Granger Smith, the country music singer-songwriter, has announced his retirement from the music industry.
In a recent post on his social media pages, the 43-year-old revealed that his upcoming tour, named after his son, "Like a River," will be his last.
Smith is set to devote his life to ministry at his local church outside Austin, Texas, where he will be working towards a master's degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Smith admitted that for a while, he had been yearning for a new sense of purpose. While some people in his circle suggested sharing his faith through song, Smith realized that it was not enough. "It wasn't ever about finding the best platform to tell people about Christ," he said.
"The first thing that needed to happen was I needed to make myself smaller because I was exalting myself on the stage. I was glorifying myself. I was seeking praise from people. And by doing that, it doesn't matter if I was proclaiming Christ because I was doing it the wrong way."
He continued, "I was proclaiming Christ from a self-exalting platform. And that was the contradiction I finally had to come to terms with. I might have a stage down the road, but right now I need to completely surrender that and give it over to God."
Smith is eager to be an active member of his church, which will allow him to give back to his local community and connect with those who are feeling lost in their lives.
This desire stems from personal experience, as Smith lost his three-year-old son in 2019 when the child fell into their pool and drowned. Smith's wife, Amber, later revealed that their son's donated organs helped save the lives of two people, and the family has used their social media platform to share water safety tips.
Smith reflected on his son's passing in an upcoming memoir, "Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward After Loss and Heartache," which will be released on August 1.
"Most of it was failure," he said. "Trying to figure out how I was going to wake up in the morning and start a new day knowing I have a dead son is something that I failed at for months and months I was going to do anything so that I could be strong for my family. Nothing was working."
Smith's faith has given him a lifeline, and he feels that his story will give people "hope." He believes that there is a kind of joy that can coexist with grief and that people can be grieving and yet joyful, hopeful, and at peace.
"You could be grieving and yet joyful and hopeful and have peace about that. That is my journey. A lot of people have different journeys on how to get to that location, but this is my journey on how I got there," he said.
Smith's final show is scheduled for August 26. While he won't miss sleeping on tour buses, he said he will miss the outpouring of support from fans over the years. "There's a lot I'm going to miss in country music," he said. "I do it and I did it because I loved telling stories through songs that people could relate to That's what I loved most about it seeing those reactions from people as we took them on a journey."
Login