Whenever you hear someone drop the phrase "living the dream," there's almost always a sarcastic undercurrent. But for old Raleigh hand Brad Rice, it applies with no undercurrents whatsoever.

An ace guitarist and longtime sideman, Rice will be back in his former hometown Saturday night, playing in country superstar Keith Urban's band. Rice is part of a huge stage production that will play the RBC Center as part of Urban's co-headlining tour with Carrie Underwood.

"There are around 70 people in this entourage," Rice says, calling from home in Austin, Texas. "There's the band, tour manager, backline people, video people for this 40-by-60-foot HD screen. There's 11 buses and 14 tractor-trailers. We took this picture of everyone and everything at the end of last year, and it's just crazy."

If Rice is living large nowadays, few people deserve it more. The last time he played in Raleigh was a bit more than two years ago at Disco Rodeo, playing both halves of a twin bill -- opening with Tift Merritt, then closing with Son Volt. Before that, he played with a long list of Triangle bands including Backsliders, Finger, Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown.

There were some pretty flush times, especially playing "Saturday Night Live" and opening for the Rolling Stones with Adams. But for most of Rice's career, he has logged a lot more miles than money. Playing with Urban has put him in a whole other league, on stages including Al Gore's "Live Earth" concert, the CMA Awards and "The Today Show."

"I'll do these TV gigs, and friends from way back when will send text messages," Rice says.

" 'Man, this is a long way from the concrete floor beer joints.' Yeah, it's a long way from the Brewery. But it's all important.

"The good thing about this band is that all these guys have been in the van. Nobody takes anything for granted. We're all lucky to be able to do this for a living. And the pay is like a real job.

"I've never been in a better situation. If you can't have fun with this, there's something wrong with you."

Along with his abilities, Rice has personal connections to thank for his gig with Urban. A friend recommended him to Urban's musical director, which led to a series of auditions. He didn't clinch the job until he aced a one-song performance with Urban on television in Germany. Urban's tour has since taken Rice back to Europe, as well as Urban's native Australia.

About the only downside is that Rice hasn't had much time to work on his own songwriting, which he hopes to get back to this summer. By then, Urban will just be playing stadium shows a few weekends a month with Kenny Chesney.

That will give Rice time to get reacquainted with his house, wife and life off the road.

"I'm also looking forward to being back in Raleigh," he says. "This will be the first time I've ever been inside the RBC Center.

"It's been a fun year. My dad came out to see us play in Greenville, S.C., so it was fun to take him around. He'd come out when I was 18 playing in little bars, and now I'm up to arenas.

"This is good."

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