Canaan Smith is poised to enter the top of the country charts with his gold-certified single, “Love You Like That,” a song that is real in every sense of the word and is an example of how an everyday guy says “I love you” to his significant other.

“I think ‘Love You Like That’ is just a perfect example of how a man’s man can still say I love you without sounding like a girly girl,” says Canaan. “I think the country guys out there, they’re not shying away from singing this song because it’s kind of just like every day dude, just part of our everyday lives is finding the love of your life and that’s a good thing to hold on to. When you find it let them know how long you’re going to love them, long as till the sun comes back and even longer than that, ‘slow as the Mississippi,’ strong as whiskey. Be proud of that love. Be proud of what you’ve got. And I think people are staking their claim and saying, ‘That’s who I am.’”

The Virginia native will perform in Virginia Beach on Thursday as part of Dierks Bentley’s Sounds of Summer Tour.