Nate Smith at the Mississippi Valley Fair -- July 30.
Wednesday, July 30, 8 p.m.
Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, 2815 West Locust Street, Davenport IA
His repertoire boasting such top-five Billboard smashes as "Whiskey on You," "World on Fire," "Bulletproof," and "Fix What You Didn't Break," multi-platinum-selling country rockers Nate Smith headlines the July 30 grandstand concert at this year's Mississippi Valley Fair, his 2024 album California Gold lauded by Entertainment Focus as "a bold blend of country storytelling and bombastic '90s rock influences" that delivers "both nostalgic and fresh sounds across its 16 tracks."
Since bursting onto the scene a few short years ago, Nate Smith has accumulated more than 1.6 billion career streams, scored two number-one records (“Whiskey on You” and “World on Fire”), three top five, garnered multiple gold and platinum records, sold-out shows across the U.S., and received numerous nominations for Best New Artist from the ACM Awards, CMT Awards, iHeart Radio Awards and many more. Most recently, Smith received the award for ACM New Male Artist of the Year, Billboard’s Rookie of the Year, and Amazon’s Breakthrough Artist for 2024.
Having recently moved to Nashville, the singer’s powerhouse tenor has become what The Tennessean called “perhaps country music’s fastest-rising beloved voice." Smith has made a huge splash with songs such as his platinum-certified multi-week number-one hit “Whiskey On You,” has over 450 million streams globally, and was lauded as “an enormously satisfying country kiss-off anthem” by Stereogum. Smith’s second single “World on Fire” reached number one on the country radio charts in December and remained at the top of the charts for a record-breaking 10 consecutive weeks. This feat marks Smith as the first artist to achieve this run with a second single at country radio and consecutive week run. The song also topped the Mediabase/Country Aircheck chart for three weeks. Only 19 songs went No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in 2023, two of which belong to Smith, and both featured on Smith’s self-titled debut album which debuted in the top 10 on Billboard’s Country Album Chart.
A California native, former worship leader, and lifelong music lover, Smith approaches that mission with a background as eclectic as it gets. Learning guitar at 13, Garth Brooks, Elvis Presley, and Bob Seger were among those informing his powerful, fire-from-within vocals, while Michael Jackson made him crave the spotlight and Nirvana gave his sound a jagged edge. In 2018, Smith lost everything he owned in the devastating Camp Fire that tore through Paradise, California, one of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in the state’s history. Although his family was safe, Smith struggled to cope and turned back to music, hoping that it would help comfort himself and others. Help it did, inspiring a month-long road trip across the U.S. to Music City, writing music and playing dive bars along the way.
Nate Smith plays his 2025 Mississippi Valley Fair grandstand concert on July 30, admission to the 8 p.m. event is included with the purchase of an MVP Fun Card, and more information is available by calling (563)326-5338 and visiting MVFair.com.
