After several years of making the rounds in Nashville, country singer/songwriter
Canaan Smith struck gold with "Love You Like That," the platinum-selling chart-topper from his 2014 debut album,
Bronco. Follow-up success seemed assured, but over the coming years, he languished in the major-label system and his career proceeded in fits and starts. By the decade's end, he'd left Mercury Records to sign with
Florida Georgia Line's fledgling Round Here imprint. With a smaller label and a renewed artistic vision,
Smith finally delivered his sophomore album, High Country Sound, in 2021.
Born in Williamsburg, Virginia,
Smith grew up singing along to everything he heard, from
George Strait to
Rage Against the Machine, and that variety and vitality have informed his songwriting style along the way. He relocated to Nashville during his college years and began to gig in the local bars and clubs, though his first taste of success came behind the scenes as the co-writer of
Love and Theft's 2009 hit "Runaway."
Smith eventually landed a publishing deal with
Disney Music and a recording contract with Mercury, which released his debut single, "We Got Us," early in 2012. It was his second single, 2014's "Love You Like That," that put him on the map. Co-written with
Brett and
Jim Beavers, the song eventually hit number one on Billboard's Country Airplay chart and was included on
Smith's 2015 EP and subsequent full-length debut,
Bronco. Produced by
Brett Beavers and
Jimmy Robbins,
Bronco made it to number four on the Country Albums chart and yielded another Top 40 single in "Hole in a Bottle." In spite of this success,
Smith began to feel lost within the noise of Mercury's busy roster and didn't release any more music until 2017's stand-alone singles "Like You That Way" and "This Night Back." Seeking a new direction, he soon parted ways with Mercury and joined Tree Vibez Music, a publishing firm started by
Tyler Hubbard and
Brian Kelley of
Florida Georgia Line.
Smith also became the flagship act on
Hubbard and
Kelley's new label, Round Here Records, with the release of 2019's "Beer Drinkin' Weather." A handful of additional singles appeared over the next year in advance of
Smith's sophomore album, High Country Sound, which arrived in early 2021. ~ Timothy Monger & Steve Leggett