Granger Smith Calls Fans the ‘Fuel to His Flame’ After Loss of 3-Year-Old Son, River

Granger Smith has returned to the road after the tragic loss of his 3-year-old son, River, in a drowning accident earlier this summer, and is now thanking his fans for all they have done for him and his family. In a heartfelt post on social media, Smith reflects on not only the last few months, but the last several years, which has had plenty of both ups and downs.

“Right before we walked on stage tonight, Jonny asked me, ‘Remember the 1st time I played bass with you? 10 years ago in Webster TX and there were 40 people,’” Smith recalled. “Yep, of course. I remember all the shows. How could I not? I’ve played shows where I broke ribs and punctured my lung, played for important suits in DC and heroes in Iraq. I’ve seen country kids in the mud in Iowa and cowboy hats in Australia. I’ve dislocated shoulders at county fairs and grabbed some forehead stitches in College Station. I’ve played a few times for a lot of people and many times for a few people.

“I’ve played shows at the greatest times of my life and I’ve played shows after terrible loss, again and again,” he continued. “And that’s my job. But through it all, it’s the people that keep me coming back. If you’ve seen me lately, please let me say thank you for the support. Through it all. Seriously, you’re the fuel to my flame…still. I can feel the love.”

The Smiths recently made the decision to relocate from their former home to a new one, which they felt would be better for their daughter London and son Lincoln.

“I absolutely loved our house, where we lived,” Smith said in a video posted on their YouTube channel. “Amber and I both thought that it was our house that we would stay in for a long, long time. But after the accident with River, it changed the way we felt there. There was a lot of – thousands of really good memories and one really bad one. We’d go back and forth because River loved those woods and those fields, and that was his land. But my number one priority is the well-being of the other two kids, and I don’t think I was totally myself at the old house. Amber probably wasn’t either.

“We’re a family of faith, so we prayed about it, and I felt very compelled to make this move,” he continued. “We were able to sell quickly. Great family coming in; I feel so good about this family. I feel like this is God’s plan, and it’s hard to say that, because I can’t understand this plan, but it does feel like there are pieces of it that make a lot of sense, and this family is one of them. We’re handing over the keys to them, and hopefully we’ll be able to go back and build a bonfire.”

Photo Credit: Getty images / Mat Hayward