From Opelika-Auburn News

At the age of 19, Joanna Smith left Auburn University to chase her dream of being a country music star when she was hired to be the lead singer of a band, only to be fired from the gig a week after moving to Nashville, Tenn.

“I thought it was my big shot,” Smith said. “I thought I had been discovered
as they say … I’m stuck up there, and I’m not in school, and I’m like, ‘What am I gonna do with my life?’”

Stranded, Smith called on country artist Luke Bryan, her friend and big-brother figure, for help.

“He got me a job working as a receptionist and just encouraged me to just take time and learn the business and learn how to write, and so I did that,” she said.

Since moving to Nashville in 2004, Smith has worked her way up from playing on Broadway, a rite of passage in the country music industry, to signing a deal with Columbia Records in 2009 and a full-time country music career.

“You learn as you go and you gradually build your reputation, and you work your way up the ladder,” she said.

She and her six-piece band will be playing a show at the War Eagle Supper Club in Auburn on Friday starting at 11 p.m., though doors open at 10 p.m. Despite having attended Auburn University, Friday will be Smith’s first time at the concert venue.

“When I was at Auburn, I was too young to get in, so that’s why I’ve never been,” Smith said. “I’m really excited about it.”

Thirteen of Smith’s family members, including both of her parents, attended Auburn University at some time.

“I was only here one year, which was one too short,” she said.

Smith has been performing and singing country music since she was 3 and considers herself to be a creative writer, but she never married writing with music until she moved to Nashville. Writing music is now her day-to-day job.

After signing her record deal, she spent months touring radio stations, traveling between several cities and sometimes taking multiple flights in a day. She has opened for acts such as Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert and played at festivals all over the United States.

“I’d love to come back and play the Auburn Arena, and I’d love to have some hits under my belt so I can be touring,” Smith said.