He earned a Top 5 album with Remington, a No. 1 hit with "Backroad Song" and a Top 5 hit with "If the Boot Fits." He's opened for Luke Bryan, on Bryan's 2016 Farm Tour, and headlined numerous tours of his own. But one thing Granger Smith has yet to do is hear his name announced in the list of nominees for the CMA Awards.

"You can’t say that I haven’t paid attention to them for the last decade," Smith concedes to The Boot. "That stuff is important to me."

However, Smith still feels like he's part of the greater country music community.

"Country music is a family, and I feel like when we got that No. 1 song with "Backroad Song" a couple years ago, I was accepted into the family for the first time," he continues. "It was like I was trying to get into the club for a long time, and then I felt part of the family."

Smith's desire to remain a part of country music fuels his desire to make the best music he can make, not just for now, but for years to come.

"I’ve often asked the crew -- my guys, my band -- ‘Where do we fall in the history and the future of country music?'" Smith shares. "'Where is our dot? Where do we fall? Are we where Mark Chesnutt was in ’93? Are we where Toby Keith is going to be? Are we this guy who no one even remembers anymore? Where are we in the spectrum in country music?’

"But regardless of all of that, I just am glad to be a part of the family," he adds. "I’m glad that we get to walk on a red carpet and we’re something to the family."

Smith's newest album, When the Good Guys Win, will be released on Oct. 27; the record is available for pre-order on iTunes. A list of all of Smith's upcoming shows is available on his website.

The 2017 CMA Awards are scheduled to air on ABC on Nov. 8, at 8PM ET; the ceremony will take place live at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood will host the ceremony for the 10th year in a row.

The Boot will be staying up late covering the most buzzed-about winners, fashion and moments at the 2017 CMA Awards. Readers can watch along with us by checking back to TheBoot.com for the latest CMAs headlines, liking The Boot on Facebook and following The Boot on Twitter.

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