SkiP HappEns Podcast
Skip Clark is a dynamic and captivating podcast host and radio personality who has left an indelible mark on the world of broadcasting. With a voice that can command attention and a personality that oozes charm, Skip has become a beloved figure in the world of entertainment. His passion for storytelling and his ability to connect with his audience shine through in every episode of his podcast and every moment on the airwaves.
Skip’s journey in radio began decades ago, and he has since evolved into a seasoned professional who effortlessly navigates the waves of the media industry. His deep knowledge of music, pop culture, and current events keeps his listeners engaged and coming back for more. Skip Clark's enthusiasm and authenticity make him a trusted voice in the world of podcasting and radio. His dedication to his craft and his commitment to providing quality content continue to make him a standout in the world of broadcasting.
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SkiP HappEns Podcast
Sonic Siblings: Lewis Brice Steps Out of His Brother's Shadow
go, that's what it says. Go, we're back, I think. I think we're back. All right, lewis, there you are. You went black on me, man, you just like you were gone.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, it was like a flash of lightning.
Speaker 1:So you guys are getting a. You're in Nashville, right, Correct?
Speaker 2:me. I'm Nashville, tennessee, currently. Right now.
Speaker 1:And I saw I believe it was this morning that Nashville was going to get some severe storms, or you're in that area, you know how they block it out with a color, and they said, yeah, nashville's right in the middle of that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and also in that area of Nashville, like we're in the area area because we're a little bit further south. I live about 20 minutes south of Nashville, smyrna, tennessee, but it's like a 20-minute drive, it's not bad. But right now all those storms have been cutting like right across our little area and so, uh, but yeah, this morning we that's what we woke up to a little lightning, little thunder yeah, I love that dude, dude I.
Speaker 1:As long as nobody gets hurt and there's no damage per se, I'll sit on my back porch and just watch and listen to these storms. There's just something about it that amazes me, I don't know. You do agree. I'm not that weird.
Speaker 2:I don't know, you're not that weird. I love it. So we have a as soon as we moved. I've been in this house about a year and a half now. This is the first house that my wife and I bought and we had a back porch, and before, as soon as we moved in, the back porch was not screened in and uh, my wife was like now, if we're having a back porch, I want to be able to go enjoy it without having bugs right, that's right, yeah, yeah and I'll buy like I don't, I ain't worried about mosquitoes, that's just fine, but it has been the greatest thing ever because we screened it in, yeah, and now I can go out there and watch the storms and stuff.
Speaker 2:I love watching storms come in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we did the same thing. We enclosed the porch more or less. I can open up the windows if I have to, but it's a porch and it's cold in the winter. Obviously it's not heated, but still it's a place to go and hang on one of these type of days, I guess.
Speaker 1:Well, stormy nights like it is, it is. So. Uh, lewis bryce, the brother of lee bryce, that's me, and how cool is that? I mean, look what your brother has done and look at, you're like following his footsteps. Uh, I know you guys have performed together, you guys have done a lot of that stuff together, but what's it like to be the brother of lee bryce?
Speaker 2:man. Uh, it's, it's. I love my brother, death him and I worked together all the time. He's my best friend. It's a lot different than what most people would think I can promise you. I've had a lot of opportunities come around, but let's say everything we've done, that I've done on my path and journey.
Speaker 2:I've done a very, very good job about keeping like Lee does his thing and I do my thing, you know, and so we've dealt with two separate artists and when you hear saying, you hear tendencies and stuff like that about. But but definitely when you hear my live show it has like a little more edgy rock and roll kind of thing. Um, but to be honest, man being in this business and seeing my brother is one of the hardest working people in this business. Um, he does not stop working, he's uh, and he's just very, he's very, uh, loyal, very, very. You know he does he does he does great work too.
Speaker 2:You know, it's like a lot of people don't know, I don't think how talented my brother is, um uh, because whenever it was and that's why I like this past uh spring I was able to go out on the me and my guitar tour with him I guitar tour with him, shows with him, but and that and I love watching that show of his show because people get to see him play multiple instruments and they get to see his brain about you know how he thinks about the production of all the stuff from music, because he goes, he goes in deep and he goes in hard. He always, he's always, looking for the best music to make him you know, for me it's it's great to be able to watch and see.
Speaker 2:I've learned very. I've learned so much watching my brother through this business, through his lifestyle. Um, you know. But again you know, people think, oh, he's lee bryce's brother. He's just giving everything on a silver platter oh, no, no, no I could promise you I know that doesn't happen, I could promise you, uh, I would still be riding in a van here and there.
Speaker 2:You know I'd probably have a couple record deals, but I've never had record deal. Uh, my brother and I, we, uh, we, we, we started our own record label it's called pump house records and love it. So, uh, we've done everything we have on our own, very independent. And and now you know, what's really cool about music currently is where I know it makes a difference whenever it comes to the radio differently, because you know some some maybe maybe this is just my thoughts you know you know, competing against independent label, competing against a major label, when it comes time getting played, you never know what's going to win about that, just because you know you've been, they've been doing business for so long, you know, but it's, it's been cool.
Speaker 2:You know, for us, through independent, like we've done, we've been very successful. And radio, you guys thank you very much for being so, uh, awesome to me. Y'all done a great. Last year we did product up and um, you know, without you guys we wouldn't do it, and so we got, we got my very first time, my big first push radio. We got number 60 on mainstream, almost 59.
Speaker 2:I said that's cool, that's so cool. I mean it did, and for me, radio's king, uh, because I don't get the reason why last year I had so many shows touring is because of radio, exactly because of y'all. You're like, hey, uh, I'm playing you right here, and you gave us an opportunity to reach out to the venue. You just say, hey, venue, um'm playing you right here, and you gave us an opportunity to reach out to the venue. You just say, hey, venue, um, radio's playing right here. So, and and they're like more than happy to book us, and so I love that. When it comes to touring, dude, and and what I want to do with my career, like radio has been a very, very big blessing so far and we're working on just getting more and more success and we again, we we're trying our best to build great relationships with people like you.
Speaker 1:You know people like you. There's more and more going independent. I think they're breaking away from a lot of the major labels. They want to be able to be their own boss, they want to make their own decisions, they want to be the one that's going to decide what song is being sent to radio, and I think that's a good idea. You nobody knows your music like you know your music and you know if you can follow the trends. And you know we all talk about social media but tiktok and all that that's just been. You know you can see what's going on. It's all I could see.
Speaker 2:You know exactly exactly, and it's all the business right now. You know, for whenever I first kind of came into it, I mean, I've been in this business quite some time, but you know, not on a mainstream kind of world. I've seen it for a long time from what it was, main main radio way before tiktok stuff, all that you know. I mean that's a real thing, you know, and as an artist and as a growing artist with a business you have, that's something you have to pay attention to, that's just.
Speaker 1:I need. I need to stop you for a minute. I want to see that tat that's on your which one?
Speaker 2:this one or?
Speaker 1:this one, that one right there.
Speaker 2:That's my guy right there.
Speaker 1:The cameras, dude, that is fricking awesome and not to change the subject, but that is freaking awesome.
Speaker 2:Dude. Thank you, man. This is a very cool tattoo. I got this right here. It's a cool story behind it too.
Speaker 1:Tell me. I want to hear the story.
Speaker 2:It's a little songbird here.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I wanted to get a Carolina Wren, but the thing is I got this one specifically a songbird. And then the microphone is another story as well. Yeah, yeah yeah yeah, but the songbird actually. Let me go from the start.
Speaker 1:Okay, go ahead, Because I've got the cameras messing me up here. Oh yeah. I'm going to go like this.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, the microphone, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, and now I want to dress it up a little bit because, obviously, doing what I do and I see doing what you do, yeah, all right, go ahead, I'm all ears.
Speaker 2:All right, so here's a quick story of my tattoos. This is the first one. You can't really read it, but it says don't go changing.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And that was the very first tattoo I got okay and uh, and I got that tattoo in vegas at a place called tattoo in mgm graham. Uh, it's a weird day for the acm acm awards that year and yeah that was the year my brother actually, he uh, he won song of the year with woman like you, and so we're there hanging out. I was sitting at the uh house. I probably I love playing uh roulette. And said I was probably sitting at the house, I love playing roulette.
Speaker 2:I was probably sitting at the roulette table doing that, and my other buddy, John Stone. He's a writer. And I used to write on that song. And so I get a text from my brother at midnight 11, something like that. He was like yo tattoos, first ones, let's go. He never got a tattoo.
Speaker 2:And I never got a tattoo and we both wanted to get know if I was around we could make it happen, get our first tattoos, you know. So, uh, we get to this place and he called up stone and myself and we went tattoo parlor and uh, and they what they got? They went there, they got the, the date on their arm for the very first number one, which was I get it and so they did that and um, which is another story behind that, because they kind of maybe got the wrong date.
Speaker 1:We won't tell anybody though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but uh, go ahead yeah, but me, um, I could, I had to think about something or something kind of cool to get. And so to me I was, uh, don't go changing. Um, I had a guitar player years ago, my very first band called oak leaf, and he was australian, great guy, great, you know, guitar player, incredibly incredible great guy and great guitar player, incredibly incredible great guy. And so one of our last gigs we played together you know the band we were about to break up and this is like some years years ago and he was like Mike, he's Australian, mike, you're a bloody rock Mike, you're a rock and roll star. You got a heart of gold, mike. And, oh, mike, don't ever, ever go changing Mike. And so I was all right, cool, cool. So I just remember, a couple weeks later, you know god rest his soul he passed away.
Speaker 2:oh, no a drunk driver hit him while he was on his motorcycle, oh my god and he was about to go take a ride into his driveway and so, um, it's a pretty sad story. Um, yeah, but when he got, at that moment I was like, well, that's the best thing, you know, I could, I could live by, because that's what I was perfect, that was perfect don't go changing, so pass fast forward. I got this light right here. That's my family crest, so a couple of years later.
Speaker 2:But instead of the big shield. I just got the the colors of my crest, yeah.
Speaker 1:Shading it to there. That looks good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then I got the microphone, but this is all one tattoo with the microphone and the songbird. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, the microphone was for me because I'm a singer. That's what I love to do.
Speaker 2:But the songbird again was for one of my other guitar players that I had some years ago. One of again was for one of my other guitar players that I had some years ago, uh, when my one of my first ones was a person, lewis Bryce, and the escorts, um he uh we got some tattoos. He got songbird stuff like that, but he was a great guitar player.
Speaker 1:Um, he passed away, uh, um stage four stage four glia baston oh my God, he was really close friends yeah, it really sucks.
Speaker 2:Uh, a beautiful story in that. Um, when he was, you know, yeah, he was one of my close friends and I was there visiting him and this and the other side you know, when he was ready to go, he told me he was like, hey, man, I mean I know what's good, but he, before he passed, he was able to get it set up, uh, his life insurance. You know, the minute he passed he was able to get it set up, his life insurance. The minute he passed, it would literally the life insurance paid them enough for his wife and his daughter. He had an eight-year-old daughter, oh my gosh. But the minute he passed, it would be enough to buy them a new house. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:Get them set to live going forward, stuff like that. But yeah, so I was thinking about other tattoos I wanted to get, and I've always wanted to get that tattoo, and so I got that for him yeah, being a radio guy, I just love the microphone and yeah, that's basically what I have.
Speaker 1:I just want to dress it up a little bit. I just happened to notice that there's. You were moving around and go damn, he's got one of those. It's a sure s?
Speaker 2:uh whatever you know, it's a sure essence. I think it's sm7, but it but it's, it's the, it's the radio mic right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is so kind of like elvis um no, I know exactly. But you know, I want to get back last one okay number seven.
Speaker 2:I had to get the jack daniels jack daniels well, because me and my wife fell in love or shot a of Jack Daniels, so we were down to Key. West about two weeks ago we were wanting to get his tattoo. I got this right here. She got it on the back of her arm.
Speaker 1:I love it. Just a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like literally like two weeks ago, the Key West Songwriters Festival. We're down there, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I forgot about that.
Speaker 2:I know it's happening.
Speaker 1:I don't know how I could forget about that.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it just happened. But I want to talk a little bit about your music. Now you've got a brand-new song out, which I started to play in the beginning before lightning struck. I don't know if that was a sign of anything. It's hot, it's hot, it's hot, baby, it's hot, you've got to play it.
Speaker 2:You've. She Loves my Country. Tell us a little bit about that. Oh, man, she Loves my Country is just a. So this is one of the first songs that I've released that I did not write on, and so last year we started doing this project and I was like, man, it's time for me to put on. I released the product of record. It's time for me to start back and get some more music made.
Speaker 2:We went into the studio, recorded four or five songs, but as we're looking through songs, my producer, ben Simonetti, he threw me this song. Hey, dude, man, I know you don't really like cover songs or this, that and the other doing stuff like that Interpolations is what the term is he said but man, we wrote this song and I know you're rock and roll, man, we wrote this song, I know you rock and roll, but we wrote this country song to a rock and roll song. He was like listen to it. I listened to it and I was like blown away. I was like, dude, this is me to a T. I can relate to it. For the subject matter, what they're talking about, I can put my wife in it. It's your own story.
Speaker 2:It is, it is, and, and somehow they wrote it, but they wrote it to a song you know, back in, you know, I think, like early 2000s, late 90s. Uh, I remember a band called puddle of mud uh, yep, puddle of mud.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she hates me exactly, dude, yeah I said welcome yeah
Speaker 2:but uh, but yeah. So he played with a song. I was like this is. I said so, man, you know I'm not big on interpolation, I don't like doing recreation song because it just I think those songs lay where they're supposed to lay the first time they're written. But then I've heard a couple of those that kind of makes sense to me. But this one right here is just big enough to where it was, so huge, everybody knows it and it's also in a rock and roll genre, it's not too far away. So, man, when I heard I was like I just have to do it. I think it should be so catchy, um, it fits me to a team lyrically wise. And then we went into it and started cutting it. Uh, you know, just kind of gave me more reassurance. I ended up getting in touch with, uh, mr west canton himself the lead singer of the mud and of Mud. And West Canton and Very cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, Him and a guy and Jimmy Allen the guitar player, Not Jimmy Allen the artist, Jimmy Allen the guitar player. He played for Puddle of Mud and he played for Puddle of Mud. He was a writer on there as well, and so we had to go through all the hoops and loops we to. We had to go through all the hoops and loops. We had to get uh approval from them. We had to give them their, their publishing and everything, so they have their. You know. So there's literally three.
Speaker 3:There's five songwriters cody logan, uh rob pennington, ben simonetti and then west canton and um, uh, uh, yeah, I'm brain labs right here about that, it's okay yeah, guitar player, so and so, um, and then, out of nowhere, once we got all that settled, they said yeah, we got all worked out now.
Speaker 2:I got a phone call. I got a video message from uh, from wes and yo louis man, I love music country man. He's like she's not my country and he was like give me all the full approval of it, you know that is so cool so that was really cool.
Speaker 2:And then, uh, once we cut, I was like man, this for me this is my next uh stage in music. Kind of I want to kind of go back to, you know, some of my roots and also I want to, I want to do some things that are a little bit left in my center, that I've never tried before and so so in interpolation that's left in my center. I've never wanted to do it, but I did it and I feel so good about it, so confident because the song's great, I love it, it's catchy, it is very much.
Speaker 2:My wife loves my country, so it works out. There you go yeah.
Speaker 1:I know, and let's hope she does and, speaking of that, so she would be a big supporter of everything you do. I mean, she married into a very musical family and it's funny. I mean we went on not only talking about that but you say you're in your own studio there. I actually had your brother on my podcast, I don't know, maybe a year ago now, but he was in his studio and I think that was like um, you're in your garage studio and I like it. I, I like the player behind you, uh, something I had in high school, uh, your six cd changer, whatever it is behind you and 51 51 disc changer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that thing had 51 discs.
Speaker 1:Man, that was like the coolest thing what my friend high school man yes, yeah, I know you had to have that, though you had to have that, you had to be yeah, bookshelf radio, you know it is, it is, it is and you just couldn't wait to crank it, couldn't wait to play with it, switch around the cds yeah, what's?
Speaker 3:the cd what's?
Speaker 1:the cd nowadays. I'm just saying but you know so you embrace, you talk about embracing who you are as an artist on that new record and your journey. What are the biggest moments of clarity or struggle in that journey for you, in your journey doing what you're doing?
Speaker 2:In my journey. Right now, my biggest part is my struggle. Like you know, I'm not any younger. I ain't getting no younger at all aren't we all?
Speaker 2:you know and so you know the listener is always, you know, listener. They're always getting. They're staying with the same age with the new listeners. You know they ain't gonna, you know, the same listeners that you had, you know, 10 years ago. They're not same age and so now you got to think about subjects and songs that would still touch people in this. You know, in the overall range group, Because you know, for me I want to stay relevant and I try my best to stay relevant. You know I don't look too bad for you know 24 or something like that.
Speaker 1:I thought it was 21. I mean, I thought you just became. You know you could drink at 21. So you spent some time in key west and that was pretty wild for you. Tell us about your key west days and you were just there a couple of weeks ago, but I was when did you go to key west originally, how long did you live there and why did you come back?
Speaker 2:well, I never. Well, I guess I could say I almost lived there because I'd go there for it's probably about two years in a row that I went there every two months. Every month and a half I'd be in Nashville writing and working, bartending or whatever in town. Then I was like, once I made my decision, what I wanted to do for a living, I was like I know I can make enough money to survive playing music and writing music. I made that decision. Uh yeah, I was like, well, you got to do it, so I'd go back forth key west. I spent about two or three weeks there. Make a couple thousand bucks, you know. Drive back to nashville, live in nashville, because I have my place in nashville right about two and a half three weeks, go back to key west.
Speaker 1:so did you have a regular place in key west? Did you have a place, the same place you would stay at? Did you have a place? I did? You know what?
Speaker 2:I'm saying we had one of my best friends growing up and he's an artist as well and he's a great guy, nick Norman. If you ever have a chance, look up his music. He's great.
Speaker 3:I will.
Speaker 2:Cool. I've got a couple songs that I and so you put out and everything. But he lived down there and so I'd go a lot of times. At first I'd go down there, I'd stay with him and I'd get, I'd be playing shows with him and we would do show up, show up, show and then and then I started getting my. I was able to get my own gigs and stuff like that. So I went to smoking tuna a whole bunch. It was nice. It's not the smoking tune anymore.
Speaker 1:It was for a long time okay, and I got down on the ball right on the ball. I thought, so I did Okay.
Speaker 2:I played at Lazy Gecko. I played at Irish Kevin's.
Speaker 1:I played at all the Duvals. I've done the Duval Street Crawl.
Speaker 3:It's young and foolish it was a while ago.
Speaker 2:Oh, I know I get it. One time I went down there and I played 18 shows in 15 days and it was during the middle of spring break. It was three weeks.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, that's it. You're just looking to be punished, man. I thought.
Speaker 2:I ain't gonna lie, that was the first time in my career where those last few gigs I was like am I hurting myself?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it wasn't good to do that.
Speaker 2:But I had such a good time and for me, the reason why I did that I've never been a Broadway guy here in Nashville, I've never done that. I never wanted to get into that Because, I mean, I just never. I always wanted to play my music that I've written. I think when I first started playing music, where I knew how to make that for a living, I learned 25 cover songs. That's about it, and I hadn't learned many more cover songs ever since then because I just broke my own, and so what I would? What I would do, I'd go on qs, and what was cool about qs is, uh, they're very receptive to original music and the way I blended it in during my set. I mean you would think it wouldn't be any different than a Marshall Tucker band song or a Black Crow song or something.
Speaker 2:And I was oh man every once in a while here's, a. Luke Bryan song. He'd play one of my songs. But, I played down there so much I kind of made it. It became a little bit of Key West famous, so I got my name up in a bar just with a sharpie. I'm sure I did.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you don't realize it, but you did it, you did I probably wrote it with like a whiskey bottle or something, so that this whole Key West experience, you going back and forth that really shaped your style probably. You know, in the end we kid around about it, but it gave you a little bit of confidence too being able to perform in all the places that you sang or performed at it really did.
Speaker 2:It opened up an atmosphere to where you know, again I didn't have to go to broadway in nashville, that's one thing I didn't want to do. But I can go down and kind of cut my teeth in key west, because in key west when you're playing those gigs, I mean you got all night long for four hours. You're playing four hour gigs for four hours. People, you got a couple hundred people or four hundred people running in and out of that restaurant, you know, and each person wave of people to come in there. You're entertaining.
Speaker 2:They're from all over the world. They're from North Carolina, they're from Canada, they're from Germany, Syracuse, New York.
Speaker 1:I'm just saying.
Speaker 2:Syracuse, new York, you know, buffalo, it happens.
Speaker 1:We got to get out of here.
Speaker 2:This weather weather sucks. We need to go south, go to Key West a little bit, soak up, a little bit of sun and bring it back to Syracuse.
Speaker 1:That would be nice. However, I can't even describe what's going on with our weather. I think we're just in this bad weather pattern. I'm a big baseball fan, so we go to the AAA. The Syracuse Mets is the AAA affiliate of the New York Mets. Being a season ticket holder, we love to go to the games my boy, my wife, myself and hang out. But you better wear a parka. I mean, here it is the middle of May and we're talking about high in the 50s during the day and the 40s at night, and we have a frost warning tonight. What? Yeah?
Speaker 1:yeah, so you know, if my wife's got the sensitive plants in the backyard, we've got to cover them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, cover them up, put a little plastic over it. I got a little green thumb, so I know about that.
Speaker 1:Oh, good, okay, I like that. I like that. You know I was reading somewhere Fuel the band, fuel Hemorrhage. Tell us about that a little bit. That was a turning point for you.
Speaker 2:It said it really was. They don't know this yet. I've been trying my best to let them know that they were a huge, huge influence on me. Man, when I was growing up again, I started playing. I got my first guitar when I was 11. I didn't really start thinking about writing music. I think I wrote my first song when I was 15 or something like that. Then we went from there and I got to college. One time I went for an essay or for a sonnet in my English class.
Speaker 2:I wrote a song instead. So I performed for my first class. It wasn't that song, but I wrote a song for like that. But fast forward a couple of years in college I was down in Charleston and I got into a lot more rock and roll. It was at that time it was like a puddle of mud, it was fuel, it was Pearl Jam. It was, oh man, you had Ben Harper, you had Lily Kravitz. Good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she did that's awesome Black.
Speaker 2:Rose oh, my God, that's when I was really. I mean incubus and all that maroon fire. That's kind of what my vein of music was, because in Charleston they had jam bands and they had rock and roll. They didn't really have a great big, a huge country station at the time.
Speaker 3:They had it.
Speaker 2:But what I listened to was all rock and roll stuff because I worked at a couple of bars and this and the other. But man, this is my vein. I worked at a couple of bars and this and the other, but I took it upon myself to learn. The first real hard rock and roll song to play was a band called Fuel. It was Hemorrhage.
Speaker 1:Once I learned that song.
Speaker 2:I took it as a challenge to learn I had the tone and the voice for it. Every time I played it it fell right into place. I figured out. It's actually a crazy idea of a song.
Speaker 2:Uh, if you think it's about abortion, it's about oh, yeah, yeah somebody taking the choice out of his hands right right, right, no, exactly right it's a real serious song, it's a powerful song, it's a very powerful song and the first time I saw them live I was living in charleston and I saw them at a place called the plex and uh, I thought they're still there. I'm not, at least I think it is cool venue. You know, it's out in the middle, you know, look like north charleston coliseum or something like that. And I went there and watched them. I saw, I think a band called revis played that night and I forgot one or two other bands played it. But I remember, just remember those bands. And man, when Brett Scallion came out across that stage, when that band Fuel, started off and it was like, I mean, I just felt the electricity, it was like let's go North Carolina.
Speaker 3:We're here tonight.
Speaker 2:And they just had and they sounded. You know it was rock and roll, so much more, it was powerful, but it sounded just like the record, but the record on steroids, because it just I mean really just added to it yeah, it really did and they were so tight.
Speaker 2:It was really cool as thing the way he ran the crowd and then you know the way he went. I was like, all right, just the amount of emotion that came over me watching that show and I was already playing music and I was kind of getting to my point of life like all right.
Speaker 2:Do you want to keep going to school and be a chiropractor, or do you want to go do music, or do you want to kind of be a kid for a little bit? And then think about what you want to do. And after I heard that show I was like yep that's it.
Speaker 1:That's what I got to do that's what I here to do.
Speaker 2:I'm here to spread some kind of a message. I'm here to spread a message of what I love and who I am, who I am. I'm a message. I love spreading happiness, I love spreading hope and I love spreading you know, I love that. But I also love spreading you know to things that you aren't alone in bad situations, because I bad situation, because I've been through heartache. I've been there, you know, and so I can understand all this stuff. And so now, just new record I'm just trying to get back to my Southern rock, you got to get it.
Speaker 1:I know, and there's some pretty good potential there, and I just I see I'm reading some of the comments here. Do you know Jacob Smalley? He's an artist. He says this is very cool. I've always loved your voice. I never realized you're one of my all-time favorite singers, brother. Lol. Now I really love your voice. Keep the music coming. And then John Williard. Do you know who John is? John is a voiceover artist, probably one of the best. Years ago he was the guy the CMAs it was always, you know, coming up Keith Urban. That was John Williard. He says is this the long-lost Bryce brother?
Speaker 2:This is, this is Long-lost. You know just about to get found, real good, real big. No, you're going to get found, brother, you're going to get found. No, we're not found, we're doing it.
Speaker 1:That's cool, not only performing, but writing. And you've written, obviously with your brother and for your brother, uh lee, and also you've written for jelly roll. I was reading I did.
Speaker 2:I did. It was so cool. It was a great man. It was cool. I was able to make uh meet him and we got together through a couple of our friends and, um, he was a man, come write a song, I'm coming there, man. One day I wrote, I actually wrote a couple songs with him and uh, andrew bayless was his was one of his pieces at a time.
Speaker 2:Uh, he's done some great stuff as well. Man, it was really cool to write with with jelly, because he was so, so cool. Um, I forgot, oh, I forgot. The other guy that was is one of his best friends and he writes with him all the time. He actually he was actually writing on quite a few songs. He was in the room as well, but they wrote a song that day called promise and okay and if it, it's out, if you look on this you know.
Speaker 1:No, yeah, I've, uh, I've seen it yeah, man.
Speaker 2:So we wrote that song and so he had just and it is awesome, it's really cool because we went there I wrote like we wrote the song he put save me out and at the very before he had the deal and saving just blew up with insane and then and then he was like, yeah, I'm putting this song out next, and he did.
Speaker 2:I was like, oh, let's dag on go. So he did, he put out promise and uh, he pushed it all behind. He did great, it was really cool. It was really cool to have that cut with him and the writing experience is really cool as well, because this is kind of when he was on the break of like man, he told me I said, lewis man, I you, this here country thing, man, I ain't really done it all in a while, but I got a voice, man. Really, man, I think I got a voice. I need people to hear it. He said, for some reason, I mean I can stay on pitch and I can sing. Good. I said, well, let's get her done.
Speaker 2:And so he was trying to write some country songs. We wrote that right there. We got the whole song written and then there's a part in the bridge. I was like man, I feel there's need one part. I just need to let you go off and just just scat for a minute, scat, sing at the same time. And, dude, and he was like one, take that bridge, if you hear, if you listen to that song, promise you listen, that little bridge where he's like he did that in one take and there's no one.
Speaker 1:Nobody does that in one take. Come on. Yeah, no, he did it, I was there, I watched it.
Speaker 2:He did it one time, and there's no one, nobody does that in one take. Come on. No, he did it. I was there, I watched it, he did it in one take and I was like dude that's amazing yeah, that's amazing yeah, so that was a great experience and I've had success right there. You know, did that and then uh yeah, I got, I think I haven't. I think I have a cut on my brother's new record coming out. Really. I can't tell you which one it is Okay.
Speaker 1:Now we'll have to look it up. John is saying wow, Jelly, I had a private two minutes and he looked into my eyes the entire time, no distractions, and he gave me a great line for a song. I've been writing to honor my late father that I witnessed as he passed over. I'm trying to read it here from his life into Jesus presence as I finished that scene for him, jelly's eyes reddened and suddenly he cried what wiping tears. I think he's so genuine. And I yes, he is, he is.
Speaker 2:He is, I know I had that middle hangout with him a whole lot, you know he loves you yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, where I had that middle hangout with him a whole lot. You know we love each other, yeah, yeah, but yeah, but he's, uh man, I'm telling you he's a real deal and uh man he's, and also he's a brilliant, brilliant business person. Um, he uh, I learned, I learned a lot just for writing with him, just talking about because, you know right, you write with your friends and other stuff. And at that time, before he went to radio and got the sign with everything, he was uh, he played the streaming game and he played, you know, the merch game. He did all his own.
Speaker 1:He knew what he was doing.
Speaker 2:He very much knew what he was doing. Very smart, individual.
Speaker 1:And now he looks great. He's losing weight, he's doing all that. I saw him on Idol the other night. I'll put it out there I'm not a huge Idol fan, but it is what it is.
Speaker 3:And.
Speaker 1:I totally get it. But to see Jelly on there and I went oh my God, this guy, he's lost a lot of weight, you know, he just looks good.
Speaker 2:What a great guy. What a great guy. He looks very good, he looks very healthy and he's doing it for the right reasons. I feel like Exactly 100%. He's doing it honestly. You know, I feel like you know, I think deep down I was like man. He's like he's doing it for himself. He's also doing it so he can keep delivering his message.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:So he can stay alive longer. His message is crazy.
Speaker 1:That too. Yeah, absolutely. How do you know we're talking about your songwriting, but how does your songwriting approach differ when you're writing with others or for others versus yourself?
Speaker 2:Yes and no, it does differ most times. Generally, when I get into a writer's room, um, I'm 90 percent of the time writing for myself, just because I feel like if I could present it, because I try and bring ideas into the room as much as I can and I try and hear the riffs or stuff like that that out, and it would generally fit me, but my brain is always in another realm of like, all right, yeah, I can, because I don't want to write one song. I don't want my sound to be like one long song. I want my sound to sound like you listen to a record of like you can go. It's like a book up and down, up and down and you get your your beginning, middle climax and then you spread out. So I'm always writing different up-tempo songs and different country songs. I write a hip-hop song.
Speaker 2:I write you know I I love writing across the spectrum, um, even for myself, because in general when I write a song it comes out for myself. I can still get my brain and be like, all right, well, this fit or russell dickerson, or this fit a nate smith or this fit a Nate Smith or this fit a Jelly Roll.
Speaker 2:And then when I get done with these rights, I'm like, all right, it says I'll turn it in. I'm like, hey, so if I love, love the song, I'm like, yeah, I definitely want to cut this song as DLC, but it's still for pitch, because if somebody else cuts this song it ain't going to do nothing but good.
Speaker 1:For me. It used to be when you were writing songs. It was country, but really, yeah, I work in the format, I do what I have to do, you're doing what you have to do, but what do we really call country? Now? There's so many different avenues, and being a songwriter and being able to do what you're doing, whether it's hip-hop, whether it's rock, whether it's country, I mean you're all across the spectrum, which is to me that's awesome. You've got a feeling from each of the different genres of music yeah, what's good where country music is today.
Speaker 2:Right now is where pop music was back in the early 2000s, because right now. You know back in. You know back in the 90s and 2000s pop music was and if, as a writer, if you got a cut on a pop song, you would make three or four, four times what you would make in the country music world. If you as a writer, now country music is popular, country music is the biggest right now. Country music is the biggest form of music there is in the world.
Speaker 2:I gotcha yes I feel like it is you know, because no, I agree, I agree with that.
Speaker 1:I do. I'm just saying what do we really call country nowadays? Because country isn't what it was 20 years ago. But you know what? That it's all coming back around too. If you want to go down that road, we got the zach tops people like that and it's got the old sound and the younger demo is absolutely loving that.
Speaker 2:You're right, you know it's it's cool, you know, if you think about it, you go all the way back country music when it first started. And when you think about your, you know. And when I go back to my, what I think, I think of waylon, you know, waylon jennings yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Cash, I think of?
Speaker 2:uh, nelson, I think you know the fathers of it, you know. And then I even go back to like garth brooks and I go to clay walker and I'm here travis trip. But you think about that brunt, that brand. When they started, then johnny cash was rock and roll that's's true.
Speaker 2:You know Johnny Cash all day long. And then Johnny Cash was rock and roll. But then you know Waylon Jennings. That was outlaw music, it was outlaw country, it was like dirty but it was like up-tempo Right. And then you had your Willie Nelson, you know, with your cool love songs.
Speaker 1:Maybe I didn't love you yeah.
Speaker 2:It's like all your singer-songwriters. I mean back then was like a smaller form, I guess, but back then country music was everything Right.
Speaker 1:You have a good point? Yeah, no gotcha.
Speaker 2:And, just like now, country music has everything. Now there was a gap between, I would say, the 80s to coming up 2000s, to where it was country music, and that's where you got the best country music ever in the 90s no, that's true, that's true.
Speaker 1:90s country, baby. That's what I was saying. That whole sound from that era is coming back. So that's cool, zach Topp's leading the way, man, zach Topp, baby he's got a smooth voice.
Speaker 2:He reminds me when he gets after it. He really does kind of gives me honestly Vince Gill kind of vibes a little bit.
Speaker 1:Maybe yeah, now that I think about it Vocal vibes yeah, yeah, no, no, no, I get what you're saying.
Speaker 3:I sleep like a baby.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God, I never show up late to work. I never lie. I know what a big song, what a great song, great song what a great song, just unbelievable. Now I just forgot what I was going to ask you. But so your live shows. Do you write songs with a live show in mind? I do, you do.
Speaker 2:I do A lot of times now, right now, I'm trying to write a new show and I feel like I have already done it because I've already written a song. I have the songs in my set and I'm trying to switch them around because for the longest time, I wrote a song called Alabama with my brother and that's been my show for ever, and I was always closing my set with Living Life. A little song I put out called libin, um, man, uh and so. But now I'm trying to switch it up because I have these, I have this new songs coming out I'm trying to introduce as well, um, but, yeah, when I'm in the room, I try and write, I try to write for parts of my show and I try and write for a song that I'm missing, you know. And right now, on my current project that I have going on, like I've got I think I have a lifestyle song, I think I've got the fun country song rocking over here.
Speaker 2:Uh, I've got. I've got like five or six I'm about to go to studio with right now. Two of them are just like the. They're the heartbreak songs and they're also just that kind of cool story heartbreak song. Uh, one of them's called love, right, and it's like uh and but, but, but it's called. You wouldn't even guess it's like you know hack will be so for all, for each other. But baby, we love, right, and it's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:And then yeah and then I have another song. I got another song. Uh, hopefully you guys want to hear. It's called someone else's everything and it's always kind of like that you know it's like someone else just killing me. No, I let go. Now you're someone else's everything. Whenever she was, she could have been yours.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Someone else's everything. I've got a bunch of good songs in the books. I think you brought it up earlier about NASCAR Fast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was going to ask about that again because we were just talking about NASCAR.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that song. I've been playing that song on my set so far and I actually excited, uh, this past spring when I was out with my brother on the me and my guitar, tour song, um, uh, tour, um. I uh, I wanted to figure out a cool because I got. I got 30 minutes or 25 minutes. I got to figure out what songs I'm gonna play, and so not a bad problem to have. But I got to figure out like all right, if I want to play these new songs, I got to drop, and so not a bad problem to have. But I got to figure out like all right, if I want to play these new songs, I got to drop some old songs. And so now, fortunate enough, I've released enough songs to where they've done big enough to where I got to figure out which ones are going to resonate more with the crowd?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely yeah. So what I had to do, I was like, well, cause I want to play NASascar fast, because I just had a feeling about it and I still have I think it's just be a cool song. The cool story behind it is really awesome, and I had to play she loves my country and that, um. And then I I kind of play my song shadow, because that's one of my new and that's one of my newer ones that I put on my last record and, uh, it's just so powerful to sing. I love to put that in my set. And I got to play Product of because that went out. That did pretty well. But then I had to figure out well, my three biggest songs have gotten to where I'm at Bless Summertime, Vibes and it's you. I was like now we're adding up seven or eight songs. How do you add that in 30 minutes?
Speaker 1:Yeah, really what I?
Speaker 2:did I figured out Bless, summertime Vibes and it's. You are all on the same key of E, so I was like yay.
Speaker 1:So you could just go from one to the other.
Speaker 2:Well, I did that, but I just sang it verse, chorus verse. I actually made my first own trilogy melody, my own song, Well that's pretty clever.
Speaker 1:That's being creative, I guess. Hey, I have to ask you what's Thanksgiving like at the Bryce's Now? Does everybody get together? Do you guys kind of rib each other? A little competition going on. What's the thanksgiving dinner like at the?
Speaker 2:house. You know, you know, back probably a couple of years ago. We used to go back home a good bit and something and on my mama's side of the family, all my mom and all her sisters, they would get up because we grew up in a very musical family, my mama and all her singers, you know, all her sisters, they, they grew up seeing my mama's three oldest sisters actually. Um, they came to nashville man judy and henrietta and, uh, aunt laureen.
Speaker 2:They all came to nashville when they were like 16, 17, 18, and then they came in and they cut a little gospel record, uh, on music, rock and so they actually had they were called and they were called the lewis sisters. Um, my first name is my mom's maiden name, so gotcha, it's a family name and so we grew up seeing, you know, and thanksgiving. We go back there. You know they had six sisters and a brother and it was just a. We have a. That's a big side of the family and so we go there and they would always always. You know there's a piano and also everybody, everybody eats.
Speaker 2:And then they're all the sisters and uncles and all the kids. They all say and grew up in the church I love that. And yeah, we were just saying just just, probably for, like you know, about 45 minutes an hour just, and henrietta would just like play the keys. Well, we were just seeing little gospel songs, you know, back and forth, and so how many?
Speaker 1:um, how many instruments do you play? Is it just the guitar? Can you play the piano?
Speaker 2:I could touch on the keys a little bit okay, I'm not great, I'm working on getting better.
Speaker 2:I can play the key of c, I can kind of float around with um and but I had to learn uh, shadow on the keys. I don't, I won't, I won't play no keys. And you know, tonight yet I haven't learned it good enough, being live yet that I feel comfortable with Gotcha, but I have done it live and it's all in black keys. It's a whole different thing. It's a whole different math and I don't know piano that well, but I can do that a little bit. I can tap on the drums a little bit rhythm-wise, do this and the other, and I can play a little harp. I love it.
Speaker 1:I mean this and the other and I can play a little harp. I mean, if I could touch it I could probably play it. So yeah, that's cool, it's in your blood, why not you could?
Speaker 2:but they say it's I hear it more than I than I that I know it, you know yeah exactly. I know what chords go together, I know what chords song. So it makes, my ear hears it, so I'm not blessed with that, and that's one thing that's kind of cool so so um, I'm gonna guess that you drive a dodge ram 2500 not a chance. I've got a 2014 black suburban exit. Yeah man, I had. I had a tahoe some years ago when I got yeah, yeah it was great.
Speaker 2:And when I had a Tahoe, that's when I first started playing music. Rather than renting a van, I would just use my Tahoe.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, you got a lot of room in the back.
Speaker 2:I would travel with my Tahoe. And then after that I was like well, I'm doing pretty good about saving money. My next vehicle is to buy a bigger one. So I bought a Suburban and then I've had the Suburban for I only got. I'm about to pay it off, so I'm pretty excited about it.
Speaker 1:Good for you. It's a good vehicle to to have too. I always, you know, when I talk to different artists, I always like to mess around a little bit and go, let me guess let me guess what you drive, then it?
Speaker 2:I'm like what? It's not even you. If you saw my Suburban, I mean it's four drives got, mud tires got the cool rims.
Speaker 1:I got it looking good. No, no, I'm sure you do, I'm sure you do.
Speaker 2:It's country-fied a little bit. I'll tell you I'll never not have a four-wheel drive again. Only reason why here in Tennessee four-wheel drive again. The only reason why here in Tennessee, once I got my Suburban, it snows once or twice a year.
Speaker 1:Oh, come on, it snows. What? Half an inch? Maybe a coating, maybe a quarter of an inch, and the city closes down. Let's put it in four-wheel drive so we can go home.
Speaker 2:I know, but that's what I do. It's a little bit more hilly here.
Speaker 1:No, I know, I know, I'm just busting.
Speaker 2:Syracuse has got some hills.
Speaker 1:Oh, we got a lot of hills and we get a lot of snow, and we get what they call lake effect snow, because we're so close to Lake Ontario and if the wind comes from the northwest which it does a lot during the winter it picks up from the lake, it's the warmer water and then by the time when it hits Syracuse it's dropping. We get a foot of snow easily overnight. I know, you know people think that's nuts. Well, maybe it is, but we get a foot of snow. But it's not heavy, wet snow, it's like real.
Speaker 1:It sounds weird, but it's dry, it's fluffy If the wind blows, it'll blow it off, but even with the foot of snow, we get out here and there's a difference. There's a difference. Let's be real about it.
Speaker 2:You could drive on snow like it's a dirt road. You could Now ice. I mean, I don't care.
Speaker 1:Oh no, no, Ice sucks.
Speaker 2:You can have an eight-wheel drive, but it ain't going to stop, no no, exactly right, you will have no control over that vehicle whatsoever.
Speaker 1:But I can say this with the snow that we get get a foot of snow the kids still go to school the next day. I mean it's because and that's the difference we have the equipment, the men and women that take care of the roads. Obviously, in Nashville you don't have that.
Speaker 2:Oh, not at all, dude. Once it snows here and then the plows come out. Once you ever heard about, you ever had the stories of potholes here in Nashville, tennessee.
Speaker 1:I haven't heard the story, but we get potholes here too.
Speaker 2:Well, these potholes here in Nashville are just something else to talk about. There's a lot of them. You can tell there's a difference between a Really good snow plow user and somebody else who's not. Because you go you go somewhere up north I mean in Illinois, new York the roads way more smooth, like year round, because even after a snow it don't hurt that bad and y'all do it all year. We get three snows and our roads turn into like mines. I mean there's like craters, like it's eight feet long craters in the middle of the interstate and then, like you know where, they just peel up the concrete.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God.
Speaker 2:It's terrible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know it is. Every place is different. I guess we're just you know, we're accustomed to what we get, the way it is. But you know, hey, tell me about your sophomore album that's on the horizon, right, you're working on that baby we're working on right now.
Speaker 2:Like I said, I got. I've got three. I just sent one. I sent us a new song. I sent NASCAR out today. Uh, okay, get mastered. Uh, it'll be mastered in about two days, so I have that ready to go in the can. Got another song called dying to dance. That, um, I'm excited about it again. This is, you know, it's pretty cool song. It's just kind of left in my center. Actually, my sister-in-law wrote it, my buddy, nate Kenyon, and a couple of others I forgot I can't remember everybody's name, but it's really cool.
Speaker 2:It's got a cool beat, but it's still got a cool acoustic rock and roll drive to it. It's really cool. It's just left in my center, phrasing-wise, of the lyrics and stuff like that. And then I got those other four, five. I got four, five, six songs ready to go and I'm looking to I'm trying to get up, rather than ten I think I'm looking around either 12 to 15 songs.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna put on this next out oh nice, not the 37 like morgan just no, I just I don't know, I've got.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm just saying, I mean I've got plenty of songs, but you know now I know, you know if I was going out and I was playing stadiums every day, why not? Because you know. I mean, I mean, any song he puts out is going to get heard and people are going to have their opinions and I generally they're going to like it because I will say this man kudos to him. He does put out great music. I really I think he's on top of his game right now no, absolutely absolutely he's a he, he, he proves what he's doing.
Speaker 2:He's a hard for what I understand. I know I don't know it personally, but I hear like I got you. No, absolutely he's a hard-working dude man. Uh yeah, like you know, I was talking to somebody the other day another big, big songwriter you know it's like man.
Speaker 2:You know what all these other boys are doing. They're back home, they're out and about. So if you know what Morgan's doing, he's sitting there recording till 3 or 4 in the morning every morning and he's just sober as a judge right now because he just wants to work, make more music. He's a worker man. It shows man. I'm really impressed with Morgan. I'm really impressed with this guy because you know he had a, which you know he did a great job about getting out what he got into and really make it a change, I feel like, and I think let's hope so and we hope it stays that way, because you're right, he's, he's a good guy, uh, very talented.
Speaker 1:He was working very hard and the album shows it. You know, I I kid around a lot like holy 37 tracks, and you know, and out of the 37, 22 of those he either wrote or he was a co-writer on.
Speaker 2:So and I don't know if a lot of people know like what goes into making an album. But like 37 songs, that is so much work. I mean I did 10 songs my last album and that was just.
Speaker 1:I mean it's a lot of work, a lot of work it's a lot of dedication.
Speaker 2:It's a lot of, it's a lot of brain capacity that you have to give out because you got to think about every song. It's like you know, all right, if you now, if you're somebody's gonna put out 37 songs, put out 37 songs, sure, but morgan's, but he put out 37, good, good songs.
Speaker 1:Good, I've listened to the whole project. Yeah, no doubt it's good and they're getting played on the radio too, not only the ones that were released to radio, but we're actually playing various cuts. Just to say, because you know it's Morgan, why not? And again, that's 100%.
Speaker 2:You're not going to play him right Because he has the option. Not every artist can do what he can do. Because, they just don't have the platform that he's built and he's done a good job of building his platform, no matter his ups or downs, and he's kept true to himself. I feel like and it was cool to see where he went with this one, you know, because he went honest, I think, true for himself, where he was at and as a good artist should do.
Speaker 2:He writes some songs about where he's at in life and I think that yeah you know, he just had it exactly there's a lot of things he did, you know, and yeah and he had to learn from him and so, yeah, everything that he has done or he did, I think it's it's part of what the music's all about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's all it's about saying okay, I, I effed up over here, so, but you know what? That's not me.
Speaker 2:And it's hard to put it in his heart who he is. Yeah, Some of the things it does.
Speaker 1:I mean cause I know, I know me and I've done a, you know.
Speaker 2:I've heard. I'm just not under the microscope that he's under, you know.
Speaker 1:Right, no, exactly, exactly right. Oh, by the way, scott Lindsey, scott says hello, he says Lewis, my old buddy.
Speaker 2:Hey, old buddy.
Speaker 1:What's up, buddy? I've had him on Skip Happens. Good guy, scott, you're one of the best.
Speaker 2:He is Right. He, you're one of the best. He is right. He's done a lot of good work in this town.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was, uh, with the nash villains, nash, yeah, yeah, yeah, that whole group and then everybody kind of whatever. But we know how that goes. We know how that goes so it's tough. It's tough, but you um, you know, just being lewis bryce, you don't want to ride on the coattails of your brother, you're doing your own thing, and that that is really cool. What's the age difference between you two? Can I ask?
Speaker 2:Uh, yeah, you can, I'm, I'm younger.
Speaker 1:Okay, good. No, I knew you were younger.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm about three and a half years younger. Okay, that's cool.
Speaker 1:Well, you're still close enough, so that that's pretty awesome. Um, let me ask you this Finish this sentence. It was something I did earlier.
Speaker 3:All right.
Speaker 1:I know You're going. Oh crap, what the hell is he going to ask? If you really want to understand Louis Bryce, listen to the song blank Blessed, blessed. Okay, there you go.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Listen to my song Blessed Right now. I mean still currently. It's crazy. I wrote that song years ago. It's just. It still holds true. I mean it really is For me. When I wrote that song it was just a very honest, true song of where I was at life and I still am.
Speaker 1:Now, you mentioned earlier, you had your guitar with you.
Speaker 3:Would you?
Speaker 2:want to play something. Can we do that?
Speaker 1:before you know we call it a night.
Speaker 2:I'd love to hear it. Yeah, man, what would you like to hear as a question?
Speaker 1:You got any free bird? Oh man, Don't you hate that. Come on dude, hey dude, I love it.
Speaker 3:I love it.
Speaker 1:Scott, by the way, says thanks for the kind words. Fellas, hope to catch up with both of y'all soon, absolutely yeah, good guy Scott's good. You know I've made so many friends doing this. I've been doing this for a while. You know.
Speaker 1:It used to be when you guys would come out on your radio tour that we would do something. Either in the station I was starting the podcast this is actually my own. Like you have your own studio, I have my own studio, and I would be. I would tell the artist all right, spend the night in syracuse, I'll get some wings, some beer, come on over, we'll do a podcast. And that's how it was working.
Speaker 1:Then, as you know, covid hit and the shit hit the fan, so to speak. Oh yeah, all that stopped. But it's a blessing in disguise, because now, with everything that I'm doing here, for example with you, it's worked out much better, because what are the chances of you actually coming through town? You know what I'm saying. I mean it probably will happen, but now I can just go and schedule and I get the artist out there and uh, you know, we get a lot of viewers and uh, I definitely say, I would definitely say this stuff like this really changed the game when it comes to uh radio it did, it did you know, because, back in, the day I mean you'd have to jump in a plane you'd fly to.
Speaker 2:I can't put up. Yeah, exactly so much money, so much, man. And again, you know that that comes in when people say you know, oh, how much does it cost for them, I mean it doesn't cost anything. Not to it because out of my pocket, because we got to pay for the flights to come there. We got because for us to want to get the, the respect of the place, stuff like that, you know we want the opportunity to be able to play on the airwaves and so for us we'll take a hit on it as the artists just because y'all playing us on the radio is more than any.
Speaker 1:Yes exactly.
Speaker 2:And you're creating so many new fans for us. So again, thank you guys very much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm going to let you. You know, I'm going to turn my mic down and I'll let you talk about what you're going to do and do it, and then I'll. I'll be hanging here, just kind of you know, hanging in the cold temperature of Syracuse. Oh man, well, I mean, do you want to hear?
Speaker 2:something new, or do you want to hear something?
Speaker 1:I'm going to leave that up to you, okay, because? Because you're the artist and it's Louis Bryce on Skip Happens.
Speaker 2:All right, well, skip Happens. Well, I'm going to play this brand new one first, because I think we talked about it earlier, and then I'll play the new new one that's on the radio. How about that? Can I do that?
Speaker 1:Perfect.
Speaker 2:Perfect, perfect. Here's a song called NASCAR Fast that in my brain is going to be following up this year and when we're about to play, after this song, this song NASCAR Fast. I wrote this song, my good buddies, billy Dawson and two or three other two other guys Micah Carpenter yeah, I forgot the other guy, one more dude, but either way, we wrote this song. I came in that day on the way to the right. I just popped in my brain. I was like man, I wanted to write something cool. I've been trying to think about what kind of brands and stuff we could work with. I thought I was starting to think about NASCAR.
Speaker 2:I grew up kind of around NASCAR. I'm from Sumter, south Carolina. Darlington Raceway is a big, big, big racetrack in the racing industry. Crazy enough, my dad did electricity. He's a quick little side story in the racing industry. Crazy enough, my dad did electricity. He's a quick little side story. He had offered the job to redo all the lights to whenever, or actually put the lights in when they wanted to make Darlington Raceway a night track, and so they offered him the job, but at the time he didn't have the crew so he couldn't do it. Either way, it's kind of a cool side story. And also in our hometown we have the dirt track and summer speedway, and so we grew up around race this, that and the other, but I really grew up watching Like Daytona, tyler Dago.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:But would earn hard, you know earn hard, oh, my God. Intimidate. You know, I watched, I watched the race, that sad race, when you, you and I both I've been fortunate enough to meet and hang out with, with Dale jr and, and also his other uh and then, uh, I think dale's nephew or something like that, and uh, mr jr jeffrey yep, yep, that's it, jeffrey he's great and so, um, he came to a show at what time?
Speaker 2:but it's cool family, and. But I was trying to think, you know, I said, all right, let's write a nice nascar song. But then I started thinking about where I was and this is probably a year or so ago when I was just trying to. You know, we were working on having a baby and having you know this and the other, and then we kind of got to. Well, I think my wife was pregnant at the time we wrote it and we were just like man, I can't believe how far I've already come this fast in my life, you know. And I started thinking about you know, I know before, I know before I know I'm gonna have this baby. Before I know it she's gonna be 17 and the second the other's a man. Your life is nasty. It goes fast, like nascar fast, and it's like how many different ways can we relate life moving too fast to nascar and how many life lessons can we learn from nascar about life moving too fast? So here's a song called nashvilleCAR Nashville, nascar, fast.
Speaker 1:All right, I'm going to go away and let you do this. Here we go All right, cool.
Speaker 2:This is the first time I played it on the podcast, like for radio or anybody, this is the first. You're the first person that I played the song for. Here it comes to the radio.
Speaker 3:Seven years old, on my daddy's shoulders holding me high so I could see over that turn three guard rail.
Speaker 2:I could still smell that smell of hot tain and hot dog stains sound of their horns and earn hard fans burning my memory my old man and me from talladega to daytona. There's a loop, show you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you can't be afraid to crash. Put the pedal down when you shoot the gas, hit the wall, and you better have a couple of boobies to get you back on track. Keep them new to your spinning. Soak it up when you're winning. Before you know it, there's that checkered flag in a flash. Life goes by. You know it. There's that checkered flag in a flash. Lot goes by you. Nascar, fast. There's gonna be rubbin', gonna be rakes, there's gonna be champagne celebratein'. 30 hands under the hood Keeps an engine runnin' good.
Speaker 2:Do your best to keep it in between the lines and you'll be all right you spin em, smoke it up.
Speaker 3:When you win it and you record you do it. There's that chicken flag and the class. Life goes by, Fast goes fast, Fast goes fast. Fast as a lightning strike, Fast as a pit crew changing tires.
Speaker 2:Talladega, two day town on hook, there's a lot that cars can show you.
Speaker 3:Well, you can't be afraid to crash. Put the pedal down when you shoot the gas. If you hit the wall, you better have a couple of goodies. Get you back on track. Keep them good. You're spending soaking up rain. When they're hanging out the door, you know it's theirs. That checkered flag in the flash Ain't always guaranteed another laugh. Oh, the clock goes by you. Nascar fans, nascar fans, yeah, fans, there's a light strike. Fans, that's a finger-changing tide to have a big or two-day total. There's a lot of big cars to show you. Fast as a lightest strike, fast as a finger-changing tide to have a big or two-day total, hot those.
Speaker 3:Bayou NASCAR fans.
Speaker 2:I'll go by you. Nascar fans Wow.
Speaker 1:And we got switched around here. Hey man, I'm going to move you back. We're back this way. Yeah, I know, Hang on, man. I don't know what I'm doing. You think I've done this before. I don't know. Apparently, I well. Yeah, well, or I haven't done this, Hang on.
Speaker 2:If I go like this, you trying to get my guts out Happens, here we go.
Speaker 1:What the?
Speaker 2:frick, hang on, still the same way.
Speaker 1:I know, oh well, we're just going to go with it.
Speaker 3:All right, I don't know what I did.
Speaker 2:I have no idea. It's a control-alt-reverse button.
Speaker 1:I don't dare touch anything on this keyboard.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I try not to. That's what I got to here on the phone right here, yeah you know, and it's working great.
Speaker 1:That's an iPhone. You said it is an iPhone man.
Speaker 2:It's an Apple iPhone. The sound quality is crazy, like whenever you do. Like a lot of times when I'm writing I'll do like a quick little guitar vocal in my phone and I'll send it to my guy who's like doing tracks or programming and he'll use that for the actual track.
Speaker 1:So how much? How much do you actually do in your studio there, lewis?
Speaker 2:I'm getting more into it because I'm learning more and more to do with uh, I use, I use logic currently and I I'm actually on a good guitar vocal and then or I'll take it or, if I do a guitar, look I'll take it from my phone and I'll put it into the program and then I'll just put it to a track, I'll put it to the beats and I'll just kind of have fun with it. I'll play some beats on the on my little MIDI, and I'll put some drums to it or put some pads to it with some keys.
Speaker 1:How many hours out of the day would you be sitting in that studio? Oh, dude, dude.
Speaker 2:well for one, this is my garage it's like so I don't, so we but that's awesome. Yeah, so we bought, we bought this house. And then, uh, and well, I had my studio upstairs right beside the baby room before we had.
Speaker 1:Oh, no, no, no, no, and I was like well, dang it works.
Speaker 2:So I pretty much just uh, I moved everything that I have in this house in the garage did you or did she say you gotta get this stuff out of here? No, she wanted a little makeup room and so I was like no, it worked out well because, you know, this is kind of my hangout area anyway, and um, and so I went, I went as far, I just insulated it. Um, I just insulated the ceiling. I put a little air conditioner in here, a mr cool air conditioner. Thank you.
Speaker 1:You still had the tree up in the background.
Speaker 2:I've had this Christmas tree. It's going on over two years now.
Speaker 1:It's brown, but it still hasn't shed obviously it's not a real tree no, it's a real tree.
Speaker 2:Oh stop, how can you, buddy? I promise you I went through the second Christmas this past Christmas. I don't have to ever water it. It still has all it's brown, but I guess all the oils in it, kind of almost.
Speaker 1:Really, I'd be careful, though, because you know old. Christmas trees burn pretty bad, oh man, all right, all right, all right, it looks, cool it looks cool, I still don't believe it's real. I think you're bullshitting me.
Speaker 2:I promise you, dude, it's real. I think the oil's in a fossilized yeah, but oh, maybe.
Speaker 1:That's cool. It looks good. I like the studio, so all right, what are you going to?
Speaker 2:do. Well, this is my new song. I put my cowboy hat on for this one. There you go, there we go. So here's my new song that I thank you guys so much for playing. Thank you guys very, very much. It's a song called she Loves my Country. I'm just gonna leave you with this one I got more, so I can play as many as you want, but-.
Speaker 1:No, no, let's do this one, then we'll I got you.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, I'm leaving right here. Here's my new song called she Loves my Country because my wife and my little girl loves my country True story I didn't write. I hope you guys enjoy it and I wear the cowboy hat because it's my fit for this one. I've done all the phases. I haven't done the cowboy look yet, so we're going for it.
Speaker 3:I could tell she hit down on roots dancing around in a cowgirl boot.
Speaker 2:She played hard through her gift till she saw the southern red on my neck. That's when she started to realize she was ample wanted. She loves my country. She was ample wanted little ride. She loves my country.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she loves my country, La, la loves my hip 150s sang with a pretty right shotgun. Said I play her all away. She parked up by the water tower. She left tasting like a whiskey sour, said I was the best that she ever had. No sign of her ever going back. She loves my country. Yeah, she loves my country. Yeah, she loves my country, la, la, la, la. I had one baby singing with a sitting, pretty riding shotgun, said I blew her away. Yeah, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
Speaker 3:Yeah, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la la la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la La la la la my F-150 singing with a sitting, pretty riding shotgun, Said I blew her away. She loves my country. Ha, yeah, she loves my country. La la la la my F-150 singing with these sitting, pretty riding shotguns, saying I blew her away.
Speaker 1:She loves my country, yeah dude, now you gotta get Ford to give you a little endorsement, somehow. I don't know who you mentioned. I gotta work that in there because I would drive a.
Speaker 2:Ford. I give you a little endorsement. Somehow I got to work that in there because I would drive a Ford. I do drive a Subaru now, but I would drive a Ford.
Speaker 1:No, I know I've had the Ford, I've had the Dodge, I've had the Chevy, I've downsized a little bit. I actually drive a 2024 Chevy Colorado Trail Boss.
Speaker 2:Those things are bad as a bone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they are. It's smaller, so it's pretty sweet those things, those things are bad at the bump?
Speaker 2:yeah, they are. It's smaller but it's sweet you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:I know what I mean. That's pretty cool. So, uh, great stuff, uh, to get a hold of your music. That I would, I can only imagine. They can just go to socials and do a search. It'll take you to wherever lewisbricecom l-e-w-i-s-b-r-i-ccom.
Speaker 2:That'll take you to wherever Lewisbricecom L-A-W-I-S-B-R-I-Ccom. That'll take you to all my pages, also on my webpage. It'll take you to my web store Jazz, church and stuff like that, absolutely CDs, records, stuff like that. And also it takes you to my schedule, my tour schedule, which you have come up, which we have a really good. Well, we're about to open up pretty good. Um, I'm out next weekend in maryland and then we're after that we're in paris, tennessee, and then we go to decatur, illinois. I'm opening up for leanne rhymes coming up and on a week sweet yeah, you know, I haven't heard from her in a while but I haven't either.
Speaker 2:But I'll tell you what. When I got the offer, I was like leanne rhymes. Are you kidding?
Speaker 1:hello, yeah, exactly look forward, dad.
Speaker 2:I just picked up a whole tour with my brother this fall I was gonna ask if that was gonna be happening.
Speaker 1:So how cool is that man.
Speaker 2:That was so cool. He literally called me last week and um, he was like hey, dude, uh, looking for an opener for my tour coming out this year fall. And um, you know, I bet you could have probably like half the tour. We think about you and somebody else. And I was like, yeah, are you kidding me? So we're super excited about that. We locked down the first half of the tour, more or less the first nine shows, and we're going to go be in Florida. We'll be in. Oh man, I think we may be coming to New York, I'm not sure.
Speaker 2:I'll have to look, I'll have to look. I know we're going around Indiana or something like that, we'll be all over the place, but I'm super excited about it. Got nine shows, got three weekends in a row, but a cool little tour, and so that right there kind of fills up the rest of the end of my summer.
Speaker 2:They get you on a tour bus or are you driving the van? Well, the good thing is, I'm doing acoustic opener, so it's just me and my guitar and so uh, but I'm first three, but I guess I'll be riding my brother.
Speaker 1:So I was. Yeah, I'm sure you will. I'm gonna do a little something here. I'm not. This is my camera's doing something weird. Watch uh oh is it following you? No, well, yeah, I think it oh yeah, it's following you now.
Speaker 2:Whoa, how weird is that.
Speaker 1:But see when we, when I switch it around, all of a sudden you, you know, I got my little monitor down here. You see that and all that. But usually it's like I just go like this and then go like this there we go.
Speaker 2:Whoa man, that's some like there you go.
Speaker 1:That's like some tom cruise stuff man I don't know, you know it's um, I have a lot of cameras and uh, for obvious reasons, but uh, this little camera is the best. I mean it's like you know, and I get it's like, wow, what are you using? It's so clear, you know and this and that, but it follows you around so um I know well, no, I don't know if, oh, it will, no, no it does. We got to stop that, so I'll do this Now watch.
Speaker 1:That's so cool Technology man, scary dude, it is Scary. I have to go to my kids or my grandkids and say, hey, I need help with this, but that's cool. And talking about kids, you've got the one.
Speaker 2:I do. She just turned one year old, oh wow, and she's so beautiful, she. I've been so blessed. Her name's Raylan Dawn.
Speaker 1:Very sweet.
Speaker 2:R H A E L Y N N Dawn and so it's kind of a family name. Her Ray is my wife's middle name, lynn is my wife's grandmother's middle name, oh wow. And Dawn is short of Donna, which is my wife's mom's name.
Speaker 1:Oh wow, Lewis, that's great.
Speaker 3:That's awesome.
Speaker 1:What kind of legacy do you hope your daughter sees in your music someday?
Speaker 2:Man. I just hope she's proud of my music. I hope she's proud of me, and you know what I do.
Speaker 1:I'm sure she will be.
Speaker 2:You know I do do this. Everything I do now is a whole different. It's definitely a whole different perspective on you know why I keep doing this? Because I definitely see belief and I know what I'm supposed to do and I know where I'm going and you know we're doing good so far. So we just want to build on it, and you know. But at the same time I just want to be able to leave a legacy behind where my daughter ever looks up and sees what I've done or any of my friends or talks to anybody. You know, when she hears my name, she hears nothing but hard work. You know honesty, pride, his love of his family, you know so, and daughters, daddy's girl I know I'm working, don't you worry, I'm worried, I got.
Speaker 2:I got a couple different song titles.
Speaker 1:I'm right, uh, I was gonna ask, before I let you go, how that would affect your sound song writing now that you do have a little girl one year old and you're gonna want. She's gonna grow so fast and you know nascar fast exactly so it's just, it's just a wonderful thing.
Speaker 2:So it is. I've already got. I've got some songs I've already written. I wrote one song called um. I will see if I cut it. It's called you'll know till you know. Because anytime you know when, when my wife was pregnant, you know, I kept hearing all these stories of like. I was like you know, some of them were good, but some of them were horror stories and this and the other, I'm like man, don't, don't, tell me something, but I'm gonna get down on myself, start doubting myself about, be sad and scared and so and I was like I had to take it, yeah, because everybody's story is different and the way I think every parent raises their kid is completely different from everyone else, and so 100 percent it's like, and I started telling my friends.
Speaker 2:I was like you know what? I love hearing these stories and all, but it's okay. Yeah, because honestly, my story's going to be different. And I was like you don't know till you know. And I wrote a song called you don't know till you know and I I might it won't get off, I can send me your email and I'll shoot you over to see what you think of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would love to hear that. I love that. Uh, lewis bryce has been with us on skip happens tonight. Uh, just, it's been a great conversation. It's good to get to know you. You know, obviously, being in the business, I've your name and we've talked about it and we hear the music and you've got a great team behind you independently, which is to me that's the way to go. So you know you make your own decisions and all the good stuff, but thank you for doing this tonight.
Speaker 3:Thank you for hanging.
Speaker 1:Thanks for hanging in the garage. You've got a cool garage.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you very much, man. It's one of my favorite places to hang out.
Speaker 1:I love it. The Suburban stays outside.
Speaker 2:Yeah right, suburban stays. I feel right at home right here.
Speaker 1:How close, how close to your neighbors, are you? You're probably spread out a little bit right it right, not too, not too too far.
Speaker 2:Actually, we live in a subdivision um anybody famous live near you besides you? No I think I'm the most famous person in my neighborhood, so yeah, hey, there goes lewis, hey, yeah, yeah, here comes lewis popping in your guitar, taking guitars in and out of the suburb? Yeah, that's cool.
Speaker 1:Well, I got the guys over, we're in the studio tonight, so no um, so all cool. You know that's a wrap on this episode of Skip Happens. A big thanks to Louis Bryce sharing his story, his sound and a whole lot of the heart man, I'll tell you, it's just so cool. Make sure you check out his latest tracks. She Loves my Country and Ask Our Fast. Wherever you stream your music, go on, give it a listen. You're going to love it. And hey, if you like this chat, don't forget to subscribe. Leave a review, share it with a friend and until next time. I'm Skip Clark and remember, in music and in life, sometimes you know what I'm going to say Skip happens.
Speaker 2:Skip happens.
Speaker 3:Skip happens. It's what it's called.
Speaker 1:That it's called. That's what I do, Lewis. It's been an honor my friend. All right, we're going to say goodnight, Stay right there and thanks for watching everybody and make sure you check out, Lewis. You know, him, you love him, we love him. Let's go.
