The Earl Dibbles Jr. phenomenon puts Granger Smith, the talented musician behind the “Country Boy,” in a peculiar position.

“I wake up, put a good dip in, crack a cold one, get dressed and start the day.” Thus begins another adventure for Earl Dibbles Jr. Says Dibbles Jr., “Of course I work hard. People don’t know if I have a schedule, but I do. I got a tough schedule.” A typical day for this country boy includes exploring in the woods, rattling for bucks, fishing for bass and cats, roping stuff and whittling a good stick. Of course, he is never far from a cold one or a good dip.

Well, this country boy has amassed himself a following. Earl Dibbles Jr. has over 15 million views on YouTube, over 1.5 million likes on Facebook and 370K followers on Twitter. He even has his own line of clothing. Not bad for a guy who wears dip-stained overalls and has a barbed wire tattoo that gets him chicks.

Earl Dibbles Jr. is the alter-ego of country music’s Granger Smith. Dibbles Jr. was born when Smith and his brother were messing around with a camera on their childhood ranch. “Earl represents at least half of my family, so it was easy to jump in my old truck, grab my shotgun and slip right into character,” says Smith.

Smith, himself, is an extremely talented musician who has been performing since he was a teenager. He has an incredible voice; one only needs to see the above video to realize it. He cut his teeth touring on the Texas circuit. Smith has released nine studio albums, the most recent of which, “Dirt Road Driveway,” debuted #1 on the iTunes Country Charts. It went on to become the number one selling independent country music album in total digital sales for 2013 and went as high as #15 on the US country music charts.

Born in Dallas, Texas, Smith attended Texas A&M. He has performed at the White House and his website claims he is passionate about performing for soldiers overseas. It also claims he has a relentless work ethic, one epitomized by an Alfred Tennyson quote placed prominently on his own website (grangersmith.com): “I cannot rest from travel; I will live life to the lees.”

Ladies, in case you can’t resist a man who loves to swap dip spit (oh wait, that’s Dibbles Jr. not Smith), Smith is married and has a daughter.

Now, some words of wisdom from Earl Dibbles Jr.:

“What kind of dip? As long as it’s in my lip and it ain’t pouches; pouches’s just for city boys….You can get Skoal, Copenhagen, Wolf, it don’t matter. If it’s black, good.”

“Higher up, closer to God. Higher the truck, closer to heaven.”

“When you’re givin’ a case of beer as a present, don’t just wrap it and put it under the tree. Put it in a cooler first, with ice, then wrap it. That way, on Christmas morning, when they open it it’s already cold, and they can start crackin’.”

“It really pisses me off when..when they’s just running their mouth. Running their mouth about how I…you know…living life on this ranch, and then people want to dog it. People wanna bad-mouth it.”

“I read every day. I read. I practice my words, and I read. I’m getting good.”

“Things I do every day: fix trees, dip, wake ups.”

“They ain’t got no windmills in the cities. How you gonna get no drinking water in the cities when you ain’t got no windmills? How they even drink in the cities?”

Earl Dibbles Jr. has grown into a genius marketing ploy by Granger Smith. Dibbles Jr. has increased Smith’s profile and helped him sell a lot of records and swag. Yet, to a certain extent, Earl Dibbles Jr. has overshadowed Granger Smith. Dibbles Jr. is very prominent in all of Smith’s marketing. If an article is written about Smith, more than likely (as in the one you are reading now) Earl Dibbles Jr. will dominate the print. Every concert Smith performs, he has to share the stage with his overalls-wearing, gun-toting, dip-chewing alter ego. It is a bit of a shame, because Smith does have a lot to offer country music, certainly a lot more than Earl Dibbles Jr. Smith and Dibbles Jr. do offer two different things. If they share in their social media, marketing, touring and success, what’s the difference? One will keep waking up, putting a good dip in and starting the day. The other will wake up, kiss his wife and daughter and keep producing music and touring, and he will bring his country boy buddy along for the ride. I suppose fans will just have to be happy to have both around.