Nate Smith Chats About "Whiskey On You" and His Debut Record

Country singer Nate Smith recently scored his first number-one song on country radio with "Whiskey On You." The track not only went to the top position, but it stayed there for more than one week: something that doesn't happen quite often in the genre. "I was pretty excited when I found out I went number one," Smith shares. "It's a very small margin to even get a number one but then to see it (for) two weeks was really, really special."

Smith moved to Nashville in 2020, but it was his second go around. He originally moved to Nashville in 2008, had a publishing deal, and wrote for other artists before moving back to California after a rocky breakup. Where he lived in California, a small town called Paradise, was plagued by a horrendous wildfire that took everything Smith had. On July 1st, 2020 Smith was able to move back to Nashville after his friends raised money for him through a GoFundMe.

Smith signed his record deal with Sony Music Nashville in 2021, and after releasing singles like "Sleeve," "Raised Up," and "I Don't Wanna Go To Heaven" which did well on TikTok, he has finally shown the world what he's made of in his debut, self-titled record. On why the record is eponymous he puts it simply, "No song in the album seemed like the album title. This is the first one. Here's the body of work. Here's chapters of my life. Let's just keep it simple." The debut record, which contains 20 tracks, is accompanied by a deluxe version that features an additional six songs.

Another pre-release tune that fans have gravitated towards is the stirring entry, "Wreckage." "I wrote it with a few of my friends in town a couple of years ago," Smith states, "It's a song about seeing all the faults in another person and saying, 'I accept you anyways.' I feel like that's true love in my opinion, even though I haven't fully experienced it, I think that might be it." "Wreckage" was written by Smith, alongside Mary Kutter, Chris Sligh, and Paul Wrock.

Other standouts on the project to Smith include "Sleeve," which he deems "the most personal," as well as the opening song "If I Could Stop Loving You" which is the one he's most excited for his fans to hear. When discussing the latter he notes, "It's about not getting over somebody and I think that's something we all experience."

This month, Smith will join Thomas Rhett for his 'Home Team Tour' that will take him across the United States. "He's been doing it for a while. How he is as a leader is going to be important for me to see. How he organizes his team, his stage presence, his interaction with the fans on stage, setlist choices, how he improvises live - I'm gonna be watching all that stuff," he says. "Definitely gonna be a student."

Watch our full interview with the rising singer on our YouTube channel.

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