NYCS Swag Spotlight: Lewis Brice
Yes, the last name may be familiar to country music fans, but Lee Brice’s younger brother, Lewis Brice, is paving his own way in the genre. Growing up in a small town in South Carolina, Brice remembers being surrounded by music. “My mom and her sisters had a group growing up called The Lewis Sisters. My first name is my mom’s maiden name. My mom and dad sang together too.” As his older brother pursued a music career right out of college, he decided to take a different path and actually wanted to be a chiropractor. He loved science and anatomy, but after getting his associates degree he decided to move to Nashville instead of continuing the medical field track.
“Lee was already in Nashville and I played music around bars. I was a young kid, came here wanting to hang out with my brother a little bit and have some fun. Then, as soon as I got there, I was in the scene and I really loved it,” he tells us. “After about 3 years, it really came to the point where I had to figure out what I wanted to do. I loved playing music so much, so I quit bartending and decided to make music full time and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Brice released his debut self-titled EP last year and has been playing those songs on the road, supporting the music. He is a co-writer on all six tracks, finding inspiration from conversations he’s had or things he has heard people say. Another way he comes up with song ideas is watching movies. “I love going to movies I am a big movie guy, I put that in my publishing budget so I can still go to movies because I get a lot of ideas from there,” he laughs.
His first single “Messin’ With My Mind” has over one million streams on Spotify. Brice explains it is the most personal song he’s ever written. The second single he is promoting is going to be “Alabama” which was written with his brother Lee. “All of our friends had farm properties and fields, so instead of us going out to bars we would just go in the middle of the fields and just have a good time,” he says. “It wasn’t a crazy deep song but it was something that we lived and since it’s a country song, you’ve gotta put a girl in it, so we named her Alabama.” The production on the track really makes it a standout on the EP, something that both Brice brothers had a hand in as well. The background singers bring a gospel feel, really elevating the song.
Spending his time before pursuing a full-time music career as a bartender at 12th and Porter, Brice has watched countless bands take the stage and has always paid very close attention. Now that he is able to get on the road with artists such as Hank Williams Jr, The Cadillac Three, Jerrod Niemann and of course his brother Lee, he is still learning and taking in every aspect of performing to better his own career. “Learning their grind, their persistence, I’ve learned more about their work ethic than their stage presence,” he explains. “How they have gotten where they are, whether it’s writing every day or producing every day, it’s really being on top of their P’s & Q’s. Every one of those guys is incredible and they all work really hard.” Later this month, Brice’s name is on the bill for Stagecoach Festival where Lee is also playing as well as Garth Brooks.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2018, Brice is excited to play his new music out on the road and to promote “Alabama”. He lets us know that back in December he went on a writers retreat and wrote five songs, six days in a row and he can’t wait for the world to hear the new music. He is hoping to continuously draw more interest and to release new songs for the next EP. Follow Lewis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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