Granger Smith

So what’s country singer/songwriter Granger Smith up to these days?  Oh, just selling out the 1,500-capacity McMenamins Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Ore., preparing for another outing with Luke Bryan, managing his Yee Yee energy drinks and product line, opening the first Yee Yee Pop-Up Shops, keeping a throttle on his alter ego, Earl Dibbles Jr., and being one of Variety magazine’s “10 Comics To Watch For 2016.”

Granger Smith
Jimmy Davis – Granger Smith

“I had no idea that was going to happen; I didn’t do it,” his agent, Braeden Rountree, told Pollstar. “We started getting offers for him to do standup comedy festivals!’”

Smith, a father of three, has been kicking around the country music scene for decades but only recently hit warp speed.  

Based in Austin, he developed a following in the Texas Red Dirt scene but had his sights set on expanding into nationwide arenas. That was helped with the development of a character named Earl Dibbles Jr., an exaggerated country bumpkin’ stereotype who sings about ‘Merica, guns and chewing tobacco while embracing the redneck cry “yee yee!”

In 2011, Dibbles began as a YouTube / social media project that got 500,000 Facebook followers overnight.  Soon there were shows for “Granger Smith featuring Earl Dibbles Jr.,” where Smith plays 75 minutes and Dibbles handles the encores.

“They were just selling out like crazy. And a lot of people were coming because they knew Earl Dibbles Jr. was going to be there. A lot of them didn’t know Earl was Granger,” Rountree said. “Although, during the course of 2014, people were making the connection.”

Smith made sure his alter-ego would not upstage him. His “Backroad Song” reached No. 1 last year and follow-ups “If The Boot Fits” and “Happens Like That” kept Smith on the top end of terrestrial radio.

Meanwhile, Smith is busy with his annual Boot Walk charity, where he and participants walk 100 miles across Texas in honor of the Armed Forces for the nonprofit Boot Campaign.

“I never foresee him ever letting off the pedal,” Rountree said.  “The charity, these characters – he wants to build the longevity of the brand.”