Russell Dickerson Is Rooting For Conner Smith To Be The “Next Big Country Star”

The country genre is more than just the music, it's a family. That's why when Shawn Parr asked Russell Dickerson about who he thinks will be the next big country star in Nashville, he immediately went to show his support.

Dickerson is this week’s guest host on Shawn Parr’s Backstage Country and Parr put him in the hot seat to put a buddy of his on the new artist launchpad.

"Russell Dickerson. You've been in this position before. You've been here before. So you know what we're doing here. We're looking for that next big country star. And it's somebody who you might be looking at, somebody who you really like, who's an up-and-comer. Who's it going to be," Parr asked.

"Oh, Conner Smith. He's got a song with Parker Welling, who I've written most of my hits with. And Chase McGill, who wrote 'God Give Me a Girl With Me.' Yeah, just like I'm a fan of him as well," Dickerson told Parr.

Dickerson continued, "You know, hearing stories about him, how great of a writer is, how great of an artist he is. And yeah, I'm a I'm a I'm a supporter."

He also revealed to Parr that they had spent some time together originally at a CRS Believers Breakfast in Music City. Smith was also previously featured on Shawn Parr's Backstage Country with his song "I Hate Alabama."

Smith is currently preparing for the release of his debut album, Smoky Mountains, due out January 26. It will feature his top-20-and-rising single at country radio, "Creek Will Rise," which you can listen to below.

The 23-year-old recently played a few shows as a supporting act for Cole Swindell's "The Twelve Tour." Today (November 2), Smith will kick off his very own headlining "Creek Will Rise Tour" with special guests Lauren Watkins and John Morgan.

The CMA Awards' Male Vocalist category has existed since the CMA Awards began in the 1960s. During that decade, winners of the award included Johnny Cash and Glen Campbell. In the 1970s, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Charley Pride, Kenny Rogers, and Ronnie Milsap won the Male Vocalist Award. Milsap took home the honor three times, and Pride won it twice in that decade. The 1980s saw names like George Jones, Ricky Skaggs, Randy Travis, and George Strait win the honor. Vince Gill dominated the Male Vocalist category at the CMAs in the 1990s, winning the trophy five times.

The 2000s saw Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, and Brad Paisley take home the award. Blake Shelton won Male Vocalist five times in his career from the CMA beginning in 2010.

Flash forward to the late 2010s and the 2020s, and Chris Stapleton dominates the category with six wins, including a win for Male Vocalist last year (2022). Chris said when he won the honor for the sixth time. "Well, okay. Man, thank you so much for this. It means so much to get an award from my friends back here. I was sitting over there, and all the guys in the category all deserve this award. Everybody's killin' it. I am so honored to be a member of the country music community." He then wished his daughter Ada a happy twelfth birthday. There's a good chance Stapleton could win his seventh award in the category at the award show next month.

The 2023 CMA Awards  is only weeks away, and we will know who takes home Male Vocalist in 2023. The nominees are Chris, Luke Combs, Cody Johnson, Jelly Roll, and Morgan Wallen. We take a look at each nominee in this year's category to shed some light on who may walk away with the Male Vocalist prize this time.

Luke has won this award twice in his career from the CMA already in 2019 and 2020. At the top of his game, Combs has already won the Entertainer of the Year from the CMA twice in 2021 and 2022. Luke's voice and popularity make him a shoo-in to win this honor once again. It would be no big surprise if he walked away with the honor again in 2023.

Below is his first win for Male Vocalist presented by Trisha Yearwood, who noted before she gave out the award that Male Vocalist fifty years ago went to the Man in Black himself, Johnny Cash.

This is Jelly Roll's very first nomination in the Male Vocalist category for the CMA. With the on-fire year that Jelly has had in 2023, he very well could win. Jelly has yet to perform at the CMA Awards and will undoubtedly do so this year. In June, he made his debut performance on the CMA Fest stage and said that he was "trembling" when he performed, being nervous about stepping onto the stage that he has watched all of his life as a Nashville native.

This is Cody Johnson's second Male Vocalist nomination at the CMA Awards. A win in this category would be so important to the Texan who is lighting up country music and releasing his much-anticipated "Leather" album a couple of days before the CMA Awards are to be handed out this year on November 8. Cody performed his CMA winner for Single of the Year in 2022, "Til You Can't," at last year's CMA Awards.

Chris has won twenty-five CMA Awards in his career so far, including six Male Vocalist wins in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2022. Known as one of country music's best vocalists ever, Stapleton has also won the Album of the Year award three times.

When he won last year, he wished his daughter Ada a Happy Birthday as he promised her he would if he won.

This Male Vocalist nod is Morgan's second nomination in the category. With his amazing success and selling out multiple nights at stadiums this past summer, a win for Morgan here would be no surprise. Although he has been nominated for eight CMA awards to date, including a nomination for the Entertainer of the Year this year (2023), he has only won a CMA once. He won the New Artist Award in 2020.