William Augusta Trice (February 10, 1908 – December 11, 1976) was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He released two singles and an album. He remained loyal to his native North Carolina and its regional blues style, often referred to as

Piedmont blues Piedmont blues (also known as East Coast, or Southeastern blues) refers primarily to a guitar style, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melo ...

East Coast blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, or more generally country blues.

Life and career

Trice was born in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...

, probably in 1908; some sources state 1910 or 1911. The family had moved to Raleigh by 1920. Both of Trice's parents played music—his mother played the organ at church functions, and his father was a music teacher—but it was mainly his uncle who taught Willie the rudiments of blues guitar playing. His biggest influence was Reverend Gary Davis, also known as Blind Gary Davis. Trice formed a duo with his younger brother,

Richard Trice Richard Trice (November 16, 1917 – April 6, 2000) was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He released two singles. He lived most of his life in his native North Carolina and played in its regional blues style, often referred to ...

, in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, in the 1930s. They and began playing a ragtime-influenced blues, which was common in the Carolinas in that period. The brothers befriended Blind Boy Fuller in the 1933, and it was this relationship that led them to enter a recording studio. In July 1937, Trice recorded two sides (Issued as being by Welly Trice) for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, with his brother Richard playing second guitar: "Come On in Here Mama" and "Let Her Go God Bless Her". Without any commercial success ensuing, Trice did not record again until the 1970s. However, he was well known for playing locally in the 1930s and 1940s in North Carolina. In the late 1960s, both of his legs were amputated below the knee, as a result of the effects of diabetes. In 1971, he recorded two songs he wrote, "Three Little Kittens Rag" and "One Dime Blues", for

Trix Records Trix Records was an American independent record label, which was set up in 1972, by the folklorist Peter B. Lowry. It lasted just under a decade as an active label dealing mainly with Piedmont blues artists from the Southeastern states (the focus ...

, which were released as a single the following year. Between 1971 and December 1973, he recorded enough songs (several of which he wrote himself), for an album, ''Blue and Rag'd'', released by Trix in 1975. It was re-released on CD twenty years later. In September 1972, Trice was interviewed by Bruce Bastin, as part of the latter's interest in the history of the blues in the southeastern United States. Trice lived his whole life in the same area, continuing to play music as time and finances allowed. Trice died at his home in

, in December 1976, at the age of 68. He was interred at Mount Sinai Baptist Church Cemetery, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His brother Richard, who died in 2000, was buried next to him.

Discography

CD album

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trice, Willie 1908 births 1976 deaths American blues guitarists American blues singers 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American singers People from Chapel Hill, North Carolina Songwriters from North Carolina Decca Records artists Guitarists from North Carolina 20th-century American guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American male singers African-American songwriters African-American guitarists American male songwriters