Did you happen to make some new friends this weekend? If you find yourself making friends anywhere you go, then you just made another – Bryce Hensley. Bryce is an Asheville, North Carolina native. Coming out of the same town that produced country music stars Luke Combs and Eric Church, it’s a town that holds a lot of inspiration. I asked Bryce who his biggest inspiration for music was and he said, “Growing up my grandpa would sing all the time. That was around Elvis’s time so I heard a lot of Elvis and Gospel. What’s better than that?” He started out playing small town bars when he had breaks from baseball. In 2018, Bryce was drafted to the Kansas City Royals to begin his professional baseball career. Now playing with the High Point Rockers in North Carolina, when COVID hit and everything shut down, Bryce was sent home until further notice. This is what gave him the time to focus the beginning of his music career. In 2020, Bryce released his very first single, “Growin Up in Me,” a song that tells the story of the hard truths of being a young adult in today’s world. Bryce said, “Honestly, I wrote this song in a week. It just felt right and it kept flowing. It’s how we are all in different places in our lives. Some friends are engaged, starting families, or still at the bar.” With great success with his first release, Bryce released another single in 2020, with another following in early 2021. Even though 2020 was a complete dumpster fire, there were many blessings that came out of it. Just last month, Bryce opened up for Jake Owen for the Wentz Family Foundation Gold Tournament put on by John Daly. Bryce posted a video from the show with the caption: “Speechless. Cause it’s the small-town dreams ya can’t ever give up.”
Bryce is in the process of releasing the singles from his new EP, Small Town Dreams. Last month he kicked off the EP with the song “Cowboy In Me” he wrote with Matt Gorman and Alan Richeson. Yesterday Bryce released his next single “Weekend Friends.” Now let me tell you, this one is fun. It may even trigger some of those memories from a night out that you thought you may have forgotten. This song starts out with a great vibe with the harmonica blaring through the speakers. This song tells the story of all of those friends you make out at the bars on the weekend. Bryce said “I can’t even begin to tell you how many strangers I made golf plans with.” We laughed and I said I didn’t know guys did that too. It’s usually the drunk girls in the bathroom that make best friends because we thought each other’s shoes were cute. Bryce is extremely excited for what’s to come out of these small town dreams. Be on the look out for his next release from his upcoming release on Instagram. Check out his latest release, “Weekend Friends,” below.
Raised Rowdy Contributor Heather Shadrick