A memorial concert honoring the late Paul Rice will be presented at Coastal Carolina University on Thursday, Sept. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the Edwards Recital Hall. Though the concert is free, it is a fundraiser for a CCU poetry series named for the professor/poet/musician who died in 2004. A $10 donation is suggested, and tickets may be picked up at the Wheelwright Box Office.

Songwriter/singer Jesse Rice will be featured; he is son of Paul and Nelljean Rice. (Nelljean is dean of University College at CCU.) Jesse Rice wrote the No. 1 hit country song "Cruise," recorded by Florida-Georgia Line and remixed by Nelly. Originally from Conway, Rice moved to Nashville in 2002, where he is a platinum-selling singer-songwriter and producer.

In addition, the concert will feature songs written by Paul Rice and performed by a band comprised of CCU faculty members who were his colleagues.

Special guest Elise Testone, a student and protégé of Paul Rice's before she went on to "American Idol" fame in 2012, will also perform with the band.

Other highlights of the show include David Bankston, CCU professor of music and recording artist, singing some special songs, and Dan Albergotti, poet and creative writing professor, reading winning poems of student winners of the Paul Rice Broadside Poetry Series.

The fundraiser concert will benefit the Paul Rice Broadside Poetry Series, a competition sponsored by CCU's Department of English and open to CCU students. The event honors the memory of Rice, who would have turned 70 on Sept. 26.

For more information, call Scott Pleasant at 843-349-4154.