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Lenz described how she cast him in an episode of “One Tree Hill” that she was directing, giving him the role of Josh Avery, a sleazy movie star that Teal readily embodied because of his “self-effacing sense of humor and willingness to dive fully into any character.”

With Rife heading off a lucrative year and into his Stay Golden Tour, it’s clear that for him, comedy has become much more.

Brawny yet sensitive, Smith channels the depth of his many experiences into his sturdy, riff-driven songs, which is one reason they’re connecting: This year his hit “World on Fire” spent 10 straight weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s country radio chart, a stay equaled by only Wallen’s “You Proof”; Smith quickly followed it with another chart-topper in “Bulletproof,” the twangy lead single from his sophomore LP, “California Gold.”

Acts like Hardy, Warren Zeiders and Koe Wetzel have brought heavy guitars into commercial country music, while Nickelback has become a reliable draw at country festivals including this past April’s Stagecoach in Indio, where Smith was also on the bill and did a faithful cover of Foo Fighters’ “My Hero.”

Post pivoted toward country on his latest album “F-1 Trillion” and recently played an all-country set at Coachella’s sister festival Stagecoach, though he’ll likely dip back into his catalog of festival-friendly hip-hop for this gig.