Just about two months ago Lee Brice and Jerrod Niemann held a fan bash at the City Winery in Nashville for an exclusive sit down performance. Hosted by Sirius XM’s Storme Warren, the guys talked, joked and shared stories about their biggest hits. This was a casual setting, everyone seated at tables, no set list, just two artists discussing their work. The fans that were in attendance got a special treat when Brice starting discussing that he writes so many songs and his record label only lets him pick a certain number for each album. He wanted his closest fans to be the first to hear some of the songs that did not make the cut on his most recent album, I Don’t Dance. Speaking to the audience as if they were a group of his closest friends, he told them that this may get him in trouble with his label but that he had burned CD’s for them. Little did they know this mixtape would be released weeks later, as we now know it as Til Summer’s Gone.
After the fan bash word spread pretty quickly about this new project and so he decided to make it available for all of his fans to purchase. With only six tracks, the mixtape manages to cover all of Lee’s bases ranging from party drinking songs to power ballads. Appropriately titled Til Summer’s Gone, this EP is the perfect soundtrack for a day of tailgating, a road trip across the country or to remember a summer fling when the leaves start to fall.
With five new tracks, fans get to hear some of the songs that would not necessarily fit into one of Brice’s full length albums but are just as powerful and appealing. “Stealing Innocence” is the perfect song to describe how it feels to be young and in love. Brice spins his words into a beautiful image of purity. “Enemies like gravity, circumstance and time / Can’t wash out the color of the fire in our eyes / I can taste the salty on your lips, feel each grain of sand on your fingertips.”
Although five of the tracks are brand new, listeners may recognize a remixed version of “Girl In Bikinis”. This version features an array of electronic dance beats mixed in with the familiar background instrumental. Bubba Sparxxx also makes an appearance, rapping throughout the song. “Look at them pretty toes, all of them in a row / and she ain’t gotta buy no ticket into the show.” This is the first time that Brice has collaborated with an artist outside of the country music genre. While it is a great song to sing on your way down to the beach, some fans aren’t too happy that Brice has decided to have a crossover song on his album. Only time will tell if this move will pay off for him with this single.
Showing incredible versatility, Brice is a consistent artist who makes his fans feel like they are important to him and his music. Brice is playing shows all over the country for the remainder of the summer and always is an entertaining act with perfect pitch and strong vocals.
Brice is still riding the high of having his single “Drinking Class” go straight to the top of the charts. Read more about “Drinking Class” here. Brice’s current single, “That Don’t Sound Like You,” which just entered the top 50 at radio, tells a personal tale for the singer.
Take a listen to Lee talk about his decision to produce this Mixtape.