Granger Smith’s Kids Are Reenacting His Stage Fall
Granger Smith has seen the videos. You've probably seen the videos of his stage fall in Sayreville, N. J., as well. Seemingly everyone, including his oldest two kids, has seen him step onto a wobbly monitor and come crashing down. Smith jokes that he can't get away from it.
The fall broke ribs, punctured a lung and forced him to cancel a long list of concerts, but it's also leading to precious time home with wife Amber and their three kids. The "If the Boot Sits" singer says this is the longest stretch of days he's been home since before he met his wife. From the moment he walked in the door this week they've all been nothing short of nurturing.
“From the minute I got home, [the kids] had seen it on the internet, so they were reenacting Daddy’s fall,” he says, laughing. “They stand on the couch and the ottoman to try and reenact the fall.”
Oldest daughter London, 5, and her 2-year old brother Lincoln go on "missions" to help Smith put on socks and shoes, or to retrieve an ice pack. The baby (River, 7 months old) is still too young to play along. It's killing him that he can't hold his child much as he recovers, but that may happen sooner than doctors think.
Smith fell on Dec. 2, and went to the emergency room that night. After doctors were finished with him he says he immediately began Googling ways to expedite his recovery. This means breathing exercises, a near-perfect diet that includes no sugar, and pacing to keep blood flowing. It's the same mindset that allowed him to finish the concert at the Starland Ballroom in the first place. In fact, most fans probably didn't know he was seriously hurt.
“The show couldn’t end like that, it never can,” Smith says. “People travel to see these shows, they pay money. They want to see some of the last couple songs — every artist builds up what he wants fans to hear at the end and they can't come to not hear the songs.”
So after falling, he popped up feeling embarrassed, returned to the stage and tried to throw his arms up like an Olympic diver. The left arm wouldn't cooperate, which was the first sign something was wrong.
“But then I went and I was going to say something on the mic, I was going to say ‘Must've been a city boy that put that up there,’ just as a joke and walked towards the mic ... I realized I didn’t have any breath," he told assorted media during a teleconference on Friday afternoon (Dec. 9).
Fans helped him through songs like "If the Boot Fits" before he finished and went to learn how bad he'd hurt himself. His team and record label had to force him to cancel shows — Smith wanted to make every date good and still promises he'd have been able to get through a scheduled show in Las Vegas this week if given the chance. His record label wanted to protect his long term prospects.
Don't feel bad for Smith, however. He doesn't. “In a sick, crazy kind of way I almost relish it a little bit, and enjoy it,” he says of the challenge of recovering. The breathing exercises he's learning will be beneficial long term, and the accident — his third serious stage incident — is leading him to make a few procedural changes for his safety. Smith promises to be better than ever in 2017, a year that should include a new studio album and will include tours with several major country headliners.
Watch: More Painful Country Stage Falls