Bradenton’s Own Billy Rice Sings Back to the USA
Four years ago, July 2016 James Newton, Shelby Hartshorn, Billy Rice, and I headed over to the VFW on Beneva Road in Sarasota for the first day of shooting for the Billy Rice Video, “Back to the USA”. It was about 92 degrees when we started the shoot and Billy was on top of an old army tank that was so hot you could fry an egg on it. We were going to wait for a cooler day, but Billy insisted that we go on. It was a 2-hour shoot and we were all exhausted and sweaty when the morning ended.
Billy wanted to do this video for his nephew who returned from Afghanistan where he was serving our country. It took 3 months to complete the video and there was a release party on November 11, 2016 at Primo-Ristorante in Sarasota. The evening was a sold-out event and Hayley Wielgus who at the time was a news anchor at ABC7 in Sarasota was the guest speaker. It was a marvelous evening. There was so much love in the room that night. Primo owner-chef and his team did a marvelous job. Tickets were $75.00 and all the money made on the event was donated to “The Wounded Warriors Project.”
I was recently thinking that now was the time to re-introduce the video because we need a little patriotism in our country. We are living in very difficult times. For those of you who know Billy, he is a compassionate and caring person who always steps up to help folks in need. I hope you enjoy Billy’s video, “Back To The USA.” Please be safe. We are all in this together.
Video by Sande Caplin & Associates. Photo by Sande Caplin & Associates.