Hear Granger Smith’s Peaceful ‘That’s Why I Love Dirt Roads’ [LISTEN]

Granger Smith celebrates the beauty and spirituality of a drive through a rural landscape in "That's Why I Love Dirt Roads," his anthemic new single. Full of rolling scenery and breathtaking natural beauty, the song finds Smith alone with his thoughts, and feeling closer than ever to his faith and his sense of home.

Coming just five months after the death of Smith's youngest son, River, it's impossible not to listen to the track without thinking about the tragedy that helped inform "That's Why I Love Dirt Roads"'s reflective headspace. The song isn't about River per se, though on his YouTube channel, Smith says that he "did weave him into the lyrics in the 2nd verse."

"It's about finding peace. Finding yourself. Finding God on a road that's rough around the edges, just like us," the singer continues. "It's about that rural sanctuary we all know so well behind a pair of headlights, a steering wheel and your heavy thoughts."

Additionally, listeners will find plenty of references to River in the single's cover art, including a hidden image of his face in the side of a mountain range, and the same red tractor depicted on the River Smith tribute t-shirts sitting beside a stream.

Smith co-wrote "That's Why I Love Dirt Roads" with Chris DeStefano, Jon Nite and Brad Rempel. The song will impact country radio beginning Nov. 11. It marks the first official single Smith has released since his son's death; in June of 2019, he performed a powerful rendition of "Heaven Bound Balloons" in honor of River.

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