Distinctly Montana Magazine

20 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 4 around," he would start strumming a little tune, and if the reaction to that were favorable, he might sing a song. He might just make a few bucks in tips, too. But gradually, he be- gan to forge a reputation for himself; though frequently mentioned in local sports writing, he was quick becoming a musical fixture of East Helena. It was destiny calling when the owner of the now-defunct White Mill Bar offered Pride the chance to play in his bar once or twice a week. Pride describes the bar as "noisy, boisterous, blue collar, all white, and country to the core." Nervous, Pride au- ditioned with Hank Williams songs, an uncontroversial choice perhaps designed to win over a skeptical audience. Pride notes the complicated tone of that first performance: "I could feel the stares and hear the noise level shift when I walked across the room, set up my equipment in a corner, and be- gan tuning the guitar. But I felt then, and still do, that the under- tone of curiosity about how or what I might sing rather than about my color. It was unlikely that anyone there had ever heard a black per- son sing country music and they probably figured they were in for a night of rhythm and blues." The audience could not have been unmoved by Pride's famous, so'lful voice. As he played on, he wrote, "people turned their chairs toward my corner. Sever- al came over with requests, and when I sang them, they actually paid attention." The audition, in fact, "turned out to be more like performing in a concert." Pride was offered $20 to perform there a few nights a week. The owner of the Corner Bar in Anaconda, who had also heard about Pride's talent, offered him $40 a night. That was twice what Pride made in a day working at the smelter. A young man with a growing family—his wife Rozene gave birth to their second son while living in the state—he welcomed the money, sometimes driving the 80 miles from Helena to Anaconda, playing for hours, The smelter in East Helena during the 1950s

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