Lee Brice Says Garth Brooks Appearance Was Unplanned, Unrehearsed and Totally Nerve-Wracking

Lee Brice didn't know he would end up on stage with Garth Brooks when he began his weekend last weekend. He didn't know what was coming when he entered the venue on Saturday night (Jan. 24), and he didn't know when Brooks entered the room to greet him just before the show started.

“He was like, ‘Hey, so you feel like working tonight?’” Brice recalls to syndicated radio team Big D and Bubba following the excitement.

On Friday, Brice played in Foxwood, Ct. -- about 90 minutes from Boston. He hadn't seen his "hero" perform since 1997, so he made the effort to catch the show on a rare Saturday night off. He worked a couple of connections to get backstage, and it was there Brooks surprised him with the invitation of a lifetime.

“My mouth … have you ever woke up and you couldn’t swallow, you were so dry?" Brice asks. "I was that way right before."

Sure, there's the nerves that come with playing with your idol, but perhaps more unsettling was that Brice didn't really know Brooks' version of 'More Than a Memory.' Brice helped write it and let the legend cut it for a 2007 album, but when he sings it, the song is in a different key.

“He does it completely different than my version, and I have only been doing the first verse and first chorus recently in my show … so I haven’t done the second verse and second chorus in two, three years," Brice explains.

Add on top of that, of course, that there was no rehearsal. “They just started playing the song and he goes, ‘Go!'" the singer says.

Listen to the full interview below. The funniest part may be what Brice was thinking Brooks had in mind when he asked if he "felt like working." Needless, to say he didn't wash any dishes.

Lee Brice Talks About Surprise Garth Brooks Performance

Lee Brice Reveals Who Originally Wanted to Record 'More Than a Memory'