Granger Smith Calls Signing With BBR Music Group ‘The Right Move With the Right People’

After releasing seven studio albums, a live album and two EPs independently, Granger Smith signed with BBR Music Group in August of 2015. The singer-songwriter is now the flagship artist on the label's newest imprint, Wheelhouse Records -- but the Texan admits that he never wanted to sign with a record label until he met with BBR.

"A lot of people were asking me, ‘Why? Why would you sign with a label?' And the goal all along was [to] find the relationship, search for the relationship -- somebody that believed in what we were doing and then understood the goal. And didn’t want to take any creativity out of it but wanted to magnify that with us," Smith tells The Boot. "And we found that with BBR. They’ve lived up to that. They let us make the record that we wanted to make. If we feel very strongly about anything, they say, ‘Do it. If that’s your thing, do it.’"

Although he spent more than 15 years making his own music on his own terms, once Smith signed with BBR Music Group, he never looked backed.

"... We knew that it was the right move and with the right people," Smith says. "And then, a week later, we got on iHeartRadio, and we got on On the Verge with iHeartCountry. It was just one thing after another. It started with that signing, [and] it’s been, like, more good news, more good news, more good news, after a decade of stagnant."

Prior to his major-label signing, Smith took the Texas music scene by storm thanks in part to his large social media presence, including Facebook and Twitter, which he says helped him quickly become a household name.

"I think it’s huge. I think it’s very beneficial," Smith maintains of social media. "Before there was radio or TV or anything, there was only social media. And so, we learned quickly that that was to be closer to them. Even if you just favorited a tweet, they were like, ‘Granger Smith favorited a tweet!’ It’s really not that difficult to do that, but people take that so seriously. They come to shows, and they feel like they know us.

"My whole band, they’re all really active. My sound guy, my tour manager, they’re also active on Twitter ...," Smith adds. "We take it so seriously."

Smith will release his first album with Wheelhouse Records, Remington, on March 4. Fans can visit Smith’s website, GrangerSmith.com, for information on show dates, merchandise and more.