Granger Smith | |
Number of songs: 3 | Total weeks on charts: 7
Appearing in a total number of: 3 charts | Total period running: 28 days
Appearing in a total number of: 3 charts | Total period running: 28 days
Biography
Granger Smith, also known as Earl Dibbles Jr, is a country music singer and songwriter from Texas. He has released seven studio albums, one live album, and one EP. His most recent projects were Dirt Road Driveway (2013), which reached number 15 on US country charts, and the EP 4x4 (2015). "Backroad Song" is the lead single from the EP. In 2015, Granger was signed with Broken Bow Records and will record his first full-length album with the label.
Smith was born in Dallas, Texas. At the age of fourteen, he became interested in music and decided to pursue it as a hobby, teaching himself guitar. At age nineteen, Smith moved from Texas to Nashville, Tennessee after signing a songwriting contract with EMI Music Publishing.
Granger Smith was signed to a contract at the age of nineteen in Nashville, Tennessee. He has performed three times at the White House, and in 2008 he travelled to perform for soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait. With sold-out national tours, a social media following of more than three million, and YouTube views exceeding 30 million, Granger Smith has amassed an audience that is unheard-of for a purely independent, unsigned act and has built a career that is truly groundbreaking. His recent "YEE YEE NATION" national tour (84 shows) sold out and broke attendance records and merchandise sales records at nearly every venue.
His 2013 album Dirt Road Driveway was successful released reaching number 15 on US country charts and number 11 on US indie charts.
Smith's most recent project, the EP 4x4, was co-produced by Granger and the revered Frank Rogers (who has produced for Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker and Josh Turner). The album debuted on the Top Country Albums chart at No. 6, and reached No. 51 on Billboard 200. The lead single from the album was "Backroad Song" that sold over 32,000 downloads in its first week of release, entering the iTunes Country Singles chart at Number Two, the iTunes Canada Country Chart at number one and the Billboard Country Digital Sales Chart at number four.
On August 12, 2015, Granger announced he had signed with Broken Bow Records and will soon record his first full-length album with the label. In August 2015, Broken Bow announced that Smith was one of the first artists signed to the label's new imprint, Wheelhouse Records.
The most dramatic example of Smith’s innovative approach to his career was the creation of his beloved alter ego Earl Dibbles, Jr., first popularized through a simple monologue video shot and directed by him and his brothers at their family ranch. Fans quickly adopted "Dibble'isms" like "YEE YEE", "Crack a Cold One" and "Put a Good Dip in" and Smith began writing songs for the character, who encores each of Smith's shows. The polar opposite image of Smith (who is a graduate of Texas A&M), Earl Dibbles Jr. was further popularized by Smith's "The Country Boy Song." His most popular songs are viral sensations "Country Boy Love," "The Country Boy Song" and most recently "City Boy Stuck" from the EP 4x4.
In parallel to his music, Smith has also devoted his time to charity and activism work, focusing on numerous efforts for the military, including appearances in the war zones of Iraq and Kuwait and his annual (four years and counting) 100-mile Boot Walk. “It’s all been a journey for me,†he says. “I want to raise awareness and patriotism, something to keep our future generations able to chase the dreams that we can.â€
“I know how important giving back to the community is, because this business is all about community, about the people who come to the shows. If that stops, my career stops - my career hasn’t been built up by a big machine pumping it out; it’s been built boots on the ground, practically going door-to-door. So we live or die on that community, and giving back to them is my livelihood.â€
He is a supporter of the Boot Campaign.
Smith first attended Lake Highlands High School in Dallas, Texas. Smith later attended Texas A&M, where he earned a Bachelor's degree (his song "We Bleed Maroon" is about his time at A&M). He lived in Nashville for five years but currently resides in Texas. He has been married to his wife, Amber, an actress, since February 11, 2010. They met on the set of a music video and she has been featured in several of his music videos since. He has one daughter, London, born in October 2011, and one son, Lincoln Monarch Smith, born January 7, 2014.
Discography:
Waiting on Forever (1998)
Memory Rd. (2004)
Pockets of Pesos (2005)
Livin' Like a Lonestar (2006)
Don't Listen to the Radio (2009)
Poets & Prisoners (2011)
Dirt Road Driveway (2013)
4x4 (2015)
Sources: Wikipedia, Top40-Charts.com Editorial team
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