[4] By the time he was 14, his skills had progressed so much that when his family took a vacation to Nashville, he had his sights set on the Bluebird Cafe's open mic night, only to find it was closed for a holiday.

[4] Undeterred, Smith took his guitar to the lobby of the hotel they were staying and played an impromptu set that was heard by a session player who introduced the young songwriter to producer Buddy Cannon.

[6] After Smith moved to Nashville, Cannon began to introduce him to many accomplished Nashville-based songwriters, including Jim McCormick, Ronnie Bowman, Marla Cannon-Goodman, and Larry McCoy.

[8] The performance caught the attention of Big Machine Label Group CEO, Scott Borchetta, who was walking by but was struck by Smith's talent and "stopped in his tracks" to watch the set.

[13] Until restrictions on public gatherings were put in place due to COVID-19, Smith was slated to join Scotty McCreery on Chris Young's 2020 Town Ain't Big Enough tour.

[1] Calling himself part of the "Spotify generation", he believes his peers have musical tastes that are eclectic and varied due to being able to easily access a large portfolio of diverse sounds.