photo by Mike Carroll
He may not be a household name, but Anthony Smith has left his mark on country music in more ways than you know. We were lucky enough to have him in town this past Thursday, April 11th for an intimate acoustic show at Guanabana’s in Jupiter, FL thanks to Bart Roy Productions. I had the chance to meet Anthony before the show, and he is a genuinely nice, down-to-earth guy.
His set list featured several songs that even the casual country music fan would recognize, as he has written several hits that were recorded by many of today’s superstars. He got the show started with “What Do Ya Think About That,” a song that Montgomery Gentry took to #3 on the charts in 2007. He then did George Strait‘s 2001 #2 hit “Run,” before launching into “Metropolis,” a song that was on his debut album If That Ain’t Country, which was released in 2002. While never released as a single, “Metropolis” was cut by Trace Adkins on his 2005 album Songs About Me. He then performed “Chrome,” another song recorded by Trace Adkins, which peaked at #10 on the charts in 2002.
Smith then performed his highest charting single as a solo artist, “If That Ain’t Country,” which peaked at #26 in 2002. While it didn’t crack the Top 25 on the charts, it is still a popular song that gets played at events such as between sets at the Kiss Country Chili Cookoff. He then played George Strait‘s “Cowboys Like Us,” which peaked at #2 in 2003, and “Half a Man,” a song that Smith charted at #40 off his debut album in 2003.
photo by Mike Carroll
The next song was “Didn’t I,” a song that he was asked to write for the Mel Gibson movie, “We Were Soldiers.” It was recorded by Montgomery Gentry for the soundtrack, and peaked at #45 on the charts. It’s a great song, so if you haven’t heard it yet, go check it out.
He went on to perform a few more songs, including “Infinity” from his debut album and Trace Adkins‘ “I’m Tryin’,” which hit #6 in 2001. He closed the show with his song, “Up to the Depths,” which was also on his debut album. What made this special was the fact that SFCM Featured Artist Tom Jackson, who was sitting in the front row, had recorded this song on his Southern Thang album. It would’ve been cool to see them sing the song together, but he was already going over on the allotted time as it was.
Overall it was a great night of live music in a beautiful outdoor setting on the water in Jupiter. Besides his debut album, Anthony Smith also independently released an album titled Sunshine in 2009 that you can pick up. Sadly, there are currently no albums out that contain the hits he’s written for others, but hopefully that will happen one day. Smith did confide that his debut album, If That Ain’t Country, is going to be re-released in the near future, so keep your eyes open for that. Maybe there will be some surprise additions to it!