Artist to Watch: Lee Brice

Prior to achieving his own success as an artist, Lee Brice was making a name for himself through writing songs for other vocalists including the likes of Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton and Garth Brooks. In fact, one of the tunes he co-wrote for Garth “More Than A Memory” made chart history by debuting at the number one spot after its first week of release. That achievement is pretty impressive considering no other country single has accomplished that feat.

Now, Lee has his own vocals on tunes like “She Ain’t Right,” “Happy Endings” and his biggest single so far “Love Like Crazy,” Brice’s current chart-climber. But, before he hit Music City U.S.A., Lee spent his time in his home state of South Carolina where he was raised on the music of Alabama, The Oak Ridge Boys and the Statler Brothers. As he got older, Brice branched out and began listening to artists like Hank Williams Jr., Aerosmith, the Dave Matthews Band and Coldplay, just to name a few.

Not only did Lee have an interest in music, he also has a passion for football which he inherited from his father. Brice took that love for the game all the way to Clemson University where he joined the football team and pursued his degree in civil engineering. But, fate had other plans for Lee as an injury he suffered during his senior year changed the course of his life. He decided to follow the advice he received from songwriter-producer Doug Johnson and move to Nashville.

Once he got to town, Brice worked hard honing his writing by working with some of the top tunesmiths on the Row and it paid off in spades as artists began cutting his songs. Currently, Lee is enjoying seeing “Love Like Crazy” climb the charts, as well as Tim McGraw scale the charts with “Still,” a song that Brice co-wrote. On June 8^th, Lee will release his debut album, Love Like Crazy.

Image courtesy of Curb Records

Nikita Palmer for Citadel Digital © 2010

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