NASHVILLE (CelebrityAccess) – On Wednesday (October 5), the Grand Ole Opry announced the latest addition to its Opry NextStage Class of 2022 with rising singer-songwriter Conner Smith. Smith is the sixth act to join the 2022 class, which includes BRELAND, Callista Clark, Restless Road, Elvie Shane, and Morgan Wade. Smith will return to the Grand Ole Opry to make his NextStage artist debut on Tuesday, October 25.
Watch HERE for Smith’s exclusive NextStage interview discussing his love for songwriting and the Grand Ole Opry visit that led him to write his first song. Smith also performs his brand new single “Take It Slow,” which has nearly 60 million global streams to date.
On being named the Opry NextStage Artist of October, Smith said, “I have been so blessed to see a lot of my dreams come true this year but there has not been a moment comparable to my Grand Ole Opry debut. Standing in that circle, as a kid from Nashville, I truly felt the weight and history of the Grand Ole Opry in all its depth. To be even more accepted by the Opry as a NextStage Artist means more than I can say.”
Signed to BMI at the age of nine, Smith has penned most of his songs including five of the six songs on his debut collection Didn’t Go To Far. The release features his first top 40 hit “Learn From It” and virial smash “I Hate Alabama.”
Named one of Spotify’s Hot Country Artists to Watch for 2022 and Amazon Music’s 2022 Amazon Artists To Watch, the 22-year-old artist was the only Country act named to Pandora’s prestigious all-genre accolade, Artists To Watch 2022: The Pandora Ten list.Main Photo: Conner Smith (Credit: Danielle Piazza)
