extra spending money.

By his senior year, he thought he might be good enough to try a career in music.

That’s when he turned to the Furman alumni network for a sign.

While looking through Furman’s alumni directory, he saw Greg Hill ’91 was the vice president of writer/artist development at the Nashville office of EMI Music Publishing, a multinational music label that has worked with artists including Elton John, Paul McCartney, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift.

“I sent him an email, explained my situation, and the next day his secretary replied back saying he wants to talk to me over the phone. We must’ve talked for an hour and a half,” Rice says.

With advice from Hill, Rice set his sights on a new path: Spend one year working outside of the music industry, continue to hone his skills, then move to Nashville where Hill would connect him with an internship at EMI.

“He was true to his word and got me an internship organizing songwriters’ catalogs. I had access to every song that came into that publishing company. It was the best teaching I could’ve ever had to become better at it myself,” Rice says.

Rice is now an award-winning artist with recognition from the Academy of Country Music Awards, American Music Awards, the Country Music Association, Billboard Music Awards and others. His co-writers include Lady A, Dan + Shay, Florida Georgia Line and Sam Hunt, and his songs have been cut by artists such as Nelly, Chase Rice, and Ashley McBryde.

His first song to hit No. 1 was “Cruise,” which he co-wrote with Florida Georgia Line. In 2013, it broke the record for most weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and recently became the first country song ever to receive diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, signifying over 10 million units sold.

No matter his level of fame, though, he doesn’t forget his Furman roots.

“How many schools can you just reach out to fellow alumni, and they care enough about the university and those who come after them?” Rice asks. “Because Furman is a tighter knit community, it lends itself to that and it’s a testament to the kind of character of the students who are there.”