With wisdom beyond his young years, Canaan Smith has emerged as one of Nashville’s most compelling storytellers. Whether painting a steamy portrait of a burgeoning relationship in the hit single “Love You Like That” or honoring the memory of his brother in the powerful title track, “Bronco”.
Canaan Smith country music concert Saturday, August 20th, 2016 at 8pm.
Concerts are FREE with paid Gate Admission of $7 before 2pm or $10 after 2pm. Age 9 and under FREE. Pay only $5.40 a day with purchase of a season pass, $27 before August 17th and $35 there after at the gate. Tickets will be available starting July 11th and can be purchased at most Dodge County Banks, Recheks Food Pride, Beaver Dam Piggly Wiggly or at the Fairgrounds Office.
Smith knows how to draw listeners into his world. “Bronco” is a prime example. When he was only 11, Smith lost his 16-year-old brother in a car accident. “It was important to me that I write that story,” he says of the song he co-wrote with Scooter Carusoe.
“I always wanted to write something that would honor my brother, but I didn’t know it would be in the form of his car. I had no idea the Ford Bronco that he drove would stick with me all of these years, but it has. When I think about him, that’s the first thing I see.”
Smith has seen firsthand the impact his music has on fans as he’s toured extensively with Dierks Bentley, Brantley Gilbert and Dan and Shay. “Love You Like That” has proven to be a fan favorite as it hit #1 on the radio charts in the Summer of 2015 and continues to garner extensive airplay and has become one of the best-selling singles of 2015, selling more than 750,000 tracks. “We started thinking about cool metaphors like the flow of the Mississippi,” Smith says recalling his co-writing session with Brett and Jim Beavers.
“That river moves pretty damn slow, and we thought that’d be a sexy line to talk about loving somebody that slowly. It was one of those moments where you’re going for it, reaching, digging as deep as we could for metaphors and at the end of the day we had no idea this would be a hit single. You just never know, but it definitely felt special in the moment.”
Canaan is rapidly climbing the charts again with his follow up to his first #1, the party anthem “Hole In A Bottle”. “That song sets the tone with the fans every night. It lets them know we are there to tear it up right along with them.” Smith’s gifts as a storyteller have earned the respect of his peers and his songs have been recorded by Love & Theft, Cole Swindell, Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean, among others.
Love & Theft took “Runaway” to the top ten on the charts and Aldean puts his unique stamp on “Black Tears,” a song Smith co-wrote with Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard. “Whenever I show up to write a song, it could be either for me or somebody else,” he says. “I feel like 95% of the songs that I’m writing on a daily basis I can see myself doing, but obviously I’m not going to have 100 songs on an album, so I have no problem pitching them to other artists.”
Enjoy the whole day at the fair then end the evening with country hits from Canaan Smith. Concerts are free with paid gate admission. Feel free to post your comments or questions in the comments section below.
