Granger Smith is back to performing live in front of crowds again, after being forced to stay home because of COVID-19. The Texas native performed on Friday night, June 12, at a show, which he shared on social media. Granger is opening up about that decision, and why he felt like now was the time to starting doing performing again.

“There is no way to really quantify this, but you could make an argument that people could be at the end of their rope,” Granger told CMT. “They could be entering a dark depression. I feel like providing a night like that, with the appropriate guidelines, could in a way save lives. And I say that with the intent that there are people saying that you have to stay home to save lives, but I was looking at these people thinking that you could also make an argument that you have to get out and enjoy a normal night out with friend to save lives.

“The reason I can say that with any kind of honesty is because I’ve had people tell me throughout the years that music saved their lives,” he continued. “Not just my music, but music in general. That’s what music has the power to do. So if people can say that about music in normal times, then can you imagine what’s happening now, during the pandemic?”

 

Granger played in front of 400 people, in a venue that holds 4000, to make sure that everyone could remain socially-distanced while enjoying the concert.

“It was mutual between us and the venue, and we felt like that was a good number,” Granger explained. “If we’d had 50 percent, that’s 2,000 people. It would’ve been too hard to manage. Because the bars in there were closed, bartenders and servers walked around to bring people drinks. In the general admission area, the rule was to stay with group you came in with as long as the group was under ten. And then each group had to be six feet from other groups.

“You can’t really see it from the picture I posted, but people really were following the rules and staying away from other groups,” he added. “Patrons didn’t have to wear masks — that was more of a suggestion — but all the servers were wearing masks.”

Granger’s recent show was his first return to the stage in 96 days, although as soon as he began, it felt like no time had passed.

“What’s crazy is that it really was like riding a bike,” said the singer. “We’d been doing these live stream shows during the quarantine, and those shows have had some awkward mess-ups when we forgot lyrics or forgot guitar solos. But this time, when we were back on a real stage, it was like riding a bike. It felt completely normal. We’ve had much worse shows, I can tell you that for sure.”

Granger isn’t the only country artist who returned to performing this weekend. Collin Raye also headlined a show, in Cedar City, Utah. Granger has several more dates on the calendar over the next few months. Keep track of updates by visiting his website.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of BBR Music Group / Paul De La Cerda