MUSIC

Lee Brice heads to St. Augustine: 'We're coming there to kick butt'

Label Me Proud Tour to stop in St. Augustine on Aug. 12

Sheldon Gardner
St. Augustine Record
Lee Brice

Lee Brice, 43, has seen more than one of his dreams become a reality. 

He lives on a farm with his family in Nashville. He played football for Clemson University. And now he's enjoying a career as an award-winning country musician and songwriter. 

"To me a great country song is something that's just really true and somebody cared about it when they wrote it," Brice said. 

Best of the Best!:St. Augustine tour voted No. 1 in the world on Tripadvisor list

Restaurant report:6 St. Johns County restaurants get high-priority violations, 2 ace inspections

He will perform at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre at 7 p.m. on Aug. 12. Event details are at theamp.com. He took a break from recording at his home studio to talk with The Record last week. 

Brice's hit list of songs includes "Memory I Don't Mess With," "One of Them Girls" and "Rumor," according to his biography. The Grammy-nominated artist has had his songs recorded by Garth Brooks and other artists, appeared on TV shows such as "The Voice," and taken home awards such as Single of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards for "I Hope You're Happy Now."

Brice grew up around family who loved music, and by 9 or 10 years old he was taking songwriting seriously, he said. Music eventually became the first love of his life, he said. 

Taking a look at the early life of country singer Lee Brice

Brice, whose real name is Kenneth, grew up in South Carolina. He's named after his dad, who was a football star in high school.

Before embarking on his music career, Brice went to Clemson University and played center and long snapper for the team.

"One of my goals my whole life was to play for Clemson, and that's what I was able to finally do," he said.

Brice went to Nashville before graduating from Clemson to launch his music career, and the gamble paid off with No.1 radio hits and billions of streams to date.

He's been to St. Augustine once before, and he'll make another stop in the Nation's Oldest City after performing in Pensacola as part of his Label Me Proud Tour. 

"We're coming there to kick butt, so I hope they're ready to party," Brice said.