Juliet Schroder
We couldn’t contain our excitement when we heard that Smithfield was hitting the road with Granger Smith for his Don’t Tread On Me Tour, so when they stopped in New York City recently (January 18), CS Country headed to the show at Irving Plaza to see our favs perform!
“I’m super excited to perform tonight! I love New York City. We played Gramercy last year and that was really cool. This venue is just as cool as that one so we’re pumped,” band member Jennifer Fielder told us backstage.
The Texas-bred duo are the official support on Granger’s winter tour, where they perform a short, jam-packed set filled with fan favorites, covers, and never-before-heard originals.
“We like to come out with a lot of energy and take you through a musical roller coaster of emotions,” Trey Smith said. “And tonight,” Jennifer added, “we’ll be playing some new music that isn’t even released yet. So that is exciting to see fans’ reactions, or to see those who haven’t seen us before to get their reactions to our new music as well.”
With their unmatchable harmonies that always seem to take us by surprise, the duo brought Music City vibes to the Big Apple as they performed each song for the large audience. Their performance definitely exemplified their musical talent and diversity, which is the reason why they are one of our favorite country duos (and ones to watch) on the market right now.
“We love to perform with Granger because we love how personable he is. Not a lot of artists come to us, seek us out and say hi, and try to get to know us. Granger did that and I really respect him for it,” Fielder shared when we asked what her favorite thing about Granger was.
The best part of Smithfield’s performance had to be when they sang their single “Hey Whiskey.” Originally called “too dark” and “depressing” by the duo’s former record label, the track is now on its way to Country Radio and is receiving such positive feedback from fans and critics alike.
“We wanted to do a show in Nashville to make the announcement that we were taking ‘Hey Whiskey’ to country radio. This has been something that has been six years in the making since we moved to Nashville — it’s just what you strive for as an artist; to be able to take your song to terrestrial country radio,” Trey said.
“Every year we do something that surprises people. It was really cool. Our immediate team knew obviously what was going on, but for the rest of the industry and our friends, we couldn’t say anything for a couple of months,” Jennifer added. “It was really cool to say that this song that has been on The Highway and was big last year is going to get an even bigger shot this year. That was so cool to announce that!”
“We call it ‘our little song that could’ because its been through so much, its had its ups and downs, and it got us here,” Trey continued.
Smithfield plans to “put out a new record this year” as well as “tour a lot and play festivals this summer.” The duo is currently on tour with Granger Smith until February 15th with ticket information here.
