Country music's 'dad' songs come of age on Luke Combs' new album 'Fathers & Sons'
Luke Combs. Stadium-filler. Grammy-winner. Entertainer of the Year. A man who never met a long-necked, ice-cold beer that could break his heart.
He's now a father of two.
That's the most impactful takeaway from the Father's Day-timed release of his fifth studio album "Fathers & Sons."
"I've been putting out music for over ten years now," Combs said in a lengthy statement via social media. "Over time, I've gotten a pretty good grasp on what I feel like my fans enjoy hearing. It's scary to think about changing that, but I've always wanted to grow up alongside my fan base.
"I've got two boys under two, so my life is dominated by the thoughts of being there for them. I want to be their dad first and foremost. But part of me does wonder do y'all even want to hear songs about being a dad? I hope so. ... But at the same time, I know I could try and recreate the mainstream success of 'Beer Never Broke My Heart' or 'When It Rains It Pours' and sometimes I selfishly want to do that.
"I just had to do this project though because being a dad to my boys has been the main thing on my mind lately. I don't want to say this is a side project because it is me and my stuff, but what started as a crazy idea with only a few dad songs turned into me saying we should just record all of them as my next album. I know it's probably not what everyone expected my next album to be and I get that; I feel the same way in this not truly feeling like my next album. But being a dad is where life has taken me, and this album is a reflection of that in song form."
As much as the album reflects Combs' own tastes, it also highlights a moment where country, as a genre, is squarely on the cusp of its male stars embracing both youthful indiscretion and responsibility-laden maturity.
Combs' evolution and maturation
Combs is a decade into a mainstream country music career that has seen him become pop music's most unlikely superstar in a generation. However, the artist who arrived in Nashville as a scruffy, barrel-built and youthful, North Carolina-born mountain man capable of soulfully voicing the aspirational dreams of blue-collar everymen worldwide isn't that anymore.
He's now a 34-year-old, multi-time country music Entertainer of the Year award winner, a 16-time Billboard country radio chart-topper (13 times consecutively between 2016-2021) and consistently a Billboard all-genre Hot 100 top-10 artist. He also has sold the equivalent of 10 million albums and 100 million singles and has set a standard for breakthrough stadium-filling artistry now being matched by Zach Bryan.
His age is essential to this discussion.
Similar to how Combs seemed to arrive out of nowhere, a new cadre of twenty-something artists charging toward stardom is emerging in Music City. Their sound, style and swagger are wholly different from Combs'.
The new 24-year-old in town is Bailey Zimmerman. He's lovelorn Justin Bieber meets hyperkinetic Lil Wayne, raised on a diet of Eric Church, Nickelback and Tesla. That complexity is filtered and presented through the lens of country music's broadest-appealing pop moment to date.
Consider that he's well on his way to mirroring Combs' success as a radio-beloved artist and streaming favorite. Then add 28-year-old Zach Bryan, plus a diversity of acts that includes Wyatt Flores, Zach Top, Tucker Wetmore and Austin Williams who are all Zimmerman's age or younger.
Combs is right to feel that "Fathers & Sons" needs to exist because it's time to reflect the space to which he's matured in country music's mainstream.
'Dad country' has an extended moment
Combs is a new father. That's also important to the conversation.
As noted in a Tennessean article 18 months ago, he's one of roughly a baker's dozen of male acts in their early 30s, all married, many with children, who were responsible for 20% of country radio's No. 1 hits for roughly the past half-decade.
Combs' latest album is the first to dive so deeply into the impact of fatherhood, not just on his music but on himself.
Regarding the album's lead single, "The Man He Sees in Me," Combs offered the following note to his relatively newborn sons:
"I want you to know that even though I'm not perfect, I try my hardest every day to be the best version of myself for you both. I'll make mistakes along the way and some days you'll be sick of your old man, I'm sure, but, dang, we'll have some fun too. I can't wait to see what you both turn out to be like and I hope someday down the road, I get to watch you and your kids do the same."
How fatherhood benefits Combs' work
Combs' new release turns album-oriented "dad country" into arena rock anthems.
"Front Door Famous," written by Combs alongside Blake Densmore, Nick Columbia, Noah Thompson and Robert Snyder, sounds like Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" told from the eyes of a toddler who doesn't care about rocked faces, but cares more about feedings, hugs and teething.
The artist-turned-father eschews the encore and accepts that responsibility.
"This is what it's all for and the spotlight, I can't replace it. In a heartbeat, man, I'd trade it 'cause it ain't got nothin' on being front door famous," Combs sings.
Also, dig into how album closer "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" doubles as a treatise on masterfully overcoming generational trauma.
Then hear "Little Country Boys" and place it alongside Luke Bryan and Jordan Davis' "Buy Dirt" achieving "Song of the Year" status and Jason Aldean's current hit "Let Your Boys Be Country." Bryan is credited alongside Blair Daly and Dallas Davidson as a writer on Combs' track. He's halfway to Aldean and Bryan's success as radio-ready country superstars. Songs like this one ensure he'll match their plaudits.
Tie a loop between Combs singing, "Dad, you're my best friend, just one more spin — I promise I'll be good if you let me drive" and how Combs' father played Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" in his truck when the Combs was growing up. Then, add to that this is a season where Combs is being feted in a Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibition that will include artifacts from his childhood, including his father's Tracy Chapman tape.
It's an accidentally brilliant full-circle moment that only happens when you've reached the most rarefied of air of both country and popular music.
The end of 'bro-country?'
There's a solid argument to be made that Combs' growth into the "dad country" phase is important because his 2020 single "Forever After All," celebrating his marriage to his wife, Nicole, is a definitive demarcation of the end of "bro-country's" 15-year run that reformatted the upper echelon of country's mainstream.
"We've moved on 100% from the bro-country phase," says Chris Owen, Cornman Music director of A and R and a self-described "country music chart insider."
It's fair, though, to say that a third wave of bro-country represented by artists like Zimmerman is forthcoming.
Its impact, however, may not be as pronounced as in previous eras.
At 18 to 50 songs in length, the genre's playlist- and radio-driven formula can shoulder the load of artists roughly 24 and 34 years of age.
As of press time, draw a line at male artists under and over 29 and Mediabase's country radio charts skew 80% over 29. Conversely, Spotify's Hot Country playlist skews 40% under 29.
"A group of 30-year-olds could impact the format for 25 years," says Owen.
"Country music's male stars shouldn't be afraid to grow old. Getting married and becoming a parent is a niche worth carving into."
Though only 24, when asked about his future aspirations at 2024's CMA Fest, Zimmerman, told The Tennessean something indicating that maybe Combs, though nervous about his latest album's direction, is on the right track:
"At some time in my life, a girl will come along and she will make me want to write love songs. (Currently though), I cannot find a girl (to love me). It's one of my priorities right now. It's true ... I really do want a wife and kids one day."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Luke Combs: 'Fathers & Sons' album lets stars embrace fatherhood
