It took a case of beer and a Stone Temple Pilots song for Dallas Smith to finally work up the courage to sing in front of his friends at a garage party one night.
Until that point, the 20-something Walnut Grove Secondary graduate sang only in seclusion — in the car, the shower, alone at home.
But after his five minutes of fame with his friends, he found himself the new lead singer of his high school buddies’ band, Default.
Within three months Chad Kroeger of Nickelback was listening to their demo and within a year Default had sold more than one million records in the U.S.
“That night was the first time I had ever sang in front of anybody since I was four or five years old,” Smith recalled.
“I used to sing lots when I was a kid. My mom used to sing with a women’s choir and my dad used to play guitar around the house. But I got to that age and I just hit a shyness and I never got over it until that point.”
Smith, along with fellow Walnut Grove grads Jeremy Hora and Danny Craig and band member Dave Benedict, soon found themselves traveling to Afghanistan, Asia, Europe and Australia after Wasting My Time became a hit in 2001-02.
They went on to win a Juno Award for Best New Group in 2002 and their first album, The Fallout went platinum in both Canada and the United States.
But after nearly a decade of rock success with the release of three more albums, something just didn’t click for Smith.
“I really started to not like what was going on rock radio,” Smith said.
“I liked some of it, but I was all of a sudden like, OK, Keith Urban, that’s killer, I like this. Rascal Flatts, I love this.”
And then he did something many people in the music industry didn’t see coming — Smith went country.
He started talking to his producer Joey Moi about a possible genre change, and when things began slowing down for Default, he knew the time had finally come.
“I was on tour with Three Days Grace, and it was an awesome tour, amazing opportunity to go and do, anyone would have been really happy to do it,” Smith explained.
“But I was miserable. I hated it.
“I didn’t like what I was doing. I didn’t like where I was at, which in the music business if you’re not happy doing what you’re doing — it’s too up and down to go through it and not be enjoying what you’re doing.
“At that point I knew I needed the change and … I messaged Joey, ‘country record?’ And he messaged me back ‘you ready?’ And when the tour was over two weeks later, I went straight down to Nashville and started the record.
“It just happened when the time was right, when I was ready to do it.”
Smith worked a year and a half on the project, finally releasing the album Jumped Right In in Canada in May, 2012.
Despite some skepticism, Smith was an instant hit — his first single Somebody Somewhere was soon the most played Canadian country song on Canadian radio.
He’s since released four more singles, has toured across Canada with fellow Langley country artist Chad Brownlee, was nominated for single of the year and rising star at the Canadian Country Music Award. He was also was nominated for six British Columbia Country Music Awards and won for best video of the year, and was nominated for country album of the year at the 2013 Juno Awards.
“It’s completely bizarre to me,” Smith said.
“It just feels like my career has taken a whole new life. I’m loving it again, it’s me, I have full control over everything.
“It’s a whole new group of musicians and a whole new group of everyone from radio. It’s a rebirth.”
Smith attributes his success in Canada to his rock background.
A lot of doors were opened for him in Nashville because of Default, he said.
“I come from a different world,” Smith explained. “So (Joey and I) came in with fresh new eyes and ears. His production is different, it’s glossier, which is now going on with country. The lines have blurred. So we came in as a Canadian country artist that really had a different look at it.
“With country, it’s not gimmicky. It’s the song and the voice and that’s it. If you get it right, it’s right and it does well.”
The genre also offered Smith a new challenge vocally. It’s about acting out the song and making people feel the lyrics, he said, which is completely different from rock.
With the last Default record he recorded all of the vocals in two days. With the country album, it took 18 months to master.
“It wasn’t just get in there and sing the songs, it was you got to get them perfect,” Smith said, “because it is all about the vocal take of the song.”
The most difficult piece for him, and also his favourite song on the album, was Jumped Right In. This is the song that taught him how his voice would sound in country, he said.
“(I sing) completely differently now,” Smith acknowledged with a laugh. Even the guys in Default have noticed. When the band played a show in January, “the guys were all laughing at me, saying I was singing everything differently,” he said.
“I came back and was singing all those songs the way that I do now, singing country. It’s got all those cracks and pops as opposed to trying to be technically good. I was allowing my voice to break and do all those cracks that work in country.”
Now the singer/songwriter is gearing up for summer festival season. When he’s not at home in Walnut Grove with his new wife and son, Carson, Smith will be playing country festivals across Canada.
On July 27 he will perform with Aaron Pritchett at the Cloverdale Amphitheatre for the Gone Country — Here for the Cure cancer fundraiser. Tickets are available at www.ticketweb.ca and are $42 regular price, or $30 each for bulk purchases of five or more. The proceeds will benefit the ShaunG Foundation for fighting cancer. For more information, visit the Facebook page Twins Cancer Fundraiser.
