It's rare in the mainstream music world to find a more seasoned "new" artist than Granger Smith. Over the past five years, Granger's career in Texas and the Southwest has taken off to where he's able to sell out venues. With the release of this record, Remington, Granger has hit the mainstream and I can easily say it's a continuation of the work he has done over the years.
The album's lead single, the chart topping "Backroad Song," has set the table for the rest of Remington and the writer/production partnership with Frank Rogers has bore considerable fruit with nine of the fifteen tracks on the album coming from the partnership. Of the other six, Granger wrote four with only two tracks ("If The Boot Fits" & "Blue Collar Dollars") coming from outside writers. What this means is that fans get to know who Granger Smith really is as an man while they also get three Earl Dibbles Jr tracks ("Yee Yee") to see that even Granger's comedic alter ego has grown as well.
The title track is a strong, unique route to a love song comparing Granger's personality and qualities to that of the iconic rifle from the gun manufacturer. Meanwhile, "Crazy As Me" is another love song but instead of comparing himself to a gun, Granger says he found the one woman who is as crazy as him (it features Brooke Eden on harmony vocals too). Both of these songs are instantly relatable to anyone which is required in the mainstream. Those two outside songs? "If The Boot Fits" certainly sounds like a hit to me, as does "Blue Collar Dollars" but for as hit worthy they are, it is Granger's own songs which feel like the best potential singles on this record of radio ready material. Both "Echo" and "Likin' Love Songs" among the potential hits as are two songs very personal to Granger, "Tractor," a self-penned, loving tribute to his father while "5 More Minutes" is one that honors the roots of his raising while also reminding us, as all truly great country songs do, of the simple truth that we should enjoy our loved ones as much as possible while they're here on earth.
It'd be easy to write off Granger's Earl Dibbles Jr material as but a bit of musical comedy and while that element is there, the songs like "Country Boy Love," "City Boy Stuck" and "'Merica" are just as strong as the other dozen songs on the album. They're fun and part of the story of how Granger Smith became a the touring star he is now.
#YeeYee
0 Comments