County musician Granger Smith and his comedic alter ego Earl Dibbles Jr. will be performing at the Turlock Community Theatre on Sept. 29.

The show is set for 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $22, $28, and $32.

Country music has been in Smith's blood since he took up the guitar at age 14.

“This was motivated by two things: I thought the guitar would make girls pay attention to me, and the fact that George Strait played one,” Smith writes in his biography. “By the time I turned 15, I was performing weekends on small town stages in North Texas, and doing my best as a fan club member to attend every George Strait concert within driving distance.”

With the influence of the likes of Strait, Smith wrote and produced his first album at age 19.

“As a freshman at Texas A&M, I was able to scrape together some studio money by pre-selling the album to friends around campus. For being just a kid, that album did pretty good. It landed me a songwriting deal with EMI Music Publishing in Nashville, and the following year, I took the leap to Tennessee,” Smith said.

It was in "Music City" that Smith absorbed the craft of songwriting from some of the best in the business, all the while learning his way around recording studios, and recording gear.

“After four years, I had a shelf full of song demos, a little bit of music business know-how and a strong conviction to move back to Texas, finish my degree at Texas A&M, and start a band,” Smith said.

It was during this time that Smith’s comedic alter ego first came to life.

"We created alter egos through videos to help promote the music and that’s where Earl Dibbles Jr. came from in the summer of 2011,” Smith said. “It started as a short, funny video that my brothers and I filmed where my parents live in Central Texas, but it turned out to be something that completely changed the shape of my career. I actually like to think of it as an ‘intentional accident’ because as planned, the video went viral and became a huge promotional tool for my music, but we had no way to know if it would actually work, especially since many of my videos before it never caught fire.”

Now, after independently releasing seven studio albums, one live album and two EPs, Smith signed his first record deal with a major label and produced his newest and critically acclaimed album, “Dirt Road Driveway.”

Tickets can be purchased at the box office at 1574 E. Canal Drive, by calling 668-1169 or online at turlocktheatre.org.