From the Rice Fields to the Stage: Paul Quattlebaum Enjoys It All

Paul Quattlebaum loves both of his jobs: playing jazz guitar and growing rice. And when he’s immersed in one, he often finds himself daydreaming about the other. This past summer, Quattlebaum was more focused on the rice – a local varietal known as Charleston Gold – thanks to a broken wrist that kept him from playing his weekly gigs at the Commodore in downtown Charleston. How did a modern jazz guitarist get into the rice business? Twelve years ago his father Dan Quattlebaum acquired White House Farms in Georgetown, about 60 miles north of Charleston. Georgetown is the traditional heart of the American rice belt, and the Quattelbaums wanted to revive and showcase the region’s most historic grain. “These historic river fields were growing rice back in the 1700s but since then had fallen into disrepair and eroded,” said Quattlebaum, the company’s vice-president. “We spent a few years just getting the fields back in order then started growing small amounts of rice.” By Amy C. Balfour The family ramped up production two years ago and rebranded, changing its name to Andy’s White House Farms to honor the memory of Paul’s younger brother Andy, who committed suicide in 2019 at the age of 22. A portion of the proceeds from sales of Charleston Gold supports the Andy Quattlebaum & Blackwell Family Foundation (aqbff.org), which was started by Paul’s parents, Dan and Hayden, to honor Andy’s legacy. The foundation funds mental health initiatives and issues important to Andy, including animals, conservation, and veterans. One recent project was the construction of the state-of-the-art Andy Quattlebaum Outdoor Center at Clemson University. The company’s flagship product is Charleston Gold. “It’s a naturally cross-pollinated rice that is Carolina Gold crossed with aromatic basmati rice. It’s got an amazing nutty, earthy aromatic thing happening, and you can just smell it in the field as it’s growing,” said Quattlebaum. “It’s really something special.” The origins of Carolina Gold, the famed forebear of Charleston Gold, stretch back to the rice fields of West Africa, where rice was grown and cultivated for thousands of years. “The original Carolina Gold was a seed that was brought here in the 1700s from Madagascar, and that was what put South Carolina on the map as far as being such a huge rice producer in the world,” said Quattlebaum. Carolina Gold is a non-aromatic heirloom rice, and it was the predominant rice in the South after the Revolutionary War, when it was used to complement flavors in stews and other composite dishes. Over the years, as rice became a separate side dish, aromatic grains like jasmine and basmati became increasingly popular. Rice geneticists began breeding Carolina Gold with fragrant rices in the 1990s and testing new varieties. Hardy and quick-growing, Charleston Gold emerged as the most promising contender. A long-grain rice with a nutty flavor, it was approved by the USDA in 2012. The farm also sells Andy’s Charleston Gold Middlins. “We’re just going to start calling it rice grits because it’s the small broken pieces of rice that were always a byproduct of the milling process that didn’t make the cut,” said Quattlebaum. “It’s great to have the grits mouthfeel with the aromatics of the rice. Yesterday my dad made salmon and rice grits with our rice and it was really, really good.” Middlins can also be used for risotto or couscous. When he’s not marketing Charleston Gold, Quattlebaum plays guitar with two modern jazz groups. “Charleston is the best place to live, to be a working musician, because there’s just endless opportunities to play because of the tourism,” said Quattlebaum. “Every restaurant seems to want live music.” southernflavormagazine.com 49 Quattlebaum prefers performing with a group, not solo, because he likes having a “musical conversation” with a good drummer and bass player. And it’s not hard to have that conversation in the jazz world because knowledgeable jazz musicians are often familiar with the same standard American songbook tunes. “You can get paired up with a rhythm section, with a couple of people you’ve never met before, but you all know the same language, and you’re able to have a lot of fun just improvising off melodies that were maybe written in the ‘40s and ‘50s, but are still really important today.” Like his brother Andy, Quattlebaum loves the outdoors, and he particularly enjoys spending time on the Pee Dee River. “I grew up really close to where we’re growing the rice now, and I’ve always loved the freshwater tidal rivers of the coast. They are truly heaven on earth.” Quattlebaum plays at the Commodore (504 Meeting St) twice weekly, joining the Living Daylights every Wednesday and Jeff Caldwell every Thursday. Both shows are 9:30pm to midnight. For more info, you can visit @paulqbaum on Instagram. To purchase Andy’s White House Farms Charleston Gold and the company’s other rice varieties, stop by markets and small retailers in Georgetown or order online at whitehousefarms.com, faire.come or Amazon.com.