Granger Smith Announces New Book on Faith Journey After Quitting Country Music

Granger Smith is releasing a new book about his faith struggles after leaving country music.

The singer, who quit the industry in 2023 to focus on ministry at his church outside Austin, Texas, told Fox News Digital that "Poison in the Well" comes out Sept. 8. His earlier book, "Like a River," appeared that same year and covered his grief over the 2019 drowning death of his 3-year-old son, River, along with the birth of his son Maverick.

"This one is more exciting to me because 'Like a River' was wrapped so much in my personal story of losing my son, River, our journey through grief, loss and recovery, and then the birth of my son Maverick," Smith said. "And that really encompasses that era. And in that era, God saved me."

God saving him prompted major changes, the father of four said. "I left an entire music career. It changed the whole direction of my life and my family's life. The new book walks directly down that journey so that if anyone says, 'Your book "Like a River" was inspiring,' then I could hand them 'Poison in the Well' and say, 'These are the mechanics of why everything changed after.'"

Six months after River's death, Smith questioned if his faith could sustain him. "Most of this conversation we have now in this book, it's all in hindsight," he said. "It's me really digging through what happened to me. I think the first time I asked the question was, 'What if everything I believe about my faith was actually built on shifting sand?'"

He believes many people ask that in grief over losing a loved one, marriage, job or even a pet. "Anything that you lose that you love, and you've created an identity around, including a career, when you lose that, you start to think, 'Why do I feel so lost? Why do I feel like I have no hope?'"

Smith, a Christian, wondered why he felt hopeless despite Bible promises of hope. "If that's the case, then what am I standing on? Because this feels like sand. That was a time of deep reflection."

Since leaving music, the 46-year-old has found healing by connecting with others facing loss. Through ministry, he now guides people via grief and doubt, examining faith in tough times.

"I was a musician who was always interested in the meet-and-greets," he said. "I remember reading stories of certain artists that said the meet-and-greets are the worst part of their day because they bring them down. They hear everyone's problems, and then they have to go perform."

Smith enjoyed hearing people's struggles, joys and sorrows. "Since leaving music and focusing on ministry, that's all I do: focus on the people," he said. "I think I became less interested in entertaining people and more interested in helping people. That has given me so much joy. I sleep so much better at night knowing that today's work was enough, it's not about the next single, the next album, the next tour."

"That's an incredibly freeing feeling," he added.

Smith has not ruled out music entirely. His children inspired him to write songs based on Bible verses. The family starts each day with a Bible story, prayer and group singing.

"I realized that I could make up songs according to Scriptures," he said. "We could sing fun little songs that are just Scripture songs and add a melody to them that's easy to memorize. And so, we started doing that a few years ago. And then, I realized maybe these could be helpful for others, not only kids, but also other people, to be able to think through Scripture and to memorize Scripture in a unique way by singing it."

"So maybe in the future, there'll be an album by me released that has Scripture songs," he said.

He misses little about show business. Touring kept him from family and church, especially Saturday nights. "It became an idol for me," Smith said. Performing fed a need for crowd adoration, which he called dangerous.

"Your heart just breaks for these megastars," he said. "The goal of all the touring, all the concerts, and all the music releases is ultimate stardom. And it's never satisfied by a certain level of being famous. It always craves more. The result is a man or a woman who's lost all sense of who they are. Men and women are not meant to be worshiped. We're not created to be worshiped. And if we are, it actually hurts us. It becomes poison in our veins."

Smith hopes the book helps readers build a true relationship with God amid hardship. "I want people to see through my story that I was living a life thinking I was earning something from God instead of loving God for what He has done," he said. "Now, I want to do things to please Him in response to that."

The book also flags human pitfalls as warning signs, he said.