Lee Brice stops in Bloomington this week for Me & My Guitar, a first-ever solo acoustic tour for the country music mega star. Just a handful of tickets remain for Saturday’s show at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts (BCPA)—a show of strength for the downtown Bloomington venue which follows a string of sold-out performances.
The multi-platinum Grammy nominee and winner of seven Academic of Country Music Awards (plus another from the Country Music Association) is due to release his first LP in four years this fall. But for now, he’s on the road with his guitar and a few friends, including Lewis Brice.
“Duh,” Brice said of booking his brother for the tour in a phone call with WGLT. “There’s nothing better. It’s really fun to be able to be up there on stage with your family and friends.”
Lewis Brice opens in Bloomington on March 9; the 18-city tour also includes appearances by Blessing Offor—whose career got a kickstart collaborating on the title track to Brice's 2020 LP Hey World —and rising country artist Allie Colleen, the youngest of Garth Brooks’ three daughters.
At first blush, Me & My Guitar is a formula that can’t possibly lose, but Brice admits he was nervous getting the tour off the ground.
“It’s literally just me and a guitar,” he said. “I thought, in theory, this sounds pretty entertaining, but I was so afraid to get on stage and do it for the first time because people have seen me up there rocking out with the band for so long.”
The intimate format and a small-by-comparison venue like the BCPA allows Brice to talk directly to the audience, a far cry from the stadium tours fans are used to.
“Heck, I don’t even know if they care to hear me sing as much as hearing the stories between the songs,” Brice said. “It feels so good to walk out of there knowing everybody was laughing and crying—and in it with me.”
Me & My Guitar is one of many recent examples as to how Brice continues to press against the county music mold. A new single with Christian rocker Zach Williams drops March 8, following another collaboration, Counting In, with Australian Christian pop duo King & Country. These follow a recent EDM remix of Brice’s funk-leaning single, Soul, and a 2021 dance/country mashup How do you Love with Cheat Codes and Lindsay Ell. And lest you worry Brice is letting go of the good ol’ country vibes, his next single, out in April, will be a classic country song with a twist called Drinkin’ Buddies.
“I only get one chance to record music, so I want to record all of it,” Brice said. “There’s a lot of folks that hear Love Like Crazy or I Don’t Dance or Hard to Love and it’s the lane they think that I am. I’m really trying to expand that. I’m just doing what feels good.”
Looking back on his career—which began when an elbow injury sidelined his chances at a football career—Brice leans on words his mother told him.
“Momma always told me if it doesn’t work out, God’s got something even better,” Brice said. “Truthfully, music was the deepest part of me anyway, so it was very natural for me to do what I was doing and go to Nashville. When I went there, there was no question—it wasn’t like it was a backup plan. It was just what I want to do.”
Lee Brice's Me & My Guitar Tour with Lewis Brice is Saturday, March 9, at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts, 600 N. East St., Bloomington. Remaining tickets are $59-$69 at 309-434-2777 and artsblooming.org.
