Joanna Smith Prepares for a ‘Creative Year’ Making Music

Joanna Smith began charming the country music scene with her breakout hit, 'Gettin' Married,' last year, following its success with the tender ballad 'Georgia Mud.' Smith has spent a majority of the new year honing her craft and preparing for her shot at stardom, as predicted by many of the industry outlets in Music City.

'This year I'm kind of transitioning from last year, which was the radio tour, to what a lot of other artists are doing after that initial stage which is just playing gigs," Smith tells Taste of Country. "I'm not on any specific tour, so it's no specific schedule. You might find me in a theater or you might find me playing a big festival like Stagecoach, which we did in May. I'm just kind of catching on with whoever and getting lots of varied experiences with the live stuff. It's going to be a great summer."

During the summer months, Smith will be opening shows for the likes of Josh Thompson, the LoCash Cowboys, Easton Corbin and Miranda Lambert. In between her hectic tour schedule, Smith is also working in the studio with her new producer, Buddy Cannon, on her forthcoming debut album, 'Country Like Me,' to be released later this year on Columbia Nashville.

"Other than touring and perfecting the live show, we're kind of regrouping and growing musically," Smith says. "I'm extremely excited about working with Buddy Cannon. He's just fabulous, and he's one of the best song guys in town. Everybody knows that! I'm just so excited to get to be in his song presence. It's going to be fun! We're going to cut some new material, which we're going to pick a new single from ... I think it's going to be really neat! It's going to be even more me than anything I've ever done before."

As she works on finding new material, the Georgia beauty is continuing to chip away at her songwriting craft daily. "I'm still writing a lot! It's just going to be a really creative year," she says. "Last year I got to share what I had been working on during my five and a half years in Nashville; this year I get to be creative and continue to share it. It's going to be fun! Eleven is my lucky number, so I feel that 2011 is going to be my year that a lot of things are going to happen in my career!"

To keep up with where Smith will be on the road, visit her website here.

Watch the Joanna Smith 'Gettin' Married' Video