“I’ve written with all of his big co-writers. When he got the chance to record his first album, 2010’s “Love Like Crazy,” Brice was again inspired by Garth. “It’s just really like a dream still, like it didn’t even happen, it’s so unbelievable to me. 1 debut in the history of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Featured on Brooks’ 2007 box set “The Ultimate Hits,” the brokenhearted ballad became the first No. Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean and Brooks have cut his songs.īrice co-wrote “More Than a Memory,” one of the few new songs Brooks has recorded since retiring in 2001.
When an arm injury ended his gridiron prospects, he set his sights on Nashville, Tenn., where he first found success as a songwriter. Brice lists the Oklahoma megastar as one of his main musical influences, along with Hank Williams Jr., Coldplay, John Mayer, Tom Petty and 3 Doors Down.īorn in Sumter, S.C., Brice grew up on the gospel songs his mother’s side of the family sang and his father’s collection of records by Alabama and the Oak Ridge Boys, who will play next weekend with the Oklahoma State Fair’s “Xtreme Bulls Tour.” When Brice was 7, he started teaching himself to play piano by 10, he was writing songs.Īs a teenager, music played second fiddle to football, with Brice attending Clemson University on a sports scholarship. We’ll rock your face off, and then we’ll break it down and connect with you a little bit. “But it’s definitely a roller-coaster ride. We’ll come out rocking, and I do like to bring it down in the middle of the show somewhere and grab an acoustic and play a song or two, just kind of connect with the crowd,” he said. “We just have a blast, so I figure everybody else will, too. It’s fun.”Īlthough he is best known for the ballads “She Ain’t Right,” “Beautiful Every Time” and the record-smashing hit “Love Like Crazy,” Brice, 32, said he and his band will take the stage Saturday with fun in mind. And we just have a big time with everybody. “I love having, like, kids out and families out. “I like it ’cause it’s an all-ages thing,” Brice said in a recent phone interview from the road in Monterey, Calif. The South Carolina native also has several fairs and festivals on his fall slate, including a Saturday show at the Oklahoma State Fair. He spent much of the summer traveling with Willie Nelson’s Country Throwdown tour, and this week, he embarked on the 22-city “CMT on Tour” with Luke Bryan and Josh Thompson. After a record-setting 2010, country singer-songwriter Lee Brice has been touring like crazy this year.