‘Catch of the Day” – Canaan Smith [AUDIO] “Hole In A Bottle”

Today the spotlight falls on a young artist who has competed on reality television and who we just announced this morning will be our special guest for the Lawton stop on the Taste of Country Christmas tour, coming to Scooters on November 21st.

Canaan Smith first stepped onto the national stage age a competitor on the reality series The Amazing Race, but he has been pursuing a music career a lot longer than that. Smith began pursuing his musical dream at an early age. He was only in the sixth grade when he formed a band with his two best friends, and they remained together through their senior year of high school, writing, recording and performing. And long before anyone had ever heard of Kickstarter, Smith and his band raised money to record their first album by selling advance copies to their friends at school.

In 2001 Smith moved from his native Williamsburg, VA to Nashville to attend Bellmont University, the same country music "factory" that gave us singers and songwriters like Ashley Clark, Sarah Buxton, Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley (Florida-Georgia Line), Sarah Cannon (better know as Minnie Pearl) and Brad Paisley among others. Smith returned home to Virgina after graduation, but Nashville kept calling his name and he returned in 2009, concentrating on his songwriting. His first success was with Love & Theft's 2009 top-10 hit "Runaway".

Smith began working on a recording career and in 2012 released the single "We Got Us". He was voted by Country Weekly and Roughstock magazines as one of their "Ones To Watch In 2012". His debut single peaked at #44 on the country chart, and he went back to work on a debut album.

In September of 2014, Smith released his second single "Love You Like That', and was voted by Billboard magazine as one of its "10 New Country Artists You Need To Know" in its fall country issue. The song climbed the charts slowly, taking 42 weeks until finally hitting the top on July 25th. The single was featured on Smith's self-titled debut EP, which released in March as well as his debut album Bronco, which released in June.

Smith has toured with Florida-Georgia Line, Jana Kramer and Dierks Bentley, but the Taste of Country Christmas tour will be his first chance at headlining. The second single from Bronco is in our spotlight today, Canaan Smith and "Hole In A Bottle" is our Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again. Especially November 21st at Scooters!