Granger Smith says fame can become ‘poison’ after leaving country music for ministry

Granger Smith is embarking on a new chapter.

The singer, who left country music in 2023 to focus on ministry at his local church outside Austin, Texas, exclusively told Fox News Digital that his new book, "Poison in the Well," will be published Sept. 8.

The 46-year-old’s previous book, "Like a River," was published in 2023 before his farewell from the music industry. It focuses on how he coped with grief after his 3-year-old son, River, died in a drowning accident in 2019.

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"This one is more exciting to me because ‘Like a River’ was wrapped so much in my personal story of losing my son, River, our journey through grief, loss and recovery, and then the birth of my son Maverick," he explained. "And that really encompasses that era. And in that era, God saved me."

"…God saving me was what spurred so much change in my life," the father of four said. "…I left an entire music career. It changed the whole direction of my life and my family’s life. The new book walks directly down that journey so that if anyone says, ‘Your book "Like a River" was inspiring,’ then I could hand them ‘Poison in the Well’ and say, ‘These are the mechanics of why everything changed after.’"

Smith admitted that six months after losing his son, he found himself asking a question he never thought he would: What if his faith couldn’t hold him up?

"…Most of this conversation we have now in this book, it’s all in hindsight," he said. "It’s me really digging through what happened to me. I think the first time I asked the question was, ‘What if everything I believe about my faith was actually built on shifting sand?’"

"And that is a question I believe a lot of people would ask in the deep, dark throes of grief when you lose a loved one, a marriage or a job — or, this might sound trivial, but it’s not — even a pet," he said. "Anything that you lose that you love, and you’ve created an identity around — including a career — when you lose that, you start to think, ‘Why do I feel so lost? Why do I feel like I have no hope?’

"And for those people who have a faith in any religion, they will start to question the validity of that religion that they stand on."

"I thought, ‘I’m a Christian. Why do I feel hopeless? Doesn’t the Bible say we’re supposed to have hope? And I don’t,’" he reflected. "If that’s the case, then what am I standing on? Because this feels like sand. That was a time of deep reflection."

WATCH: GRANGER SMITH ANNOUNCES NEW BOOK ‘POISON IN THE WELL’

Since walking away from country music, Smith has found healing in connecting with others who have also faced loss. Now at a different stage, he uses his ministry to guide people through grief and spiritual doubt, reexamining what it means to hold onto faith in difficult seasons.

"I was a musician who was always interested in the meet-and-greets," he explained. "I remember reading stories of certain artists that said the meet-and-greets are the worst part of their day because they bring them down. They hear everyone’s problems, and then they have to go perform. And sometimes, musicians would even cancel meet-and-greets so they could just play the music.

"I was one of the strange ones who actually liked hearing people and learning about their struggles, joys and sorrows."

"Since leaving music and focusing on ministry, that’s all I do: focus on the people," he said.

"I think I became less interested in entertaining people and more interested in helping people. That has given me so much joy. I sleep so much better at night knowing that today’s work was enough — it’s not about the next single, the next album, the next tour."

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"That’s an incredibly freeing feeling," he added.

But Smith hasn’t completely ruled out music for good. He hopes to use songwriting to help others experience the Bible in a more personal way — an idea sparked by his children.

"There’s a new way that God has circled music back into my life," he said.

"People often ask, ‘Are you done with music? Will there ever be more music from you?’ And the answer was always ‘I don’t know.’ I don’t know what God will do, but God does give each of us certain nuances that we’re better at than other things. And I’ve always loved music, and I’ve always enjoyed speaking through music."

Smith said his family starts each day with a Bible story and prayer, then sets aside a few minutes to sing together.

"I realized that I could make up songs according to Scriptures," said Smith.

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"We could sing fun little songs that are just Scripture songs and add a melody to them that’s easy to memorize. And so, we started doing that a few years ago. And then, I realized maybe these could be helpful for others, not only kids, but also other people — to be able to think through Scripture and to memorize Scripture in a unique way by singing it."

"So maybe in the future, there’ll be an album by me released that has Scripture songs," he teased.

Smith pointed out that there are things about showbiz he doesn’t miss.

"The problem with music for me was never writing songs, singing songs, or releasing songs," he explained. "What became problematic for me was performing on tour for a lot of reasons. It took me away from my family. It took me away from my local church. I was missing all of that because I was always touring on Saturday nights."

"It became an idol for me," Smith admitted.

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"It was very hard for me to separate promoting myself and my music, standing on a stage in front of a lot of people. To say not to let it go to my head is almost underplaying it, because it’s nearly impossible for anyone to be worshiped in that way.

"And in music, it was usually about trying to get adoration from the crowd, needing applause. It means you’re succeeding in the thing that you’re trying to do, which is dangerous. It’s dangerous for a human."

"Your heart just breaks for these megastars," said Smith. "The goal of all the touring, all the concerts, and all the music releases is ultimate stardom. And it’s never satisfied by a certain level of being famous. It always craves more. The result is a man or a woman who’s lost all sense of who they are. Men and women are not meant to be worshiped. We’re not created to be worshiped. And if we are, it actually hurts us. It becomes poison in our veins."

Today, Smith hopes his book will help others grow a closer relationship with God during the hardest times of their lives, just as he has.

"I want people to see through my story that I was living a life thinking I was earning something from God instead of loving God for what He has done," he said. "Now, I want to do things to please Him in response to that."

"…The book also reveals some toxins that we as humans tend to fall into. I look at them like check-engine lights. If you’re doing this, or you’re involved in that, it might be a check-engine light that you don’t see … that’s the goal."