While summer is nearly over, Canaan Smith, who’s on the road with Dierks Bentley and the Sounds of Summer Tour, recalls hitting the beach during the warm months when he was a teen.

“I spent most of my summers at Virginia Beach because I’m from Williamsburg, Virginia,” says Canaan. “It has a wide enough boardwalk that we could skateboard and get into some trouble sneaking off smoking cigarettes. That’s what I would do when I was a kid. I’d take off my shirt every chance I get and get out in the sun.”

Canaan comes by his love of the outdoors naturally. “We used to call my dad Turtle Man ‘cause he’d just be standing in the parking lot, and if it was a sunny day, he’d just put his face to the sky and stand there and forget about what was going on around him,” he laughs. “I guess I kinda got that from him.”

Canaan just hit the airwaves with his latest single, “Hole in a Bottle,” from his debut album, Bronco. It’s the follow-up to his No. 1 hit, “Love You Like That.”