Since 2001, he has played guitar for indie rock band Bishop Allen.

Justin Rice formed a second band, The Last Names, in 2011 with his wife Darbie Nowatka (also from Bishop Allen); they are releasing a free cover song every week through 2012 in advance of a full-length album.

He also stars in the 2007 independent film Let Them Chirp Awhile, directed by Jonathan Blitstein.

Rice has a role in Joe Swanberg's 2009 feature film Alexander the Last, Bob Byington independent micro-budget feature Harmony and Me (2009) and Michael Harring's The Mountain, the River and the Road.

He stars also alongside Paige Stark in the Ti West web series, Dead & Lonely.