Canaan Lee Smith (born August 24, 1982) is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer and songwriter signed with Round Here Records, an independent label founded by Florida Georgia Line. He has released two albums, ''

Bronco A bucking horse is any breed or either gender of horse with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock. The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for rod ...

'' in 2015 and '' High Country Sound'' in 2021. His second single, " Love You Like That", was a Number One hit on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart. He was also a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1 ...

contestant on the 15th season of ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in fore ...

''.

Career

2009-2017: Mercury Nashville and ''Bronco''

In 2009, Smith moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, aspiring for a musical career and co-wrote the hit "

Runaway Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proc ...

" by country band Love and Theft that made it to number 10 in the Billboard

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

and 65 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 2009. His debut single, " We Got Us", was released in January 2012 after being made available on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

starting December 24, 2011. The song was written by Stephen Barker Liles, Tommy Lee James, and Canaan Smith himself and produced by

Brett Beavers Brett Beavers (born in Waco, Texas), is an American country music songwriter and producer and the co-author of the book ''Something Worth Leaving Behind''. Education and early career Beavers attended Baylor University, where he earned a bachel ...

and Luke Wooten. It debuted at number 53 on the country music charts. The music video, directed by Brian Lazarro, was broadcast on GAC making it to the "GAC Top 20 Ballot". ''

Country Weekly ''Nash Country Weekly'' was an American lifestyle weekly magazine about country artists and their music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site ''Nash Country Daily''. Overvie ...

'' magazine featured him in "Ones to Watch in 2012", as did Roughstock. Smith returned to the studio in February 2012 to finish his debut album. On July 21, 2014, Canaan Smith released his second single, titled " Love You Like That". The music video was released on Vevo on September 10, 2014. In October 2014, Smith was featured as one of the "10 New Artists You Need To Know: Fall 2014" in Rolling Stone Country. On March 24, 2015, Smith released his self-titled EP. The EP debuted at No. 16 on the Top Country Albums chart and at No. 97 on the Billboard 200, with 2,900 copies sold in the US for the week. On June 23, Smith released his first full-length studio album, titled ''

''. "Love You Like That" reached number one on the

chart in July 2015, and number 46 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The second single from the album, "Hole in a Bottle," was released in August. In September, Smith announced his first headlining concert tour, the Stompin' Grounds Tour, with support from

Russell Dickerson Russell Edward Dickerson (born May 7, 1987) is an American country pop singer-songwriter from Union City, Tennessee. Dickerson has released two albums through Triple Tigers. Both have accounted for four singles charting on Hot Country Songs an ...

. In 2016, Smith appeared in the season four finale of ''

Bar Rescue ''Bar Rescue'' is an American reality television series that airs on Paramount Network (formerly Spike during the first five seasons). It stars Jon Taffer, a long-time food and beverage industry consultant specializing in nightclubs, bars and pu ...

'' where he performed during the grand re-opening of The Gallopin' Goose.

2018-present: Round Here Records and Tree Vibez Music

In March 2018, Smith parted ways with his label

Mercury Nashville Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records N ...

. In May 2018, Smith then signed as a songwriter with publishing company

Tree Vibez Music Florida Georgia Line is an American country music duo founded in 2010 by Tyler Hubbard of Georgia and Brian Kelley of Florida, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. Their 2012 debut single "Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was d ...

, founded by

Tyler Hubbard Tyler Reed Hubbard (born January 31, 1987) is an American singer-songwriter, and musician, best known as a former member of the Nashville-based duo Florida Georgia Line. Hubbard, a native of Monroe, Georgia, had been involved with music since a y ...

and Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line. In February 2019, it was announced Smith would join Florida Georgia Line on their Can’t Say I Ain’t Country Tour on select dates alongside

Dan + Shay Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

Morgan Wallen Morgan Cole Wallen (born May 13, 1993) is an American country singer and songwriter. He competed in the sixth season of ''The Voice'', originally as a member of Usher's team, but later as a member of Adam Levine's team. After being eliminated ...

, and HARDY. In August 2019, Smith signed with Round Here Records as their flagship artist, and released a new track titled “Beer Drinking Weather”. The label was founded the same day by Hubbard and Kelley who also co-wrote the new track. In June 2020, Smith released his first single to country radio in three years, "Colder Than You". His second studio album, '' High Country Sound'', was released on April 2, 2021.

Personal life

Smith graduated from Lafayette High School in Williamsburg, Virginia and then attended

Belmont University Belmont University is a private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporated in 1951 as Belmont College. It be ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

. Smith and his then-girlfriend, Mika Combs, were the sixth team to be eliminated in the 15th season of ''

''. In March 2014, Smith became engaged to his girlfriend Christy Hardesty, and they married in August 2014. On September 27, 2019 they announced they are expecting their first child in November 2019. On October 31, 2019 they welcomed daughter Virginia Rose Smith.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

Tours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Canaan American male singer-songwriters American country singer-songwriters Living people The Amazing Race (American TV series) contestants Country musicians from Virginia 1982 births Mercury Records artists Belmont University alumni American tenors Singer-songwriters from Virginia People from Williamsburg, Virginia 21st-century American singers