- And then I set this in the baby seat.

Beautiful.

And there's no smoking in the car.

The kids ride in there, you know?

And I like 'em.

Yeah, let's see here.

My library, local files.

Boom.

Oh, this is more... A more amped up version of that "Start Over" song that I played earlier.

♪ Would you tell me that I need to stay ♪ ♪ Sunshine - I made this!

(laughs) ♪ No we won't stay away ♪ Sure is simple rise ♪ So goes another day - [Person] I should probably have my seatbelt on, huh?

♪ Wake up, have another day ♪ Pack and run away ♪ Leave the car, leave a note ♪ Grab your bag and let's catch the train ♪ ♪ We'll start over, we'll start a band ♪ ♪ We'll change our hair, we'll change our name ♪ - I'm Brice.

I... I'm, should I say my whole name?

It feels weird saying my whole name.

(drums playing) My favorite instrument is definitely the drums.

(drums playing) It's so much fun.

Yeah.

Also, I'm a very antsy kind of person, so it works out really well.

Because it's like, here's moving all of my body.

I can kind of just turn my mind off and listen to the song, and the rest knows what to do.

(drums playing) It had to have been eighth grade.

I started drumming for the church.

And I got really good at working with my feet and working with my hands at the same time.

And singing along with the other music that was going on and stuff.

Oh my gosh, this looks super cool!

The VBS here is always incredible.

It's always so- Aw!

I just need to check out in here real quick.

There's a tiny little fireplace in here, Kris.

This is incredible.

Look at that!

Oh.

Big old fish they caught.

If I start going to church again sometime, this is probably where it's gonna be.

Look at this.

It's is a dumb face that I drew on here.

(Brice laughing) I drew that!

This is, this comes from not paying attention at all when we're supposed to be paying attention.

I was really, really good at that.

Me and my brothers were kind of playing in a band and stuff, but then that broke up because they went to college and they had to go off and do their thing.

And so, I got good at playing the guitar.

And then I didn't like how it sounded just by myself.

And so, I kicked it up a notch and brought in a snare drum and found a way to like strum the guitar while doing a drum beat.

But I have dropped it down to a little suitcase that I can sit on and I'm able to play my songs and have a little beat.

If I ever needed to, it would definitely work in a panhandle situation.

I can take that to a street corner and freaking throw my hat down.

Easy peasy!

(guitar strumming) ♪ Shut your mouth, Mr.

Funny man ♪ ♪ We all came to see a show ♪ Keep your breakdown, Mr.

Funny man ♪ ♪ Go on, give a solid joke ♪ Oh yeah ♪ Give a solid joke ♪ Mr.

Funny man ♪ We only want a show ♪ Mr.

Funny man, give us your soul ♪ - So, I... When I was younger, I... Okay.

I was 15 or so.

And... I had a friend, Caleb, who was a lot like me.

And me and him kind of like- We went on a trip down to Colorado and it was a week-long, I think.

It was a good time.

A couple weeks later, I get the news that my friend Caleb had killed himself.

And that really rocked me.

That rocked our whole class.

I remember having a conversation with my dad 'cause he used to work at the school.

He had like called and asked, "Did Caleb kill himself?"

And... Yeah.

You know, and he was like, "Well, God dang, that's like, that's messed up.

He was a kid."

And like, "Don't be doing stuff like that."

Like "That's not okay."

And so... Then, two weeks after that or a month after that, I get the news that my dad killed himself.

And I... That one was pretty rough too.

That one made a little more sense to me.

But it, you know, now I don't have... Dad.

I don't have this guy that I can ask questions to and stuff like that.

And it was like, that was really, that gets really rough.

And as a 15-year-old like it, 'cause he missed everything for me.

You know?

Like he got to watch my brothers graduate, he got to watch them drive their car and stuff.

He missed my oldest brother's wedding.

He missed all of our weddings.

You know, he never got to meet any of his grandkids.

And they're all pretty freaking awesome.

You know?

They're really cool.

I think he would've liked us!

He would've really liked being here, and he missed it!

He missed all of it!

And like, oh.

So that's a BS thing.

(somber music) ♪ I've been looking for you ♪ Where have you gone ♪ I can't hold on much longer ♪ I've been losing my mind ♪ Can't catch my breath ♪ There isn't much left of who I am ♪ ♪ Used to be - So I get inspiration for the stuff that I write with just like what kinda weird complication thoughts I'm struggling with or fighting with.

A lot of my songs are like wrestling with God.

And are kind of like anti-suicide, take care of yourself.

You know, like try and... Try and help yourself 'cause it, you don't really have an option.

Forward is the only direction we got.

'Cause it's a thing that I wrestle with all the time!

It's so easy to get locked up in your head and feeling like nobody cares and nobody like gives a crap about you.

And I just want people to hear that and know that they're not the only ones feeling that and have something that they can kind of relate to and something that'll kind of rock 'em in their head a little bit.

Because I don't, I'm not trying to write little party hits that make people bob their head, I'm trying to write stuff that make you think.

♪ 'Cause here I am just a guy ♪ I'm living, breathing cyanide ♪ And you're breathing in my cyanide ♪ ♪ I can tell you the wrong I've done ♪ ♪ Won't change that you know now ♪ ♪ Won't change what we've become.

♪ ♪ But I pray you put your bet on me ♪ ♪ What we were meant to have is yet to be seen ♪ ♪ Well I'll say ♪ You can give it your life - I kind of spent my whole like early twenties and everything trying to burn all that outta my mind.

(laughs) I ended up like running around to California.

I did it in a very bad way that was not well thought out or organized.

I just kind of disappeared in the middle of the night one night.

And bought the first plane ticket there.

That cost most all of the money that I had.

And I fly into LAX, which spoiler, is not near anything that is what you see in the movies.

You know?

It's like I walked outta LAX and was like, "There is nothing here.

What is this town?

This is not what I thought."

So, I... I like got a cab and they brought me out to Hollywood Boulevard.

The guy was very surprised.

He was like, "You've got no idea where you are, huh."

"Nope, I'm just some idiot kid."

And he was super nice and drove me out there.

And he was like, "Give me like 30 bucks and that'll be fine."

I was like, "Oh, 30 bucks?"

And he is like, "The fare is not 30 bucks, but I can tell you do not have the money to... To pay me the fare."

I ended up doing a little walkabout kind of adventure style like, "Oh wow, what can I do with just a backpack and a guitar?"

You know?

Then I threw my thumb up and this lady picked me up.

And she was like, "Okay, well, what are you doing here kid?"

Like, "You obviously don't belong here."

So, you know, I told her my story and stuff and she got me a little bit of stage time and I got to play for like 30 minutes at the bar that night.

And everybody was buying me drinks and giving me money for running around and stuff.

And I woke up that next morning and she was like, "I've got a train ticket bought for you to go back home."

And then the train ride back home, it was awesome!

And there was a point where I was playing the guitar in the, in like the community car.

And people like the conductor came in and was like, "Okay, people gotta clear out!

Whoever's like kid playing the guitar, you gotta stop 'cause you're making too many people come in here.

So like knock it off."

And that was so cool!

♪ I'm livin' breathin' cyanide ♪ And you're breathin' in my cyanide ♪ - I've had this for... 12 years now.

It's been out to the west coast with me and, and all over.

Everywhere I go, this is where I, the thing I take with me.

It's been down to Arizona.

It's got this dumb little, it says "Play with your heart."

There.

While I was out busking in California.

I was like, "Oh yeah, play with your heart."

My whole thing has always been like, make 'em cry.

If you can make 'em cry, you're doing a good job.

Like if you make 'em laugh so hard they cry, you're doing a good job.

If you make 'em feel so hard, they cry.

You're doing a good job.

You know?

It's the whole spectrum.

♪ Yes I know it's a serious subject ♪ ♪ Try and kick it out your lane ♪ ♪ Yes I know there's more to life than work and weather ♪ ♪ But they're all so caught up in their ways ♪ - One of the things my dad told me, you gotta live for the story.

And he's right!

Nobody wants to talk to somebody who's like, "Oh, what have you been up to?"

"Ah, I've been going to work.

You know?

Just work stuff, whatever."

You know?

Boring!

Where do you go from there?

And so, yeah, he's right.

Live for the story!

You gotta do things that sound exciting.

And yeah, it might be scary at first, but then you start, I don't know, it just becomes like breathing!

♪ Show ♪ Mr.

Funny man, tell us what you know ♪ ♪ Mr.

Funny man, no we'll never let you go ♪ ♪ Mr.

Funny man, give us your soul ♪ ♪ Give us your soul, woah ♪ Oh yeah (Brice chuckles) (no music) (bright music) - [Presenter] "Postcards" is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

Additional support provided by: Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen on behalf of Shalom Hill Farms, a retreat and conference center in a prairie setting near Wyndham, Minnesota.

On the web at shalomhillfarm.org.

Alexandria Minnesota, a year-round destination with hundreds of lakes, trails, and attractions for memorable vacations and events.

More information at explorealex.com.

A better future starts now.

West Central Initiative empowers communities with resources, funding, and support for a thriving region.

More at wcif.org.

(bright music)