Fall in New England is an incredible time of year. Leaves are changing colors, the air is getting a little cooler and this weekend it gets even better with Nate Smith making his debut in Maine and New Hampshire as he stops by the Fryeburg Fair on Saturday evening and Smuttynose on Sunday. Before he made the trek to New England, he was kind enough to give us a call to chat about the shows and more!
If you don’t know Nate Smith yet, you soon will. His debut single ‘Whiskey On You’ is climbing the charts and country radio is taking notice as it was the second most added song with 45 first week stations adding the single to their playlists back in June. Nate and his team at Sony Music Nashville/Arista made an absolutely genius decision when it came to teasing the song leading up to the national release. They utilized TikTok and made the song available as a sound pre-release, which led to nearly 80,000 user generated fan videos with the song. When fans went to find the song on streaming and other music platforms, it wasn’t available yet but some of Nate’s other songs were, which caused fans to fall in love with him and his sound so much faster.
The song is inspired by Nate’s real life as he told us that he had gone through a breakup and “luckily I had a writer’s retreat at a lake house two days after so I definitely had some material to sing about and put my whole heart into.” The song just felt right to Nate and initially they were going to release a different song as his debut single, but something in his gut told him this was the song he needed to release as his debut. He began teasing it on social media and soon realized it was connecting with fans.
And boy it did. Fans at every tour stop have been singing the words back to Nate, but when it came to Canada’s infamous Boots and Hearts Festival, it was a whole different level. Nate recalls, “I think that was my favorite show ever. I actually had a main stage spot but Brooke and Stan Dunford, who run Boots and Hearts, came to me and said ‘we think it would better for you and you’d have a moment if you played this stage that Morgan played the a few years ago.’ There was about 10,000 people and I could not believe that they were singing the songs back to me and I just cried. It hit me so hard.”
The tour thus far has been a lot of fun for Nate as he has gotten the chance to meet a log of people and see some new cities. He is “very grateful that people are showing up and selling the places out.” This weekend, fans can expect to hear the songs that they know and some songs that they don’t as Nate is set to release his debut album this coming February. Outside of the music, Nate is excited also as he tells us that his favorite beer in the world is a New England style IPA! “When I come out to Boston, I am definitely going to stop at Trillium; I might make a pit stop at Treehouse.” And for those curious, with Nate playing the Fryeburg Fair tomorrow night, his favorite fair food is a corn dog; “I am a classic corn dog guy.”
There’s a reason why we’ve said that Nate Smith is one of our favorite upcoming artists in the genre. Not only does he put out great music and is really doing things in a non-traditional way using social media as a major tool, but he also is just an extremely down-to-earth artist who is appreciative and grateful for every fan at his show.
Click here to listen to Nate Smith’s music: https://NS.lnk.to/WOY
Follow Nate on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@natesmithmusic
Follow Nate on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natesmith/
Click here to learn more about Nate: https://www.natesmithofficial.com/