Joanna Smith 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. Before graduating from Vanderbilt University in 2018, she attended Auburn University for one year before pursuing a music career by playing with Mustang Sally at age eighteen. After leaving the band she began songwriting and recording

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...

. After signing to a publishing contract with Big Borrassa Music, she wrote two songs for other artists, including "Flying By", which was recorded by

Billy Ray Cyrus Billy Ray Cyrus (born August 25, 1961) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, and is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and ...

on his 2007 album '' Home at Last''. Also in 2007, Smith's rendition of "

The Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...

" was included on the ''

Song of America MS ''Celestyal Olympia'' is a cruise ship owned by the Cyprus-based Celestyal Cruises, formerly Louis Cruise Lines. In April 2012 she was named ''Louis Olympia'' after operating as the Thomson Destiny for Thomson Cruises. She was built in 198 ...

'' compilation album. In 2010, she signed a contract with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

Nashville and released her debut single, "Gettin' Married". The song has charted on

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 sal ...

and has been made into a music video, directed by

Trey Fanjoy Trey Fanjoy is an American music video director. Fanjoy has directed over 150 major label music videos. Her videos have appeared on CMT, VH1, GAC, The Nashville Network, CMT Canada, and MTV. She is the first woman to win the Country Music Asso ...

. Stormy Lewis of Roughstock gave Smith's song a four-star rating, comparing it to the

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and E ...

and

Lorrie Morgan Loretta Lynn Morgan (born June 27, 1959) is an American country music singer and actress. She is the daughter of George Morgan, widow of Keith Whitley, and ex-wife of Jon Randall and Sammy Kershaw, all of whom are also country music singers. Mo ...

Jim Malec Jim Malec is an American journalist and pop music critic known for writing about country music. Malec attended State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, where he worked as an editor for the college's student newspaper and was involved in a cen ...

, writing for American Twang, gave it a thumbs-down, calling Smith's vocal "shrill and thin". In August 2011, Sony Music Nashville announced that Smith and labelmate

Bradley Gaskin Bradley Gaskin is an American country music singer-songwriter. He signed with Columbia Nashville in 2011 and has released his debut single, "Mr. Bartender" after being discovered through a talent contest sponsored by John Rich of Big & Rich ...

will transfer to

BNA Records BNA Records, formerly known as BNA Entertainment, was a label group that shared ties with Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville from parent company Sony Music Nashville, which itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Nashville, T ...

as part of a corporate restructuring. After BNA closed, she moved again to RCA. That label released her third single, "We Can't Be Friends". It received 4.5 stars from Taste of Country. A fourth single, "Girls Are Crazy", was released to country radio on April 29, 2013. In 2014 Joanna, also known as Jo, signed a publishing deal with

Shane McAnally Shane McAnally (born October 12, 1974) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. Originally a solo artist for Curb Records in 1999, McAnally charted three singles on Hot Country Songs, including the No. 31 " Are Y ...

's company SMACKSongs. In 2016 she released an EP under the name Jo Smith called ''Introducing Jo Smith''. The EP was produced by

(

Kacey Musgraves Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American country singer. She has won six Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, and three Academy of Country Music Awards. Musgraves self-released three solo albums and one as Texa ...

Sam Hunt Sam Lowry Hunt (born December 8, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Cedartown, Georgia, Hunt played football in his high school and college years and once attempted to pursue a professional sports career before signing with MCA ...

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

) and Jesse Frasure (

Thomas Rhett Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

). The lead single, "Old School Groove" was released as a Sirius XM Highway Find in early 2017. She has been included in Nashville Lifestyles' 2017 Ones to Watch,

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

Country's New Artists You Need to Know, and premiered the music video for "Old School Groove" on CMT. Currently she is the cohost on Coffee Country and Cody on Circle TV network.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jo American women country singers American country singer-songwriters People from Baker County, Georgia Columbia Records artists Living people 1985 births BNA Records artists RCA Records artists 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)