The air in Nashville is thick, heavy with the scent of rain and the relentless hum of a thousand songwriters trying to find three chords and the truth. On the other end of the line, Dallas Smith sounds like a man who has finally found his lane. He is currently holed up in a recording session, the kind of high-stakes environment where the next Canadian country radio staple is forged in real time.
It is a frantic year for the man who once fronted Default. His latest single, Drop, pulled from the EP *The Fall*, is currently tearing up the charts. But the music is only half the story. Smith is gearing up for a massive autumn run, hitting the road this month for a sprawling country celebration alongside Dean Brody, Chad Brownlee and MacKenzie Porter.
And then there is the small matter of the Canadian Country Music Awards. As the reigning CCMA Male Artist of the Year, Smith is not just attending; he is taking the wheel as a co-host alongside the "Achy Breaky Heart" legend himself, Billy Ray Cyrus. It is an odd-couple pairing that somehow makes perfect sense in the current genre-bending climate.
“Yeah, it should be a lot of fun," Smith says of the hosting gig. "I never in a million years, ever in any part of my life would have thought anything like that was possible. I was really surprised, pleasantly surprised that the CCMAs asked me to do this and to have Billy be the guy co-hosting with you. I met Billy Ray earlier and he’s a really nice guy. If I stumble he’ll pick me up. It’s going to be a great night. He’s been around for a long, long time. He’s a very kind, witty guy so I’m excited to spend some more time with him.”
The ceremony is set to air live on Global Television from the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Sept. 8 at 9 p.m. For Smith, the night is more than just a job. He is walking into the building with four nominations: Fans’ Choice, Male Artist of the Year, Single of the Year and Interactive Artist of the Year.
But despite the hardware on the line, Smith views the CCMAs through a different lens. It is less about the trophy case and more about the backstage camaraderie that defines the Canadian circuit.
“It’s great. I’m excited," he notes. "It’s been going for six, seven years now and it’s always a blast. The nominations are great and stuff. The main thing is just getting to see a lot of the guys you see in passing. At the festivals and other artists but actually being able to spend some time with them. You get to know everybody a bit more. That’s what I love about the CCMAs.”
The conversation shifts to the music, specifically the track Drop. In an era where radio programmers usually dictate the narrative, Smith is letting the data do the talking. The song was co-written by Steven Lee Olsen, a writer who has become something of a secret weapon in the Nashville-to-Canada pipeline.
“It was co-written with Steven Lee Olsen, actually," Smith explains. "He’s recorded it. I was really excited about it. It wasn’t going to be the single we were going to release, but we put it up online and the streaming numbers are telling us that everyone’s really loving Drop, so it’s time to release that on the radio. I’m really glad to see the reaction it’s been getting so far. It’s pretty amazing.”
I’ve always felt more at home in this genre... I think this is where I was meant to be. The rock band thing was just my path to get here.
It is a savvy move. By pivoting based on streaming metrics, Smith is bypassing the traditional gatekeepers and listening to the fans directly. It is a level of transparency that has served him well since he traded the post-grunge grit of rock for the storytelling of country.
The numbers do not lie. Smith has racked up more than 20 singles, and every single one of them has cracked the top 10. That kind of consistency is rare. It suggests that his transition was not a calculated career move, but a return to his natural frequency.
“I’ve always felt more at home in this genre," Smith says. "I think the people can sense, not dishonesty, but that I come across this genre honestly. I think this is where I was meant to be. The rock band thing was just my path to get here.”
And that path now leads to the "Friends Don't Let Friends Tour Alone" Tour. It is a package deal that brings together some of the heaviest hitters in the domestic market. The tour is hitting Southwestern Ontario hard, with stops in Kitchener on Sept. 20, London on Oct. 3, Windsor on Oct. 4 and St. Catharines on Oct. 5.
The pairing with Dean Brody is particularly potent. While their styles differ—Brody often leans into the more traditional, narrative-driven folk-country while Smith leans into the polished, high-octane stadium sound—they share a certain sonic DNA that resonates with the Canadian audience.
“Yeah, he’s a good dude," Smith says of Brody. "I met him a few times at the CCMAs. I just got to know him over the years, he’s a good dude. I’m a big fan of his music, so when we were approached with the idea of doing this tour from our booking agent ... Yeah I was excited about the idea. We kind of do two different things but I think we share a lot of the same sounds. It’s going to be a fun tour.”
Adding Chad Brownlee and MacKenzie Porter to the bill turns a standard concert into a full-blown showcase. There is a deep history here, specifically between Smith and Brownlee, who share more than just a label.
“Of course, yep. Good friends with Chad, they got that golf tournament out in Langley that we have together," Smith says. "I know Chad really well. I’m excited to have him on the tour. He’s had a bit of a resurrection here, he’s been releasing some really, really great music lately. Of course, Mackenzie Porter, she’s extremely, extremely talented. She’s starting to have a bit of a buzz about her down here. I’m excited to give her a bit of a platform.”
The decision to keep the lineup strictly Canadian was a deliberate one. Often, Canadian tours feel the need to import an American headliner to move tickets, but Smith and Brody have enough collective gravity to pull the room on their own.
“It was just built that way this time," Smith explains. "There’s just a lot of talent in Canada, we had no problem finding people to help fill those seats. Why not help out some fellow Canadians.”
But the grind of the road eventually takes its toll. Once the "Friends" tour wraps, Smith is looking toward 2020 with an eye on the horizon. He is planning to take his sound across the pond and beyond, seeking a bit of distance from the relentless cycle of the North American industry.
“Maybe we’ll go to Australia for a bit. Then we are going to do some traveling," he says. "I think we might make it over to Italy for the first time, so we are going to go over and spend a bit of time in Rome it looks like. Get away from it all for a bit.”
It is a well-deserved break. Smith has spent the better part of a decade redefining what a Canadian country star looks like. He is polished, he is professional and he is undeniably authentic. Whether he is standing on a stage in London or walking the streets of Rome, he is carrying the weight of the genre on his shoulders.
And if he stumbles? Well, he has already told us: Billy Ray Cyrus will be there to pick him up. But looking at the trajectory of *The Fall* and the momentum of the current tour, it does not look like Dallas Smith is going to be falling anytime soon. He is far too busy winning.
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