Folly singer killed in fire
Rick Huff recorded 2 CDs chronicling life at the beachBY NITA BIRMINGHAM AND PRENTISS FINDLAY
The Post and CourierFOLLY BEACH – Singer Rick Huff, who penned songs that captured the soul of this Mayberry by the Sea, died Thursday in a fire at his house.
Huff’s death in the 10 a.m. blaze stunned local musicians and friends, who called him the poet laureate of Folly Beach and an icon. Huff recorded two CDs that chronicled everyday life on Folly, from the big orange trash truck to the veteran city clerk.
The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office and State Law Enforcement Division are investigating the fire, but there was no word Thursday on how it started.
Huff, 60, was found in his bathtub. An autopsy determined that he died of smoke inhalation, Deputy Coroner Dottie Lindsay said.
The fire burned through the roof of the house at 34 W. Second St. and gutted the upper floor.
“I walked out of the back door and the windows were popping out. It just went up like a matchstick,” said a neighbor, who would identify himself only as Paul.
The fire was so hot that a propane tank in the yard was hissing.
“I was calling his name,” Paul said, but there was no way to reach the house.
Firefighters first thought Huff was at Our Lady of Good Counsel for a memorial service for the mother of a close friend. Then someone went to look for Huff at the church and discovered that he wasn’t there, city officials said.
Huff was part of a year-round population of about 2,000 people. He came to the island by way of Atlanta about 15 years ago, said former Mayor Bob Linville, who sold Huff his house.
“It’s kind of like he showed up here on Folly Beach and we took a liking to him and he’s been here ever since,” Linville said.
Huff was a fixture at the island’s Sea and Sand Festival. He entertained at Pet Helpers benefits and organized the Folly Beach Songwriters Guild. His bands included the Honey Canyon Yodelers, Nacho Momma and Rick Huff and the Outpatients.
Huff released the CD “Cheaper Than Therapy” in 1997 and “Come On Down” in 2003. Within hours of Huff’s death, the seven remaining copies for sale at Bert’s Market were disappearing.
“It’s a sad story,” one woman said.
“Knew him 16 years,” said a somber man wearing paint-spattered clothes as he took a CD to the cash register.
“Empty Valentine” from “Come On Down” got local radio play on Valentine’s Day. Huff recently finished a music project in Atlanta, fellow musician David Owens said.
He played rhythm guitar Saturday with Andrew “Smoky” Weiner and “Nature Boy” Nick Pappas at a Democratic Party event. They performed Robert Johnson and Bob Dylan songs, Weiner said.
“Just completely shocked about it. It’s just a sad thing. He knew a million songs. He was easy to play with,” Weiner said.
He said Huff’s passing represents the end of an era at Folly Beach, which has been losing its bohemian artistic flavor to developers.
In the liner notes for “Come on Down,” Huff wrote, “In the rest of the world, time flies. On Folly, it flaps its wings, gets barely airborne, and stops to rest for a while.” On the title track, Huff satirized Northerners and Californians who come to Folly Beach with their ideas of how things should be done on the island.
“But come on down, you can tell us how to run our little town/Come on down, don’t know how we made it this far without you around,” he sang.
It doesn’t seem like that long since Rick relocated to Folly Beach because he was always coming down to Atlanta or calling. Marty produced Rick’s “Come on Down” with him and did the engineering. They spoke on the phone a long while last week, and I’m glad of that, that Marty had that last conversation with him as recently as he did.
What can you say.There are a lot of shocked and sad people in Atlanta, not just Folly Beach.
Note: So the person Marty is mixing for today, who didn’t know Rick, heard a bit of the news and said that a couple of years ago he was at Folly Beach and met a cool guy who he hung out with for a couple of days. Didn’t recollect his name. Marty asked him to describe him, and the description sounded like Rick. Then the person said, “He wrote this song about Folly Beach…” Indeed, it was Rick. Like I was saying, Rick seemed to make friends with just about everybody.
Update: We now know what happened. There was an electrical fire in the wall, the house exploded and Rick was blown by the explosion into the bathtub.
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