Piano man plays for free and for fees
Stillwater Christian School senior David Rice has played piano since age 7, now often playing for free at various locations throughout the valley.
This is the second story in a weeklong series about Class of 2010 graduates who are making a difference in the world.
It’s nine o’clock on a Sunday.
The regular crowd shuffles in.
But that isn’t Billy Joel behind the church piano. It’s David Rice, a Stillwater Christian School senior who tickles the ivories at church services three Sundays out of four every month.
Rice, 18, has played the piano since he was 7. Now 18, he can be found playing at church services and community events all over the Flathead Valley, without asking for anything in return.
“I do it for the love of music,” he said. “Just to go out an play — and the excitement to be out there doing stuff.”
One reason he volunteers is selfish, Rice admitted.
“In helping others, you’re kind of helping yourself,” he said. “There’s satisfaction when you’re genuinely appreciated. ... When random people say thanks, it feels good.”
He also has benefited from volunteering by having “experiences most high-school kids don’t get to have,” he said.
He includes getting ideas about tax write-offs and how to run his own business among those experiences. For the house parties and other gigs he has charged for, Rice has made enough money to pay taxes as a private corporation in 2011.
But Rice also volunteers because he thinks he should.
“Everyone can agree it’s the right thing to do,” he said.
Rice first started to play for free when his piano teacher, Eric Dye, recommended him as a potential pianist for the Sunday morning service at Central Christian Church in Kalispell about four years ago.
Since then, Rice has added two more churches to his list: Eidsvold Lutheran Church in Somers and Epworth United Methodist Church in Kalispell.
He also plays keyboard for his youth group at the Christian Center.
Outside of church, Rice often plays for United Way events, including providing background music for meetings. He performs for Christmas at the Mansion, Conrad Mansion’s annual holiday party.
Not charging for those performances “seems more natural” than asking for money, Rice said.
He credits his upbringing at the Christian Center in Kalispell as part of the reason he loves donating his time and talents.
“With a Christian background, you pick up ideals like morals and a sense of doing the right thing is better than doing the obvious, successful thing,” he said.
He also is a believer in the cliché that what goes around comes around.
“I think everything works out in turn,” Rice said. “Being idealistic pays off.”
Working for free will do more for his character than getting paid, he added.
Not all Rice’s volunteer experience has been music-related. He also has helped out at Hope Pregnancy Center, and in 2008 he went on a church mission trip to work with inner-city homeless people in Atlanta.
In August, Rice will leave for Montana State University, where he plans to earn a degree in electrical engineering and computer science.
His goal is to become an audio engineer, in which he’ll work with “high-end technology revolving around music.”
He also will keep playing and writing his own music.
Given a choice, Rice likes to play classic vocal jazz standards from the era of Frank Sinatra.
This summer, in addition to his church services, Rice will be at the Frontier Roadhouse on Montana 206, where he plays for diners on the patio.
He also is available for private parties and can be reached at 260-0053.
Rice said he will continue to volunteer and revel in the feeling it gives him.
“It’s natural for people to enjoy being appreciated,” he said. “That enjoyment makes it worth it.”
Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.