Granger Smith is “On The Verge” of Becoming the Next Bro-Country Sensation
Anyone know the best chemical to remove a big “Yee Yee!” sticker off your back window?
The writing was on the wall when Granger Smith told Thirty Tigers to take a hike and signed to Broken Bow Records back in August. Broken Bow is the home of Jason Aldean, Randy Houser, and a dozen other mainstream artists you’ve probably heard of, but are not worth listening to. Similar to Big Machine Records, while many of the legacy majors in Nashville struggle to keep their rosters full with meaningful talent, Broken Bow continues to expand and add imprints, including their most recent one called Wheelhouse, of which Granger was one of their initial signings.
You knew it was only a matter of time before Broken Bow did their worst with Granger, who despite having quite a worthy past catalog of country music from early in his career, has since become the poster boy of the Texas country star selling out to Nashville for a chance at superstardom.
Still, from the outside looking in, it appeared like it could be a challenge for Broken Bow to develop Granger Smith beyond the Texas music scene. For starters, Granger is overshadowed by his alter ego, the comedic Earl Dibbles Jr., who accounts for significantly more interest than Granger by some three or four fold. At the same time Earl Dibbles Jr. was blowing up a few years ago, Granger was moving in a direction to hopefully catch the attention of mainstream country. But in an incredibly crowded field, Granger Smith was just one of many without any mainstream radio play.
Now that has all changed. Granger’s incredibly generic and pandering new single “Backroad Song” has just been sent to mainstream country radio proper. And with a big Nashville label behind it now, the single has become the 2nd most added song to country radio stations in the last two consecutive weeks, and is about to get yet another power boost of infinite proportions.
Announced Thursday (10-15), Granger’s “Backroad Song” will be the next single to reap the benefit of iHeartMedia’s “On The Verge” program. Set up to showcase new singles from emerging artists, it is a way to gerrymander an artist to the top by giving them extra plays and features throughout the largest radio network in America. The “On The Verge” program was behind the recent success of songs and artists such as Sam Hunt’s “Leave The Night On,” Raelynn’s “God Made Girls,” A Thousand Horses “Smoke,” and Chris Janson’s “Buy Me A Boat.” It’s basically a way to guarantee an artist a hit.
READ: Song Review Granger Smith’s “Backroad Song”
Especially with the strong start the single enjoyed right out of the gate, there’s no stopping “Backroad Song” or Granger Smith now. No matter how listeners react, no matter how generic the song is, he’s now poised to impact the mainstream in a big way for better or worse.
October 15, 2015 @ 6:34 pm
Oh great! we got another bro-country singer .
October 15, 2015 @ 6:39 pm
I like it. Its different and unique.
October 15, 2015 @ 6:46 pm
In most music styles, it’s usually a good thing when an underground artist with a large grassroots following signs to a major label. This gives an artist who initially seemed too different for the mainstream a chance to reach the masses. A number of great rock bands signed with major labels after developing a following with only college radio airplay or none at all.
In country, some of the worst offenders of the past seven years came from the “unsigned stars” category.
The first big one I can recall was Brantley Gilbert. He started on the small Average Joe’s label and developed a huge following thanks to frequent touring and co-writing “Dirt Road Anthem.”
Then came Florida Georgia Line of the Big Loud Mountain label who were posting surprisingly strong sales of their single “Cruise” despite not having much support from country radio.
Next, Cole Swindell came out of nowhere when he recorded his song, “Chillin’ It,” which posted solid sales numbers despite the fact that he was unsigned.
Then Old Dominion drew some interest with their single “Shut Me Up” and posted impressive sales of their self titled EP released via ReeSmack records.
Heck, Blackjack Billy almost became the next big underground star with their single “The Booze Cruise” becoming the best selling song on iTunes by a band without a label in the first half of 2013.
How are these grassroots underground favorites even worse than the established mainstream stars? It’s the complete opposite of what it should be!
October 15, 2015 @ 6:55 pm
just about every artist you listed with the exception of Brantley (he was opening for Eric church for a bit when he was on the rise selling out 2k seat places) and raelynn being on the voice were products of John marks and xm the highway. He’s had to account for a lot of the signings to major labels, although he didn’t sign them himself. He just showcased them on a fairly big platform.
October 15, 2015 @ 10:16 pm
I think this is a bit different. Granger Smith has been around a while, and has had some decent output in the past. It’s just taken a turn for the worse, sadly. But he isn’t just popping up out of nowhere.
October 16, 2015 @ 8:26 am
Sirius XM the Highway was behind the bands you mentioned other than maybe Brantley. SXM has a huge impact on sales
October 15, 2015 @ 7:01 pm
I seen granger Sunday night here in buffalo. Had to be 400 people there or so. I bet six songs of his own the fans knew every word- not even a C list artist would get that unless doing covers. Some of his dates were also bought by aeg for the rest of his tour. He did three covers in a row of songs that meant something to him- run by George strait I remember for sure. He sounded pretty good. He was taller and much more cut than he seems anyways. He did do his best to stay and sign for every fan when it was over.
October 15, 2015 @ 7:12 pm
I have been hoping and praying that Granger doesn’t go too far towards bro-country or pop-country. He’s one of my favorite singers and he’s awesome live. I’m not a huge fan of his “Earl” guise, but it’s fun when you’re in the mood for that. All that said, I actually really like Backroad Song. I think it fits nicely in his wheelhouse. What makes me nervous though is his song “Tonight”. That has bro country written all over it and it does not suit him. I’m really hoping he stays true to what he knows and doesn’t sell out. Please Granger…
October 15, 2015 @ 8:16 pm
It’s like they keep remaking the same damn song over and over. You’d think that after the first ten times, people would be tired of it.
October 16, 2015 @ 7:32 am
“It”™s like they keep remaking the same damn song over and over. You”™d think that after the first ten times, people would be tired of it.”
As a writer , its been interesting ( and frustrating ) listening to publisher feedback on our material over the years . They ALWAYS say ‘ we want ‘fresh’….something that no one’s done yet ‘ .So you send ‘fresh’ to them and they ALWAYS reply with ‘ we’re looking for something like what Luke Bryan or Jason Aldean are doing ( or the current flavor ) ‘. Its sort of the running joke with songwriters . The industry wants what sells .They don’t really know ‘fresh’ . If bad , cliche-riddled bro crap can be forced upon people and make money time and time again , the publisher wants more of the same . They don’t want ‘ fresh’ at all , in the truest sense. They want what they’ve seen sell already no matter the genre . And that’s the business part of the music business . The sad thing is that it takes a while and a lot of $$$ and time and energy for writers to understand this.
October 16, 2015 @ 7:51 am
From American Songwriter magazine . Apparently you are the SONGWRITER /ARTIST of the year based on sales …. ….”
” Taylor Swift was awarded Songwriter/Artist of the Year for the seventh time in nine years, due to the success of her latest album, 1989. “
October 15, 2015 @ 8:47 pm
I’m not that worried about Granger Smith. At least this song’s arrangement is entirely organic. I don’t hear any electronic bullshit, thankfully. He’s also not talented enough as a vocalist to reach superstardom. His voice is rather limited and it will keep him from becoming anything notable.
October 15, 2015 @ 8:57 pm
The Auto-tune on that track is the most egregious I’ve heard this side of that live George Strait record.
October 15, 2015 @ 9:19 pm
Speaking of George Strait, are you planning to review “Cold Beer Conversation”? I haven’t yet heard any of the songs on the album, and I would love to hear your thoughts about it.
October 15, 2015 @ 9:45 pm
I appreciate the interest people have in my opinions on albums, and I am always working on reviews and trying to post as many as I can. I value requests for reviews, and suggestions of things I might find worthy of reviewing. In the end, I have to find the time, and the inspiration, and the words for a review and this is not always as easy as a task as it may seem. Just wanting to review an album doesn’t get one written, and just because I write something else doesn’t mean time was taken from an album review. Obviously George Strait’s new album is on my radar. If and when I finish a review for it, I will post it.
October 15, 2015 @ 10:59 pm
‘Not talented enough as a vocalist to reach superstardom’
Luke Bryan, FGL guy, Blake Shelton, Sam Hunt, Brantley Gilbert, other superstars are all average/below average vocalists. Granger is the same talent as all of them, all sound the same anyways.
October 16, 2015 @ 8:21 am
One thing Blake Shelton’s not is an average or below average vocalist. I’d say Luke is above average too. Actually same with Hunt and Gilbert. They just do a style you seem to not like but I’m betting if they did sing a song in a style you actually liked you wouldn’t say they’re average or below average.
October 16, 2015 @ 11:28 am
I would agree with you on Luke and Blake not being bad vocalists, but I completely disagree with you about Gilbert and Hunt not being bad vocalists. At the highest they are below average vocalists, that video posted here months ago of Hunt trying to sing live with Yoakam was terrible and Brantley Gilbert sounds like he is constipated when he sings.
Gilbert especially is a case of a guy with below average vocals who skirts by thanks to noisy production, repetitive lyrics and lots and lots of studio help. Same goes for Aldean who sounds god awful at every single “live” performance he gives.
October 16, 2015 @ 1:51 pm
Well, that’s just a subjective thing. Dwight Yoakam isn’t the best of vocalists either by that margin but he does well with what he has as a stylist. Aldean is very nasal (like Tyler from FGL) but that’s just two more of a long tradition of country singers singing through their noses. Gilbert shows his voice on “One Hell Of An Amen.” Again, while not rang-y, it’s nowhere near terrible thing that needs studio help. Actually, he’s not far off Eric Church in that regard. Again, what is or isn’t a good voice is usually in the ear of the listener and highly subjective. I mean It’s clear that Hunt, Bryan, Tyler of FGL, Aldean, Gilbert and others who have had success aren’t crooners or the most technically gifted of vocalists (Again, I’d say Shelton clearly is even if his material may not be). They do different things well.
Of the mainstream guys, Shelton, Justin Moore, Chris Young, Brett Eldredge and Charles Kelley and Zac Brown are perhaps the top 6 true vocalists and if they put out more ‘meaningful’ material (which is subjective again) a la an Isbell or Stapleton or Brandon Rhyder, well, we’d be having different discussions. But I suspect many of these guys get thrown under the bus as bad singers because the material isn’t suitable for most of the people who populate the comment sections here.
October 16, 2015 @ 12:28 am
Ironically, one of his albums and a single was ”Don’t listen to the radio” back in 2009. I was expecting this from Smith. All his songs and videos were like a Chevy ad.
October 16, 2015 @ 12:35 am
I like Granger. He’s a good guy who gives of himself to help veterans. It’s a shame he has to conform to get any sort of air play when his music has always been solid. This is not my favorite song, but I’m still a fan.
October 16, 2015 @ 4:37 am
He sure looks the part…
October 16, 2015 @ 1:52 pm
He’s looked the same for over a decade, well before the Bro country ‘movement’ was even on anyone’s radar or the term in their lexicon.
October 16, 2015 @ 4:55 am
Don’t you think this backroad bit’s done got out of hand?
October 16, 2015 @ 5:50 am
I see what you did there. Like the reference from The Hoss!
October 16, 2015 @ 6:03 am
Honestly….I’m not surprised. Nor am I all that disheartened. Granger Smith was a guy who I never paid a ton of attention to until he did the whole Earl Dibbles Jr. thing (which quickly became played out). Much like Eli Young before him or his contemporaries like Casey Donahew, Josh Abbott and Rich O’Toole they represent the segment of Texas Country that so desperately wants to become mainstream they don’t even try and hide it.
If this was Wade Bowen or Chris Knight or Jason Boland or Drew Kennedy or Jason Eady, etc, etc. I would be horrified….but it’s Granger Smith. No big loss IMO.
October 16, 2015 @ 6:11 am
From what I’ve heard of Granger Smith, he makes Josh Abbott sound like Jason Boland….
October 16, 2015 @ 8:02 am
I don’t know, both have moved pretty pop heavy with their latest releases. The new song by Josh Abbott is damn near adult contemporary. Seems if you want to sell out in Country music you have a choice….either chase the Bro-Country audience or the Adult Contemporary audience ala Rhett and Paslay and Owen.
October 16, 2015 @ 8:09 am
Fair point! I was mainly thinking more of JAB’s earlier releases. Haven’t listened to anything from the new album yet…
Regardless, Granger Smith still sucks!
October 16, 2015 @ 6:22 am
I can definitely see how this will be constantly played. The Mumfords-like “ooh-oh-oohhh” is just catchy enough to stick on your brain throughout the day. It is not the worst song on the radio. However, when there are artists like Willy Tea Taylor, Possessed by Paul James and Charlie Parr out there not getting any airplay, it makes you shake your head. Oh well, MSM can keep this generic music and we will be just fine with the great “underground” music.
October 16, 2015 @ 7:34 am
I’d love to see John Marks’ bank account. He’s making a killing off of payola.
October 16, 2015 @ 8:23 am
John Marks no longer works at SiriusXM. He’s actually not working anywhere at the moment. He stepped away for personal reasons.
October 16, 2015 @ 9:09 am
I’ve been trying to trace the orgin of this dastardly form of music….I’m blaming Bon Jovi and their Lost Highway album for starting bro country!
October 16, 2015 @ 10:17 am
This could be a lot worse (see Thomas Rhett). I have to say, I used to love to put on the mainstream country station for a fix of that style once in awhile. You’d hear a lot of cool stuff with some good lyrics still coming through. After I don’t know how long it’s been…years… I put it on a station up here the other day. Wow, I wasn’t sure I had the right station. It’s not all that much different than the dance pop station my kids listen too. More guitars/less electronics but not by much.
Can all these former frat guy/quarterback types that now rule mainstream country please just sing about anything different than the usual. Surprise me…even writing about the keeper you dropped in the toilet yesterday would be refreshing. I think every back road has been written about on the map!
Don’t mean to be too graphic, just Kickin’ Up Some Dust on SCM! haha…
October 17, 2015 @ 4:01 am
I haven’t listened to mainstream radio in years, but our local station was on when I turned on the car yesterday. The song playing was Allison Krauss’ version of “When You Say Nothing At All,” which was a pleasant surprise. When the next song started, I thought someone had changed the station (which would have been strange since I was alone in the car), but it turns out it was a Sam Hunt song. I guess it’s not possible to play two actual country songs in a row on a “country” station.
October 16, 2015 @ 10:26 am
Hey lookie here what I posted to some protest on June 19, 2012. Its been a crap Friday so I’m going to go ahead and be smug about this.
“This is all well and good but Granger Smith”™s tunes are absolutely made in the mold of nashville pop-country. Or more accurately made in the new texas country style of running Matchbox 20 through a country filter. Very much in the Eli Young vein.”
October 16, 2015 @ 11:20 am
Wow. That was paint by numbers.
October 16, 2015 @ 12:06 pm
If this wasn’t one of 10,000 songs exactly like this and the production didn’t sound so… off, it might not be so bad. I can hear an actual melody and some warm vocals trying to come out from behind that autotune. As it is, it’s bland tripe so will probably be a top 10 hit. And UGH, is there a rule every song has to have an “ooohooooh” or “ohhhhohhhh” or “whooooawhoooooa” part now? Enough already!
October 16, 2015 @ 3:41 pm
Wait,…………………wait, I KNOW! How about……………………..”La la laaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” 😉
October 16, 2015 @ 3:40 pm
This sounds like a Frankenstein-esque mash of Joe Nichols’ “Yeah” and Blake Shelton’s “Sure Be Cool If You Did”: both already lousy songs as they were.
Do I think this is the worst country/”country” single ever released? Far from it. Its main sin is sheer mediocrity if anything. But this is definitely among the most heartaching sellouts in all recent memory, and the rest of his EP “4X4” is hardly any different.
In an odd time where Big Machine Label Group has mightily struggled with airplay promotion of its roster acts, Broken Bow and Sony are the indomitable forces to reckon with in the meanwhile (ever since the turnover at the top at Sony, they have gotten noticeably more aggressive with how “Save It For A Rainy Day” got three weeks at #1 and denied both Keith Urban and Chris Janson’s latest hits the top spot, and I suspect we’ll be seeing more of this aggression on their end from here on out). Smith definitely got a raw deal here.
October 22, 2015 @ 11:55 am
You beat me to it! First thing i thought of was Yeah by Joe Nichols. I guess old Joe didn’t take the song far enough so they are trying again!
October 16, 2015 @ 3:55 pm
On a side note, I simply don’t get the logic of granting ultra-payola to a song on terrestrial radio when it is already off to a solid start (it gained 1.3 million in audience this past week) as is.
I hate the idea of chart manipulation regardless, but at the very least could it be applied to someone who doesn’t have the luxury of a strong label or broader name recognition? William Michael Morgan would have been a solid fit in terms of eligibility, for instance.
If there’s ANY silver lining here (which there isn’t, really)……………….I’m just relieved Dallas Smith’s “Kids With Cars” didn’t get this treatment. It was being speculated that “Kids With Cars” or Chris Lane’s “Fix” would get the “On The Verge” payola next because of Clay Hunnicutt’s clout with Big Loud Records. Hunnicutt has been previously affiliated with iHeart Media and knows a lot about how to market acts, so there was a lot of buzz suggesting either of his roster’s acts would get “On The Verge” next.
Thank Jove the monstrosity that is “Kids With Cars” (Dallas Smith is Joey Moi’s toxic experiment north of the border, who has so far spared United States country radio) has been ruled out from “On The Verge”. A miniscule victory, but a miniscule victory all the same! =P
October 16, 2015 @ 5:17 pm
Chris Lane’s “Fix” could still be the next “On The Verge” act. The single isn’t even at radio yet.
As for the early love at radio, it was likely quietly told to iHeart teams that this was the next one and to add it already.
October 16, 2015 @ 5:52 pm
I suppose that may have been the case.
Still, “Backroad Song” was already performing above average in both streaming and sales (they were more middling in recent weeks, but debuted very strong) before this deal was even cut. And Broken Bow would all but certainly have ensured its success at radio in the longer term even if he hadn’t.
I think the IDEA of “On The Verge” is well-intentioned, which is helping new names with a lot of word-of-mouth potential beneath their wings catch a break……………….but the way the program actually functions just seems like a complete waste. I still think, if anyone was most deserving of what truly is payola cubed, it would be someone like William Michael Montgomery. Maybe Lindsay Ell (though she’s too poppy for my tastes, but that’s hardly the point here anyway). Hell, Mo Pitney would still be considered new by most listeners and arguably deserves a shot at that.
October 16, 2015 @ 7:08 pm
I don’t understand the logic behind payola, period. In an era when song sales, not to mention album sales, are dropping fast, wouldn’t labels want to make money from radio rather than give it away? Payola sounds like a terrible investment strategy.
October 16, 2015 @ 7:24 pm
It’s all about returns in touring. Since many of these artists are signed to 360 deals, the label gets a cut of touring revenue, merch, songwriting royalties, all of it. Radio is just the advertising tool. You’ve got to spend it to make it.
October 16, 2015 @ 7:07 pm
Go Earl go!!!
October 18, 2015 @ 10:15 am
As much as this disappoints me, it does not surprise me in the least. Smith is a Texas A&M grad, and I believe was in a fraternity, which making him an SEC frat boy also makes him the target audience for bro-country. I have heard some of his earliest works and thought he may be hopefully a bright light in the dark tunnel. But alas, he is now showing his true colors. Not surprised in the least.
October 18, 2015 @ 10:49 am
He graduated from Texas A & M in the early 2000s it appears (he is currently 34 years old) and A & M didn’t join the SEC until 2012 so that would have made him a Big 12 frat boy I guess.
October 19, 2015 @ 12:30 pm
He’s Hot…..I dig him!
October 25, 2015 @ 8:17 pm
I’m not the biggest Granger fan, my wife loves him. Dragged me to a show or two.
Not my style, but his guitar player can play, his drummer is solid and his bass player keeps everyone inline, he can sing live and is entertaining.
He’s also had the same style long before “bro country”
Love his Dip em and pick em video’s.