Lee Brice will always remember 2011 as a special year. The singer had a mega-hit with 'Love Like Crazy,' hit the road with Willie Nelson's Country Throwdown tour and ended the year sharing the concert stage with friends Luke Bryan and Josh Thompson.

"Starting off with a song like 'Love Like Crazy' was a big deal," Lee tells The Boot. "A song like that will change your life. I've had big songs as a songwriter (including Garth Brooks' smash 'More Than a Memory') but this is my first one as an artist."

Lee says his stage show improved last year while he was on tour, as he observed and picked up tips from the artists he was with on the road. "You can sing good and and have a great band but I learned you need a little more than that," the South Carolina native points out. "I watched everyone I was out with this year, from Willie to Luke, and that's where I learned that changing some minor things can make you have a better show."

The singer says that being on tour is like any other job -- you get better at it the longer you do it. He says a new-found maturity and confidence has helped a lot, along with the order of his set list and even the way he moves on stage.

"These are things you pick up over time, and individually they might not be noticed, but as a whole they make a huge difference in your show," he says.

Lee has a few solo dates left before the end of the year, and he's looking forward to a jam-packed 2012. He's weighing some options as far as tours go for the new year and is excited about the upcoming Blake Shelton & Friends Cruise, which sets sail in the Caribbean from October 14-21. Lee joins Trace Adkins, Easton Corbin, Neal McCoy, Randy Houser, Justin Moore and Jerrod Niemann, along with Blake and hundreds of fans.

Lee will be in Columbus, Ohio on Dec. 15, with his last date for the year scheduled for Dec. 30 in Indianapolis, Ind.

Watch Lee's 'Love Like Crazy' Video

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