“The Blues is a really big umbrella of a genre. The Blues in my mind is already spread pretty far and wide in a wonderful way. I think it's important that we share the music we love to the World because we love it and there are many other people out there that will also love it. By sharing these treasures we build a better connection and community with each other.”

Ben Rice: The Angels Play The Blues

Three-time Blues Music Award nominee Ben Rice steps out with his bold new project, The PDX Hustle, and their studio debut Fallen Angel (2025), showcasing the guitarist, singer, songwriter fronting a 5-piece, horn laden band. Recorded at Falcon Studios in Portland, Oregon, the album distills the fire of the Hustle’s live shows into 10 new, original tracks. A fiery mix of blues, soul, Latin-tinged grooves, and fearless musicianship. Rice’s credentials already speak volumes; writing credits on Curtis Salgado‘s Billboard-charting album, Fine By Me, guitar work on Salgado’s upcoming 2026 release, Curtis’ first live album, and a reputation as one of the most compelling voices in modern roots music. With Fallen Angel, Ben Rice and The PDX Hustle raise the bar. The album kicks off with “Good Lord Bad Lord,” where trance blues collides with Seattle grunge, gritty vocals spar with punchy horns, and scorching solos light the fuse.  From there, the record surges into “Get Down,” a hurricane of rhythm driven by boom-chuck percussion, resophonic slide, and a guitar-drum duel that pushes the groove to its breaking point.                                                     (Photo: Ben Rice)

The mood turns introspective on “Even On A Good Day,” an emotional ballad featuring strings, piano, harmonies, and the final recorded performance of beloved drummer, the late Chandler Bowerman. The title track, “Fallen Angel,” brings vivid colors, drawing on Rice’s Latino heritage with salsa horns, Chuk Barber‘s percussion (The Low Rider Band), and a fiery montuno guitar solo that captures the joy of a street festival. Other standouts “Trust” and “Storm” showcase the band’s dynamic range, seamlessly shifting from delicate textures to walls of sound and energy. With horns blazing, strings soaring, and Rice’s guitar front and center, Fallen Angel proves that roots music can be as expansive as it is soulful. It’s a record that honors the past, electrifies the present, and kicks the door wide open for what’s next.

Interview by Michael Limnios                         Archive: Ben Rice, 2020 Interview

How do you think that you have grown as an artist since you first started making music? What has remained the same about your music-making process?

These past few years I've spent a lot of time growing and stretching as a songwriter and musician. I first began writing at a very young age, 9 years old or so. In elementary school, I had a very supportive music teacher, Mrs. Hagen who would let me play "songs" that I wrote for the class at the end of class. Initially I approached writing from a guitarist perspective, writing riffs and cool licks that I'd string together and that continued to be my approach for a long time. Writing lyrics between guitar solos. As time went on and my musical taste began to mature, mostly just because I became exposed to more types of music and more musicians. I began to fixate on lyrics and stories. My writing began to shift and focus on emotions, trying to capture the human experience and any solos or improvising on song would be to enhance or evoke more emotion from the thematic content of the song. Now the song comes first and really approaching the music to accentuate the meaning of the song and lyrics as well. So both the lyrics and music are supporting each other in portraying the story, feeling, and emotions of the music. I've also learned a less is more approach in accompanying melodies and vocals. In school we talked about Bach's 5 rules of counter point and I often find myself referring back to them in arranging parts with this larger ensemble to make sure we're always spotlighting the melody. 

The thing that has always been the same even from when I was a young boy playing my fathers old acoustic guitar is that it always starts from a child like mindset. Approaching music in a fun fashion in my opinion is always important to maintain. Especially when it becomes a career it can start to become a job but always keeping that spirit and finding ways to keep it fun. One of the takeaways from Covid in 2020 when I had a bunch of time to write and practice my craft was that for me a long with practicing writing or your scales and arpeggios it's also helpful to practice enjoying the sound of your instrument and the music you are making. 

“Here in Portland Oregon there is some outstanding music every night of the week, it is a wonderful place. But the demand and turnout most of the time is pretty low and it would be great to have more music and more people out at the shows, especially mid-week concerts where it's easy to stay in with your TV or computer.” (Photo: Ben Rice & The PDX Hustle)

How did the idea of new band The PDX Hustle come about? Do you have any interesting stories about the making of the new album “Fallen Angel”?

The PDX Hustle came about talking with a friend of mine who was a super fan of me and my music. He called me up after I sent him pretty much everything I recorded and asked why I hadn't performed regularly with horns or B3 organ in my group. At that point I was either performing solo or in a guitar trio. I explained that although I do hear those parts and would LOVE to put a group like that together I knew it would be a big process. My friend pretty much begged me to start down that road. So I took the fall to assemble the music and musicians that would be a good fit for a project like that and that Winter we began a residency in the Portland, Oregon area. He was right! Playing with such a large band was incredible, the sound as you can hear on the album is HUGE and varied. I listen to a ton of different music and really love the idea of an ensemble turning 180 in the middle of a performance, kind of like Los Lobos or The Mavericks might do. The other thing that it really introduced some great new people in my life and musical life. I pretty much doubled the band but I quadrupled the musical expressiveness, experience, and in the best way, personalities. The band turned into more of a big friends club and now extended family, I really love this crew. 

The story of making the album is a long one, there are many things I wish I could tell everyone when I hand them a CD. The CD is dedicated to Chandler Bowerman our late drummer who passed away mid-way through the recording of the album. He is on seven of the 10 tracks and there is a dedication to him on the inside cover with a dove sitting on top. Chandler passed away very suddenly. Him and I grew so close during the tracking. Chandler in my mind was a rock and was that steady support person behind me, always telling me to be fearless, be impeccable with your approach to music, and bring your best every time. He was exceptional at that, his time feel and groove was always direct and uncompromising. Part of the reason it took so long to finish the album was the complete knock out the band and I had to get up from losing one of our pillars of the group. After the dust had settled and the group and I made it through our rigorous tour schedule with substitutes in his chair I began journaling and the importance of creating came through my pen onto the page. I began reflecting in a moment where my mind was able to pause and take a breath. Writing, creating, and the importance of recognizing how little time in the grand scheme of things that we have in the life to do that. I started thinking about Chandler and the music we would've gone on to make together and the further I let my mind wander down this trail the more I realized how important it would be to finish the album. It became a responsibility to Chandler and everyone he loved to release these songs which were his final recordings. As the band and I rallied to finish the rest of the album, the closer we got to the end, to tying  the bow on the project, the more of an honor it became. I was really proud of the band and how we sounded and proud of Chandler and what he had played on the tunes and also his finger prints on the tunes where Adam Carlson played drums. The whole band really, Chandler in rehearsals, on, and off stage had a way of influencing our music and approach. 

All of that aside of what each song is about and what of the many muses might be discussed. 

“My writing began to shift and focus on emotions, trying to capture the human experience and any solos or improvising on song would be to enhance or evoke more emotion from the thematic content of the song. Now the song comes first and really approaching the music to accentuate the meaning of the song and lyrics as well.” (Photo: Ben Rice)

How do you approach the process of songwriting, and are there any specific themes or emotions you tend to explore in your music?

I am always trying to write from a place of expressing ideas or emotions that people normally don't get to express. There are certain themes like the many shades of love and relationships that offer an endless amount of things to write about or present in a musical manner. I love the idea of a song finding a way to say the intangible, a song being a message or statement where the listener is now better able to understand how they feel or are experiencing a moment of life. The last verse of Retreat is near and dear to my heart because although it's just three words in a way it feels like I am writing what I think my loved ones might be telling me. Even On A Good Day is the same way, it's explaining moments of grief and experiencing the high and lows of this world. Good Lord Bad Lord is a moment reflecting on how life just seems unfair and religion has a way of explaining why. Trust I put myself in my friends shoes and reflected on a relationship he had that was very tumultuous. I put the voice in the song as his and as I wrote tried to experience what he may have felt like in the moment. Fallen Angel a romantic poetic approach of a doofy guy trying to explain how lucky he is to be with this woman, his Fallen Angel. Trouble, the story of someone trying not to be allured from a sultry seductress. 

If you could change one thing in the musical world and it would become a reality, what would that be?

I wish live music was a larger part of everyday culture. I wish we consumed live music like we do television or online streaming shows. Right now there is so much fighting for our attention and live music brings so much more than plain entertainment or escapism. It builds community, comradely, an art driven environment, etcetera etcetera. Here in Portland Oregon there is some outstanding music every night of the week, it is a wonderful place. But the demand and turnout most of the time is pretty low and it would be great to have more music and more people out at the shows, especially mid-week concerts where it's easy to stay in with your TV or computer. 

“I think creating and art is a thing for amatuers, for dabblers, for people who just like to sit around their living room and plunk out some notes to see if anything sticks. Watching my Dad at a young age ultimately doing that is what inspired me to play music. Ultimately the goal is to be musical. Technique in the pursuit of music is justified but like one of my favorite professors refrain, “Theory is good for... impressing your friends and neighbors”.” (Photo: Ben Rice)

What are some of the most important lessons you have learned from your experience in the music paths?

I've been walking this trail since I was 7 years old, hanging in music stores even before that and watching my siblings rehearse even before that! Thanks to some outstanding mentors and friends tolerating me through the years. I think some things are universal in any path in life. Be impeccable with your word and promises. Don't say anything if you can say it nicely or constructively. You are always setting an example for the next person. Support and treat others the way you want to be treated. People and the friends you make along the way are really the treasure of this life in music. I could go on like a hallmark card. Hahaha!

What keeps a musician passionate over the years? What's the balance in music between technique (skills) and soul/emotions? 

Pursuing music there is no end, there is no shortcut. It's time spent playing music and picking up as much as you can. There's always a new song, artist, instrument, rhythm to fall in love with. Innovations are always being made and rediscovered too. I am a firm believer that you don't need any technique or skills to be musical, you can just be musical without the in depth knowledge or music theory or virtuosic skills on an instrument. You can love music and not know anything other than what you think sounds good. That's what great about how subjective art is. I think creating and art is a thing for amatuers, for dabblers, for people who just like to sit around their living room and plunk out some notes to see if anything sticks. Watching my Dad at a young age ultimately doing that is what inspired me to play music. Ultimately the goal is to be musical. Technique in the pursuit of music is justified but like one of my favorite professors refrain, "Theory is good for... impressing your friends and neighbors." 

What are you doing to keep your music relevant today, to develop it and present it to the new generation? 

I am always on a path of growing what I'm listening to, writing from a borderless perspective, and creating musical ideas from life.

“I wish live music was a larger part of everyday culture. I wish we consumed live music like we do television or online streaming shows. Right now there is so much fighting for our attention and live music brings so much more than plain entertainment or escapism.”

(Photo: Ben Rice)

Why is it important to we preserve and spread the blues?

The Blues is a really big umbrella of a genre. The Blues in my mind is already spread pretty far and wide in a wonderful way. I think it's important that we share the music we love to the World because we love it and there are many other people out there that will also love it. By sharing these treasures we build a better connection and community with each other. Lifting up the voices and stories of the Blues also bring a raw and real music to a larger audience and people that like I said earlier might be able to feel better genuine expression by this music. 

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