Injecting new vitality into the country tradition, 25-year-old Bryce Leatherwood is a next-generation traditionalist plugged firmly into the modern mainstream, with all the hallmarks of a rising star. But while he’s come a long way in a short time, the singer-songwriter won’t forget his raising.
“My music is a true representation of where I came from,” he says with simple pride. “The early times in my life are my most fond memories, and really, I guess my life now is a translation of that. I want to live it every day, so I go and write it, I go and sing it when I’m on the road. It’s just about keeping a connection to that place.”
Gifted with a stop-you-in-your-tracks vocal and the warm, rumbling twang of his Woodstock, Georgia roots, that connection to home gives Leatherwood a deep reverence for the past – and also an open mind about what comes next. Now chasing a dream that began in the eighth grade when his grandfather handed over a much loved Greatest Hits CD by Conway Twitty, much has changed, but some things have stayed exactly the same.
The Winner of Season 22 of NBC’s The Voice says:
“I want people listening to walk away knowing country music is not going anywhere,” he says. “Country music’s here. The next generation’s here – people who believe in country music. Let’s do this thing.”