Granger Smith Talks About His First #1 Single, Explains Earl Dibbles, Jr. + Performs Live in Exclusive Interview

Granger Smith has plenty reason to celebrate these days. Fresh off his first Texas chart-topper for 'Silverado Bench Seat', Granger and his alter-ego Earl Dibbles, Jr. have a busy Fall 2013 in store, including show dates in previously uncharted territory for Smith. The singer/songwriter stopped by the KEAN studio to talk about all of that, let us know how his Dibbles character came about, and give us a live acoustic performance, too.

The first part of my conversation with Granger Smith, we talked about his first ever #1 single, 'Silverado Bench Seat'. Smith says "My radio promoter, Angela, told me that a lot of the response from radio was 'Wait, this is only his first?'...the most important thing for me is for fans and friends to hear it on the radio...if people are enjoying it on the radio, that's all it's about.". Take a listen:

The second part of the interview included an in-studio acoustic performance of Granger's 'Gypsy Rain'. Smith also explains how his alter-ego came to be. "Earl Dibbles, Jr. started out as a joke...There's a lot of different characters I've created. Earl was just another one. But this one really took off. I think everyone knows an Earl, I have several in my family...it just took off, it went viral...I had to write a song for him. We called it 'The Country Boy Song'...and at some point we realized this has to be a part of our live show.".

In the final part of my conversation with Granger, he explained why he decided to move back to Texas from Nashville, where he had a songwriting deal. "I really wanted to write songs and play the songs I was writing. And Texas was the perfect platform to do that, and be close to the family, and finish school...I'm never going to move out of Texas again."

Granger is a great dude. Keep track of his tour schedule from his official website, and be sure to "Like" Both Granger Smith and Earl Dibbles, Jr. on Facebook, and you can also follow Smith and Dibbles, Jr. on Twitter.