For newcomer Canaan Smith, country music really is a family tradition. “I get it honest from my dad,” he says proudly. “Actually, my dad was a singer in a band, and he toured regionally. I would go to his rehearsals as a kid. And then one Christmas, they gave us all a room full of instruments. And so, at an early age, I had that at my disposal. I’d go out to the garage and bang on drums or pick up a guitar and just kind of fell in love with it.”
The “Love You Like That” hitmaker admits his dad’s band practices were also where he figured out music was a great way to impress the ladies.
“I remember sitting on the couch in between — the piano player of the band, he had two daughters — and I was sitting in between these two daughters in the other room watching the rehearsal one night, and they started, like, loving up on me,” he recalls. “And I’m, like an eight-year-old. You know, and these girls are only 10. So, it was kind of weird to begin with, but it was awesome at the same time. I just remember thinking, ‘If this is what music gets you, I’m all in.’”
Canaan’s debut album, Bronco, comes out June 23. This Friday night, he kicks off Dierks Bentley’s Sounds of Summer tour in Raleigh, North Carolina, with Kip Moore and Maddie & Tae.
Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
