Before their show with Granger Smith at the Dusty Armadillo on Friday, Smithfield, the Texas twosome made up of Trey Smith and Jennifer Fiedler, debuted songs this week at Country Radio Seminar, a three-day event where industry professionals gather in Nashville to exchange ideas and hear who's new.

The Billboard’s "You Should Know" duo is currently on Granger Smith’s 2018 winter tour, which kicked off on Jan. 18 in New York City and is heading to Rootstown.

"Depending on where we're playing, people may not have heard of us," Smith said, noting their hit song "Hey, Whiskey" has yet to make it on country radio, but it hasn’t stopped the track from making headway on other platforms.

When Smithfield was signed to a major record label, the bittersweet ballad was shot down, Fiedler said, adding "we were told no one would ever get this song. It's too dark. It's too depressing, so we didn't play it out for a year and a half."

Then, after a push on their last tour, "Hey, Whiskey" reached the top five songs in SiriusXM's Hot 30 and crowds knew all the words.

"This past year, we've been playing all over the country and that's the song everybody sings along to and four years ago we were told no one would want to hear it."

Smithfield is excited to be breaking out a new song this time around called "Our World," which will be their first cut they didn't pen themselves.

"It's a jam-style song that people seem to be connecting with," Smith said. "You can always tell if you can get a crowd engaged and dancing to a song they've never heard, it's a good sign."

A day after Smith and Fiedler were wondering if they were moving toward fame, their manager called them "freaking out" to tell them they made the ballot for Country Music Awards' Duo of the Year.

"We're the only independent act on the ballot," Fiedler said. "Country radio is a tough thing to accomplish whether you're on a major label or not. We're not doing all the bells and whistles again. We don't have a label, but we do have a hit song. We know that because we've seen it."

Being a guy-gal duo in country music, Smithfield is a rare breed.

"It's been five years since a girl-guy duo has been in the Top 40, and six years since a girl-guy duo has had a No. 1 country hit, but there's been 10 No. 1 songs by duet singers," Smith said. "It's crazy there's such a demand for that style, but it's been that long since a hit."

Fiedler said girl-guy duos are pretty much "nonexistent on the charts" partly due to labels not supporting the dynamic.

"If you're not signed, you're not going to radio, then you're not going to be heard," Fiedler said. 

Smithfield is not letting up. They have plans to tour and play festivals through the summer and release a new EP this fall.

Reporter Kelly Maile can be reached at 330-541-9416, kmaile@recordpub.com, or @KellyJMaile.