DREW RYDER SMITH – THE DEEP END
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE ALBUM PREMIERE
Nashville singer-songwriter Drew Ryder Smith returns to the artist career that first brought him to Music City with The Deep End, his deeply personal new album. After more than 15 years writing songs for other artists, including Merle Haggard and Randy Houser, Smith steps back into the spotlight with a collection exploring family, love, loss, heartbreak and the places and people that shape our lives. Produced by Grammy-winning Glenn A. Tabor III, the album features guest appearances from Steve Earle on “Textile Town” and bluegrass icon Rhonda Vincent on “Lie with Me.”
Throughout the album, Smith draws on his own experiences and family history, weaving snippets of his father’s preaching and old voicemails from loved ones, some of whom have since passed away, into the spaces between songs. From the working-class history of “Textile Town” to the intimate reflections of “Bloodline” and “Jolyn,” The Deep End offers a deeply personal portrait of an artist returning to his own voice. The album also ventures beyond traditional country arrangements, with orchestral and choral elements recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios.
For Smith, making The Deep End was about finally telling the stories he’d spent years putting aside while writing for others.
ARTIST QUOTE:
“After years of writing songs for other people, I realized there was so much more that I needed to say myself,” Smith says. “If I were on my deathbed without having put this record out, it would break my heart. I’d feel like there was a lot of unfinished business.”
Drew Ryder Smith
The Deep End
(Independent)
Release Date: October 28, 2026






