The fourth album in the Billboard Top 10 and multiple award-winning AMERICAN STORIES series of theme albums from Grant Maloy Smith. More than an hour of music exploring America's westward expansion in the 1800s. It began with the Louisiana Purchase in the early 1800s, which effectively doubled the country's size overnight. After winning the Mexican-American War, America expanded again, this time all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Wagon trains of migrants and homesteaders rolled across the plains, braving the elements and native peoples who became increasingly displaced and threatened.
The discovery of gold and silver in the western hills and rivers brought another wave of easterners to the West. Cattle drives, cowboy culture, rodeos, and the Pony Express arose and flourished, only to be pressured by advances such as the transcontinental railroad and the telegraph.
Billboard top 10 songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Grant Maloy Smith is accompanied by GRAMMY® and 39-time IBMA winning dobro master Rob Ickes (Earl Scruggs, Tony Rice, Alison Krauss, Willie Nelson), IBMA winning banjoist Scott Vestal (Larry Sparks, Doyle Lawson, Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs), GRAMMY nominated singer Carrie McDowell (Smokey Robinson, The Pointer Sisters, Natalie Cole), GRAMMY-nominated vocalist Kim Fleming (Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Patti LaBelle, Amy Grant, Wynonna Judd), GRAMMY and 12-time IBMA-winning fiddler Michael Cleveland (Alison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent, Bill Monroe, Béla Fleck, Tommy Emmanuel), Grammy winning accordionist Jeff Taylor (The Time Jumpers, Vince Gill, Paul Simon, George Strait), ACM winning pedal steel player Mike Johnson (Reba McEntire, Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard), GRAMMY nominee and Grand Ole Opry fiddle player Matt Combs (Jerry Douglas, Patty Loveless, Marty Stuart), and more.
The album was produced at Grant's own Suburban Cowboy Studio in Rhode Island, with additional sessions engineered by Jeff Silverman at Palette MSP in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, just outside Nashville.
In addition, Grant wrote a 100-page hardcover book that puts each song into historical and cultural context. The album and book are slated for release in the Summer of 2026. Signed copies of the CD and the book are already available for pre-order on the artist’s website at www.grant-maloy-smith.com.
Left to right: Rob Ickes, Matt Combs, Mike Johnson, Michael Cleveland, Jeff Taylor, Scott Vestal, Carrie McDowell, Kim Fleming.​
WILD WEST: AMERICAN STORIES
ORDER A SIGNED CD, Book, or Both
CDs are still in demand as keepsakes and mementos, and for anyone with a CD player. That's why Grant signs and dedicates every one of them at his shows, and when you order them from this website. When you buy a CD here, you also get a link to download digital audio files to your devices, so you can copy the songs onto your devices for listening anytime.
Grant wrote an 80-page hardcover 11.5 x 11.5-inch coffee table book to accompany the album. In it, he describes the backstories behind the songs, placing them in historical context and detailing aspects of the writing and recording process. It is filled with amazing photographs and artwork for each song. This is a powerful part of the album and something you'll want to have forever. You can order just the book, just the CD, or order both. As mentioned, the CD includes the digital files to all of the music.
