Conner Smith is a songwriter in the true sense of the word, sharing personal stories in a way that enables them to connect with his fast-building army of fans.
Earlier this year he released his eagerly awaited debut album ‘Smoky Mountains' and he followed it up a few months later with the ‘Smoky Mountains Sessions'. Over the summer his song ‘Steal My Thunder' with Tucker Wetmore was featured on the soundtrack to the blockbuster ‘Twisters' and now he's gearing up for new EP ‘The Storyteller'.
I caught up with Conner recently to talk about his new EP, discuss the amount of music he's shared this year and find out about his part in bringing Country music back to its roots…
It's been three years since we last chatted. How on earth have you been?
Man, we've got a lot of catch up on! We've just been super blessed, super fortunate, and also super busy. I think that those two kind of go together in this industry, so it's been fun, man. I'm just feeling grateful.
You've been putting out a lot of music this year; firstly with the ‘Smoky Mountains' album, then the ‘Smoky Mountains Sessions' and now you have ‘The Storyteller EP'. That's a lot of music in one year. Why did you decide to be so gung-ho?
Probably my personality (laughs). I wrote these songs (for the EP) in two days, back-to-back, and then right in the middle is ‘Faith From a Farmer', which is a song I wrote by myself over the span of a year. It was one of those rare moments as a creative where the clouds part and some inspiration falls from the sky. I just wanted to capture that and give that moment it's due. Who knows what'll happen with this EP or if people really get to cling on to it? I think these songs are really special and I think they show a part of my heart as a songwriter that's most important to me. That's what excites me about it. Thankfully, I've got a record label that's lettin' us do it. I just want to keep giving the fans more and more and more.
It's interesting that you mention ‘Faith From a Farmer' because that song is the smash on the EP for me. It's the one I keep coming back to. What's the story behind it?
There's so many different stories with that song. I wrote that song over the course of a year. I think that song is an analogy in a lot of ways to just life and everything, but I find it really an analogy to being an artist in a lot of ways. I know it's super different. I've struggled over the last three years with this wrestle between what does it look like to steward something and not strive for something, and this balance between working hard and doing your part, but also understanding that so much is out of your control and so much is not yours to try to control. As I struggled with that, it made me think about a farmer and the way that they can work as hard as possible; they can wake up every day and give their life to this land but unless the rain comes and the weather's right, and the sun shines, it doesn't matter. It's this balance between working hard and having faith that it's outside of your control.
I think the same things for me as an artist. I can work as hard as I can, I can play every show someone asks me to, I can build all the relationships and write as many songs as possible, and put out four EPs in a year with an album, but unless the Lord brings the rain, and there's a certain amount of favor on it, it doesn't matter. That's what this song means to me, big picture. Small picture, I just love the song and I think it's really going to connect with people in a personal way and really have an impact.
What I love about this song is that it really leans into tradition. It's a proper story-driven song, of the kind I fell in love with when I first discovered Country music. I feel like it's classic in a way that feels familiar, as if I've been listening to it for years…
Thank you, man. We're united on that part. That's everything to me… as the EP says (it's) storytelling. That's what I fell in love with with Country music. As an artist, I have his privilege to make the type of impact I want to make on this genre and when I think about it, it's about being an artist that really tells stories. I think I've done that; ‘Creek Will Rise', ‘Meanwhile in Carolina', ‘Roulette on the Heart' and ‘I Hate Alabama', they tell a story. With this project, it's a deeper level of that and we'll see what happens.
After a few years of questionable Country music, I feel like you're part of this new emerging group of artists that's getting Country music back to its roots and what the genre should be about. I could really hear that tradition in your music when I saw you at C2C earlier this year. How do you feel about being a part of that?
I appreciate you saying that. I think what's cool about it too is that every artist that's a part of what you're talking about, is doing it in a super different way. I try to do it in a really authentic way. I think that this project is literally me not trying to be anything more than just who I am, which is a songwriter. You got guys like Zach Top right now, who's bringing back this Neo-traditional 90s country in such a really cool, authentic way. For me, it's not necessarily like this 90s country thing, but I grew up on that early 2000s Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw… storytelling. That's what I love and that's what I want to carry as an artist now.
Coming over to C2C was really cool. I think fans over in the UK and Europe as a whole really are drawn towards the words and stories and the lyrics and listening. ‘I Hate Alabama', the third song I ever put out and it changed my life and my career, I really did not think anyone outside of Tennessee would care. That song was so centric to two towns in my head and it ended up growing the way it did, which was wild. I was in Sweden and we were playing this writer's round style thing and I just heard a guy from the crowd yell, ‘I hate Alabama' and Lauren Watkins, who was playing with me, she leans over and she's like, ‘did he just say I hate Obama?' (laughs). I was like, ‘no, Lauren, he wants ‘I Hate Alabama”. It's a funny story because it just shows what do I know? (I thought) this song would be a cool little niche song but people in Sweden are singing about this college football anthem. That's what I love about Country music and what I love about stories; whether you're a farmer or whatever your sport is or sports team is, people can relate. I've always found the more specific you get, the more people can relate to it. Being over in Europe as a whole expanded my thinking on just how far Country music can go.
You've been getting plenty of attention this summer for your song ‘Steal My Thunder' with Tucker Wetmore, which appeared on the ‘Twisters' soundtrack. What was that experience like?
What a blessing, dude. That's just one of those that's just a pure blessing that we were able to be part of it. I'm really super honoured to get to hear (myself) in the movie the summer, really. In the movie it's in such a cool scene. That's one of those dream come trues and something that you never see coming. How we got (to be) part of that was the director of the movie loved ‘Creek Will Rise' so much, and (it would have been) a good song for that movie. They asked us if we could write a similar sounding and feel song. We wrote ‘Steal My Thunder'. Not only did the movie pour so much light on it, but the fans really reacted to this one in a really, really cool way. Any song that you get that can add more gas in the tank and have another one that fans are singing at the shows, it's like a miracle.
Like you, Tucker is an artist on the rise and really leaning into the more traditional Country sound. What's it like to be on this ride with him?
Tucker's on the rise right now and it's been really cool to watch. He's a really good dude. I didn't know him before but we've gotten to become buddies from this song. I think it was Atlantic's idea to make it a duo and it was cool that he said yes. Him and I, from the little time we've gotten to hang out, it seems that we're very like-minded dudes (in terms of) how we see the world and the industry. It's been fun to make a friend out of that. We're going on tour together for this Luke Bryan Farm Tour so we'll get some more time to hang out then. It's been cool to have this song with him.
That's going to be a cool tour. I'm always jealous when Luke does those tours as we never get them here in the UK…
Yeah, it'll be fun. They need to do a UK farm tour and just find some farms in the UK or maybe it's like a UK Castle tour, or something, I don't know? It might be a little different over there.
A castle tour. I love it. There's an idea in there. You've got to pitch it to someone…
I'm down! I mean, if we can keep having number ones in the UK we'll just go ahead and do our own!
Absolutely. You were the first number one on the UK Country chart weren't you?
I was. I guess I'll always have that honour, dude. That's a pretty random stat for me to hold and I'm pretty fired up. I think we need to get a plaque made or something so I can frame that I was the first ever (Country) number one in the UK. That was very much thanks to the Big Machine team over there. It was really cool and we were over there when it happened. All the world's combined to create a special moment.
You must be keen to come back after how well you went down at C2C?
I mean, as soon as possible. As you know, in this genre you gotta book everything 12 months in advance. We're trying to figure out the right time to get back over there and bring the full band this next time. Being a part of C2C was really cool and an amazing way to do it. It's just been fun to watch Country music grow so much over there. It's been pretty wild. We definitely want to be a part of that and part of spreading the genre over there, and hopefully be a pioneering artist in that.
You played at CMA Fest over the summer. How was that for you this year?
Man, we went way lighter on CMA Fest this year and we'll rack it back up next year. We got to play a couple shows and we were around fans for a little bit. CMA Fest is the coolest week. I'm a kid that grew up Nashville and grew up going to CMA Fest. I would always wait on someone asking me the night of if they had an extra ticket so I could hop on with them. CMA Fest is a real cool dream come true for me and playing the stadium at CMA Fest will be like a pride of my life sort of moment. I'm really excited for that. CMA Fest every year is an absolute zoo. Everybody is there. Nashville shuts down. There's one year that CMA Fest was the exact same day as the Nashville Predators were in the Stanley Cup Finals. It was the craziest week in Nashville history but that was really fun.
Conner Smith's new EP ‘The Storyteller' is released on Friday 4th October 2024. Listen to the title track below:
