Canaan Smith Reveals Wife Inspired ‘Like You That Way’

The best kind of muse is one you’re married to, or at least Canaan Smith has that luxury for creating his second studio album.

Diving into the sophomore effort, Smith developed some ideas for new tracks while enjoying the good times with his band on the road. Pinpointing one of the happiest parts of his life as his wife, Christy, Smith found his inspiration for his new single in her radiating confidence and headstrong personality. Using that as a base to wind into a strong number set for radio, Smith knew the little details about the lovely lady by his side would be just the right amount of kick he needed.

“The story behind it, the first line of the song is about my wife. She has a little heart-shaped tat on her back, and she got it the day she was able to. Her dad wouldn’t let her until she was 18. She went and got it as soon as she could. I was thinking about that and sorta what that says about her. This song took shape through her being the inspiration for that,” Smith said to Sounds Like Nashville recently.

With a little bit of female empowerment headed into the main theme of the track, Smith also looked toward another woman he admired from afar that paves the way for a lot of the girls in the country music format: Miranda Lambert. Honoring the power she exudes throughout her lyrics, Smith wanted to represent the fierce female population by giving a quick name drop to stir things up throughout the cheeky track.

“Also, I started thinking about, ‘Well, what am I attracted to in a woman,’ and it’s that whole mind-of-your-own thing and decision to be yourself,” Smith said. “I think that’s a sexy thing when a woman is confident and sort of does what she’s gonna do. So Miranda Lambert reminded me of that. I don’t know her personally, but that’s the message that I’m receiving from the songs that she’s cut and the way she presents herself and I find that very attractive as well. Those two women are the ones for the inspiration of this song and I think it’s fair to say there’s a ton of guys around the world that think like I think.”

As it goes to show for what’s next in Smith’s musical endeavor, he hopes “Like You That Way” triggers a steady yet supportive response from fans to get them buzzing about his new stuff. Until then though, Smith just wishes the track gets people up on their feet dancing around to the music.

“I think it’s a reactive song. I think that this song gets people talking and it gets them dancing, too, at the shows. It’s the one you want to hear more than once. So it just feels like the right first move. It’s a tempo that’s perfect for this time of year and it’s a progressive thing—the sound of it fits where I’m going. For all those reasons, we thought it was a good first step,” he explained to SLN.

Smith’s single, “Like You That Way,” is available to stream and purchase now, and there is no album release date for his second record at this time.