a girl called Jo—named one of Rolling Stone’s “10 New Artists You Need to Know” in 2017 and a member of CMT’s Next Women of Country in 2018—is a country singer-songwriter originally from South Georgia. After high school, Jo moved to Nashville, where she spent the next sixteen years pursuing her dream of becoming a signed recording artist while honing her craft as a songwriter.

As a staff writer with various publishing houses, she penned songs for both her own projects and for artists like Billy Ray Cyrus, Taylor Hicks, and Cody Johnson. In 2009, she signed with RCA—the label of her heroes—and hit the road, opening for major acts including Blake Shelton on his All About Tonight tour, Chris Young and Thomas Rhett on the Liquid Neon tour, and Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley on their Locked and Reloaded tour. Her song Old School Groove, from the Introducing Jo Smith EP, became a fan favorite in 2017 and was featured as a Highway Find on SiriusXM’s The Highway.

In February 2021, Jo released her first independent single, Wyoming—featuring Vince Gill—which debuted across all major streaming platforms. The track earned placements on top Spotify playlists like New Boots, Wild Country, Next from Nashville, and Fresh Finds: Country. Apple Music also featured her on Country Risers, New from Nashville, and spotlighted her as the lead on the Speakin’ Easy playlist in March of that year.

Now based in Whitefish, Montana, Jo continues to release new music that regularly lands on prominent editorial playlists, sharing her unique voice and story with listeners around the world.