Smithfield

There’s a simple way to sum up the sound Trey Smith and Jennifer Fielder create as Smithfield: she’s a little bit country; he’s a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. Although the two got together as a duo in 2011, they’d known each other since they were little kids in Waxahachie, Texas, thanks to their grandparents’ long-running friendship. They headed to Nashville in 2012 to pursue their Music City dreams, and as far back as their early singles, it’s easy to hear their chemistry. Influenced by groups like ‘90s rockers The Goo Goo Dolls, Smith injects 2018’s bold “Our World” with guitar-fueled dynamism, while on the heartbroken “Hey Whiskey,” Fielder channels her country heroes in the timeless twang of her voice. But Smithfield is much more than the sum of its parts—the duo’s playful, back-and-forth energy drives the pumped-up “If You Were Mine,” and they’re equally irresistible as they seduce each other on 2021’s slow-burning “Something Sexy.”