Lee Brice mellows out on his new single, ‘Woman Like You.’ While his songs have often offered heartwarming stories, previous singles like ‘Love Like Crazy’ have also been a vehicle for the singer to showcase his big voice. Like many aMartina McBride song, it’s almost expected to hear him lean back and show off some.

That never happens on ‘Woman Like You’ (the first single from his upcoming sophomore album), a song that somehowGeorge Strait missed. The simple and reserved attitude Brice approaches the song with is a good reflection of the love story he describes. A woman asks her husband what he’d do without her, and he answers.

“I’d do a lot more offshore fishin’ / I’d probably eat more drive-thru chicken / Take a few strokes off my golf game / If I’d have never known your name / I’d still be driving that old green ‘Nova / I probably never would have heard of yoga / Be a better football fan / But if I was a single man / Alone and out there on the loose / I’d be looking for a woman like you.”

This may not be a conversation every couple has had, but it’s one every couple believes they could have. She rolls her eyes at his cheesy jokes and romantic overtures. He gets serious, adding, “I could tell that got her attention / So I said, ‘Oh yeah I forgot to mention’ / I wouldn’t trade a single day / For 400 years the other way.”

Tonight, the 2011 CMT Tour, featuring headliner Luke Bryan, kicks off in Huntington, W.V. In addition to Bryan, the tour also includes the likes of Lee Brice, Josh Thompson and CMT’s ‘Next Superstar’ winner, Matt Mason. The 22-citytour has been in the works since the beginning part of the year, but in just the past few weeks, the bands and crew have been running through rehearsals to make sure it goes off without a hitch.

“Everybody’s been so cool,” Brice tells Taste of Country from soundcheck at tonight’s venue, the Big Sandy Superstore Arena. “Luke has got a big crew out here, and they’re working with the other acts — Josh, Matt and myself. We’ve only had a couple of big rehearsals up to this point. I’ve been really digging in and writing a new show. We’ve got the full deal going on. It’s really exciting to be out on a tour like this.”

Being involved with big tours is nothing new to Brice, who spent his summer as part of the 2011 Country Throwdown Tour with Willie Nelson. “During that tour, my performance slot was during the day. We played around 6 o’clock, so the CMT tour is going to be really cool. It’s going to be at night, there’s going to be lights, it’s going to be action packed and dramatic … I’m pumped!”

In addition to performing his fan favorite hits such as ‘She Ain’t Right,’ ‘Beautiful Every Time,’ and his Top 5 smash, ‘Love Like Crazy,’ Brice will also be introducing the audiences to the new music he has been recording for his sophomore album.

“I’ve been in the studio all summer with a few different producers kind of doing some different things … trying some new stuff,” Brice reveals. “It’s really turning out awesome. We’ve decided that October 17 is the release date for the new single, ‘A Woman Like You.’ It’s so killer. My friend Jon Stone wrote it with Phil Barton and Johnny Bulford. The day they wrote it, Jon played it for me, and I loved it. I went into my little studio and did a guitar/vocal of it. The next day we demoed it. We sang it like twice through and that was it. All we did was upgrade and mastered the demo, and that’s what’s going to be the record. I am so excited about it. We’ve already been playing it in our shows, and people are loving it. At first you feel like it’s a ‘girl song’ — just straight directed at the girls — but the dudes end up liking it, too. They may not get to say it in real life, but they get to say it on the song [laughs]! It’s cool.”

The CMT Tour will run through the middle of November. Click here for a complete list of dates where the tour will be stopping.

To read the original article from The Boot, click here.

Lee Brice is right at home playing his music at state fairs.

“It’s a great opportunity to reach more and more fans,” Brice said. “I like getting to know them and let them get to know me. I’m just a boy from South Carolina and a lot like them.”

Brice will open up the entertainment at the State Fair of West Virginia, opening for main act Jamey Johnson at 8 p.m. Friday.

Although you’ll find both Brice and Johnson’s CDs in the country section of your favorite retailer, the sounds coming from the grandstand in Fairlea will not be all teardrops and twang.

“I like a lot of different kinds of music — anything that moves me,” Brice said. “I love rock, blues, soul and country. I have a lot of influences. When I do live shows, a lot of that comes out of me.”

Touring with Johnson will soon come to a end, as Brice readies to embark on a 22-date “CMT on Tour” venture.

“We just got off tour with Willie (Nelson) all summer,” Brice said. “I’ve known Jamey a long time. We kind of came to Nashville at the same time. There were a few of us that came up together, writing, terrorizing the town. It’s nice to be on the road with people you respect and enjoy. And It’s always great to be out with Jamey.”

The CMT Tour kicks off Sept. 16, in the Mountain State too, at Huntington’s Big Sandy Arena.

“That’s going to be really cool,” Brice said. “To be out there with Luke Bryan, we’ll be all over the place. I’m looking forward to it.”

This week, CMT revealed the dates for the 2011 CMT on Tour trek which features headliner Luke Bryan, along with Josh Thompson, Lee Brice and CMT’s ‘Next Superstar’ winner, Matt Mason. The 22-city run kicks off September 15 in Huntigton, W.V. The new trek marks the 10th year CMT has sponsored the fan-favorite tour. The tour will make various stops throughout the fall before concluding in Monroe, Louisiana on November 19.

 

“I’m very lucky to have gotten on the tours that I’ve been on,” Thompson recently told Taste of Country. “I never have toured with Luke before, and the CMT tour … that’s a big deal! It’s great because not only are you out playing wherever you’re playing for those people, but I think every night is also taped and documented for CMT exposure, so you reach more people. I’ve been very fortunate with every tour I’ve been on, and Luke will be a real great match up. It’s just another one of those things that seems to be perfect.”

 

CMT on Tour launched in 2002 and has featured some of country music’s biggest superstars including Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Randy Houser, Jamey Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland and Keith Urban.

 

Tickets to the 2011 CMT On Tour performances go on sale starting August 12. For additional information on the tour, including additional on-sale dates, click here.