Conner Smith is making waves in Nashville’s esteemed songwriting community right now with his debut album ‘Smoky Mountains.’ Smith blends youthful passion with an old-soul perspective, delivering a captivating sound that fuses bluegrass influences with the warmth of ’90s Country.
The album reflects Smith’s dedication to creating a timeless sound that encapsulates his unique style as a songwriter, vocalist, and performer. Raised in the heart of Nashville, Smith’s music has evolved into a blend of sophisticated writing and the cutting-edge energy driving modern Country. With hits like ‘Learn From It,’ ‘I Hate Alabama,’ and the GOLD-certified ‘Take It Slow,’ Smith has proven himself as a real driving force, or, as we state in our review of ‘Smoky Mountains,’ the natural heir to Dierks Bentley’s empire. (Review Here) We were thrilled to catch up with him recently to talk all about it.
Thank you for taking the time to talk to us today, Conner. Congratulations on the release of ‘Smoky Mountains’ – were you nervous or excited for the album to come out?
Thank you too. Oh man, there was both nerves and excitement but both were replaced with a kind of calm in the end. I’ve done all I can to make what I think is the best record I could have made at this point in my career, now it’s kinda out of my control, you know? I’ve worked as hard as I can and I have a team that’s worked even harder. Beyond that? I hope the fans like it. I’m more excited to get out on the road now and play some of these songs for the fans. That’s what’s firing me up right now.
Someone told me the other day – ‘Hey, you know you are a lot more level heading going into the album release than most artists would be?’ I thought about that for a while. I don’t want to to put too much pressure on it and myself – it’s track 12 on the album, right? ‘God Moments.’
You grew up in Nashville in and around the media and Country music industry. It sounds like you had quite an unusual childhood.
Yeah. My parents weren’t in the industry as such. My dad worked in healthcare, my mom was a TV reporter. It was my mom that loved Country music and her job meant that she interviewed a lot of songwriters and covered a lot of red carpet events and number one parties, things like that. Sometimes she would take me along to things. I went to a party for Josh Turner one time and we would drive around in the car listening to advances of albums that were coming out as prep for her interviews.
What it did do was introduce me, at an early age, to the idea that you can write a song for a living and pay your bills that way and I really loved that thought. I gave my life to that idea and that goal – signed a publishing deal at 16 and then a record deal at 18. It was a perfect combination of feeling like I had a calling and was in the perfect environment to do something about it.
Tell me the story behind you signing a writing deal with BMI at 9 years old!
Back in 2010 there was a massive flood that came through Nashville. I was only 8-9 years old at the time. I was down at the beach with my family in Florida and I pulled out my guitar, took my bucket, played some songs for folks there and collected money for the flood relief fund. At the time, BMI in Nashville were doubling all donations and my mom had friends and connections at BMI through her job. She told them the story, which they thought was great – it was only $200 that we raised but they doubled it.
Clay Bradley, who is now the head down there at BMI, heard about the story and he wanted to meet with me. He asked me to play him some songs so I played him three songs. Until I was 16 every song I wrote was about myself, right? (laughing) It wasn’t that these songs were any good or were going to end up on the radio anytime but I knew what I was doing, structurally and he began to mentor me a little bit from there!! It put so much fuel in my tank that it became an obsession to me that never wavered.
I first became aware of you in 2021 when you released the fabulous ‘I Hate Alabama,’ which was one of my favourite songs of that year. The elephant in the room there is that you had the idea of mixing love, football and colours long before anyone else. Have you spoken to Megan Moroney about this! (laughing)
(Laughing) It is funny. If you look at what happened after ‘I Hate Alabama’ there was a massive trend in Country music referencing football. It was a big song for me and my career, for sure. I then wrote ‘Orange and White’ and Megan wrote ‘Tennessee Orange’ but we had never heard each other’s songs at that point at all! It was a complete coincidence. When she put ‘Tennessee Orange ‘ on Instagram I sent her a text and was, like, how did you write the female version of a song that you had never heard? That was before she took over the world! (laughing) Then Morgan Wallen put out ‘Tennessee Fan’ too.
You’ve played shows with some really cool, heavyweight artists. Which artist has taught you the most about stagecraft and bonding with the crowd so far?
I think you pick up a little bit of something from everybody if you watch close enough. I always go back to Thomas Rhett, though, I’ve learned so much from him. We went out with Luke Bryan and Thomas Rhett. The difference I drew there is that Luke is a world class entertainer. He gets up onstage and there’s this glow about him. He wants to have a party and just see where the night goes, which is awesome. Thomas is very calculated (in a good way) and wants to put on a show and performance akin to somebody like Bruno Mars. The detail and the production he puts in is phenomenal. He creates these moments that are very emotional and intentional. I’ve learned from that.
Our review of ‘Smoky Mountains’ was very clear in flagging up the Dierks Bentley influence we can hear on tracks like ‘Creek Will Rise’ and the title track but we can hear a Sam Hunt influence on tracks like ‘Regret in the Morning’ and ‘Take it Slow.’ Has he been a big influence on you as well?
Absolutely. I mean, Zach Crowell, who produced Sam’s ‘Montevello’ album also produced my album so there’s an overlap there from the start. At 16 years old I said at dinner with my family one night that if I could have anyone produce my debut album, it would be Zach Crowell. I was 16!! The very next day I get an email from Sam Hunt’s manager saying he had seen a video of me sent to him by Zach Crowell! 7 days later I was in Zach’s studio and we were working together! Sam was a massive influence on my songwriting – he blew up right when I was in high school and he changed the scene there for a while.
We were able to find a cool balance between the more traditional ‘Dierks Bentley’ side of things and the more modern sound. I would never have said that Dierks would have come in my top five influences – I’m a big fan – but it wasn’t until I was writing for and making this record that those kind of influences began to come out.
Where this album landed was a little unexpected to me but feels so right. Take a song like, ‘Baby, I’ for example. If you strip away the production and maybe take it down a key or two and listen to the melody – we wrote that on a guitar trying to capture some of that early Josh Turner love song feels. But when the secondary production kicked in it became a great example of how well Zach and I work together and what we each bring to the table. The two worlds colliding, right?
Was the title always going to be ‘Smoky Mountains’ or were there other titles up for consideration?
That song came in at the end of the process really. The early working title was based around the word ‘Creek’ because ‘Creek Will Rise’ really did shape what the record became. With ‘Smoky Mountains’ I loved what the title and the idea represented to me and my life in general. That song is kinda like the sub-title of the album, the song behind ‘Creek….’ that seems to represent where we are right now.
‘Meanwhile in Carolina’ is a delightful story song. I wish there was more of those around in Country music at the moment. Where did the inspiration for that one come from?
I agree. That to me is my favourite part of Country music and part of what I hope to carry forward as an artist. It’s another good example of there being so many sides to what I try to do as a writer. There’s a little taste of everything on the album. From the nostalgia of ‘Boots in the Bleachers’ to the sweet love song of ‘Regret in the Morning’ to a little faith based track like ‘God Moments.’ Add in the heartbreak of ‘Roulette on the Heart’ and the honky tonk of ‘Heatin’ Up’ and there’s a little something for everyone on there.
‘Meanwhile in Carolina’ is my best example of storytelling writing. I grew up listening to 2000’s Country. Tracks by Kenny Chesney like ‘The Good Stuff’ or songs like ‘Just to See You Smile’ or ‘Stealing Cinderella’ or ‘Something to be Proud Of’ by Montgomery Gentry. Those songs with three parts in three and a half minutes have always fascinated me and the story of ‘Meanwhile in Caroline’ is true to the story of me and my fiancee too. I loved the idea of playing with the divineness of who you are always destined to end up with. As a songwriter you can’t afford to waste a word of a song like that, every single word has to mean and do something. It’s a great challenge because every line has to move the story forward.
When I listen to an album by an artist it’s usually a reflection of where they are in their careers right there at that moment. I hear that on ‘Smoky Mountains’ but I can also hear the artist you are also going to be in 5, 8, 10 years down the line, which fascinates me as the listener.
Thank you for saying that, man, it means a lot to me. It’s great to be able to finally talk to people who have heard the record and have opinions. Up to now only me, my team and my friends have heard the record so I’m pleased to have it out in the world now.
We’re excited to be able to see you sing some of these songs over in London at the C2C festival in March. Are you looking forward to that?
Oh man, that’s going to be fun. I’d be lying if I said I fully know what to expect but I have heard that the fans over there are amazing and that they love to listen and hear the stories behind the songs, which is my favourite part of the whole process too. I’ve never been across ‘the pond’ so it will be an aggressive, exhausting and exciting visit!!
Check out Conner Smith’s fabulous ‘Smoky Mountains’ album in all the usual places right now. Watch a stream of Conner’s album release show in Nashville at the link below:
