Family-oriented country singer Lewis Brice to play the Outlaw, his first show in Cheyenne

Feb. 21—Rising country singer Lewis Brice, who released his debut album last year, will kick off the one of the biggest tours of his career in Cheyenne next week.

Brice, who's been releasing music under his own name for years, says this tour is a high point in his career.

"I'm excited about coming out there (to Cheyenne)," he said. "... This time, I'll have my full-length record on me on vinyl. So, all you vinyl lovers out there, we're trying to get rid of them, y'all come on and get them."

This string of tour dates will take Brice from western states like Colorado and Wyoming, east through Michigan, Illinois and Indiana, and eventually back to his hometown of Sumter, South Carolina. The tour will start in Cheyenne at the Outlaw Saloon on March 1, and end in April with a show in North Carolina.

His first record, last year's "Product Of," is why Brice is covering so much of the country in the span of two months. The record is deeply focused on telling stories about his family.

He told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle about what it was like to enter a Nashville, Tennessee, songwriter's room and begin unpacking stories about his roots.

"I kind of, pretty much, started talking about my daddy and how he worked — he was a lineman, and he worked hard," he said, "and my mom, how they kinda raised my brother and I with small-town love. ... It's kind of like a quick, three-and-a-half minute story about my folks and how they raised us up in Sumter, South Carolina.

"A lot of my material comes from either experiences or my family because I'm very, very proud of my family. I'm very fortunate. I always write about what I'm fortunate for."

When it comes to songwriting, Brice said he prefers that natural, emotional approach, as opposed to "story songs," songs where writers try to craft a fictional narrative.

"I find it easier to write songs like that than to go out on a limb and write about stuff I don't know," he continued. "It comes out pretty good. And also, if you look at the rest of the record, it's mostly talking about some experiences I went through in the past with heartbreak and stuff like that. But, also, a lot of it goes back to my wife, too ... all the happy songs and love songs. I just draw from personal experiences; it just flows out, sometimes."

But Brice isn't just interested in tying words together for a song. An equally important part of the songwriting process, he said, is the ability to find a strong and compelling melody to glue a song together. When it comes to melding the melody, the words and the flow of the three, it can be challenging, he said.

"The part where the craft comes is when you put it in rhymes, where it sounds good, where it flows together," Brice said. "Also, you put in a melody because, I think the melody of music helps bring the ideas to life, as well. I think, for me, the hardest (part of the process) is putting it in rhyming words. You want to say something important, but you don't want to be redundant: over and over again saying the same thing.

"I think the music is just important as the lyrics, as well, because you can catch that groove, and that's what really gets your emotions going, whatever that subject is."

When it comes to mixing the craft of writing with finding the "groove," Brice said he looks toward the country stars of the 1990s for inspiration.

"For me, influence-wise, it goes back to your earlier '90s country music, where you had Garth Brooks and Travis Tritt, stuff like that, because I love the singer and the entertainer part and all that, but they also had really good story songs," he said. "But, I also love rock 'n' roll. One of my first influences was a band called Fuel; they had a little song called 'Hemorrhage.' ... That's one of the first rock 'n' roll songs I learned."

Brice will be coming to Cheyenne with three other members of a four-piece band: a drummer, bassist, guitar player and himself. Compared to his brother, fellow country musician and prolific songwriter Lee Brice, Lewis Brice said he likes to incorporate more of that "rock 'n' roll" spirit in his live shows and music, in contrast with his brother's traditional country sound. Some of his upcoming dates will be performed with his brother, he added.

"I have my style, and he has his, and whatnot. He's definitely a big soundboard for (me) to ask questions off of, and I've learned so much from him," Lewis Brice said. "He's just got talent beyond years. He's a very, very special, incredible individual. I got a little more 'rock-y' side to me, I think. It's in there with my brother, as well, but I tend to, kind of lean more to that 'rock-y' side."

Looking back on the start of his career, where he'd play bars or parties, Lewis Brice said he's proud of where his career has come, and he's excited for the way his career will grow from his most recent record and upcoming tour.

"Most of my venues now are either big dance halls or theaters, stuff like that," he said. "Now, that's my regular. For me, I feel like it's a very admirable thing to say that, whenever I go play now, I go play theaters. ... I've never played in Cheyenne, Wyoming, so, I'm super stoked."

Samir Knox is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's criminal justice and public safety reporter. He can be reached by email at sknox@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3152. Follow him on Twitter at @bySamirKnox.