I wound my way through the narrow hallways backstage at KFC Yum Center in Louisville, Kentucky, to the area where artists parked their tour buses. Cole Swindell was still finishing his opening set on Jason Aldean’s Burnin’ It Down Tour. When I snuck out, he had the sold-out crowd on their feet.
Women formed hearts with their hands and held them in the air as they sang along with Swindell on his No. 1 songs “Chillin’ It,” “Hope You Get Lonely Tonight,” and “Ain’t Worth the Whiskey.”
I had driven from Nashville to Louisville to spend the day with Swindell for a features cover I was working on as a walk-up to his stadium show at CMA Music Fest in 2015. I had watched him sign autographs, film social content, and even managed to trip over a forklift during his soundcheck. We had already discussed his journey from a Georgia frat boy playing college bars to becoming a hit songwriter and emerging country artist. At the time, he’d already written “Water Tower Town” for Scotty McCreery, “This Is How We Roll” for Florida Georgia Line, and Luke Bryan and Bryan’s No. 1 hit “Roller Coaster.”
But he still wanted me to come back to his bus after his set so he could play me a new song. While Swindell had already had multiple hits, he had yet to have a career-defining breakthrough moment. He thought this new song might be it.
The performance left him drained. Pale and tired, he made his way from the stage back to his bus, where he fell heavily onto the couch. Swindell grabbed his cell phone and scrolled through song titles. He hit play on “You Should Be Here,” a song he wrote about missing his dad with Hall of Fame songwriter Ashley Gorley. Swindell’s dad had died two years before.
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It was just a demo, but he was excited and nervous to share it.
Lyrics included: Hey y’all, it’s sure been a good year| It’s one of those moments| That’s got your name written all over it| And you know that if I had just one wish| It’d be that you didn’t have to miss this| You should be here
Almost exactly one year later, “You Should Be Here” became a multi-week No. 1 hit, the biggest song of Swindell’s career. He watched in disbelief as 70,000 fans in Nissan Stadium for CMA Fest lit up the venue with their cell phones and sang the lyrics back to him.
This Father’s Day, Swindell is preparing to be a dad himself. The singer and his wife, Courtney, are expecting their first child. The little girl is due later this year, and it’s just another life moment that makes Swindell miss his dad even more. On Friday, Swindell released his new song “Dale Jr.,” a vulnerable, heart-wrenching ballad written from the perspective of two famous men who lost their dads. Dale Jr. is Dale Earnhardt Jr. His father was NASCAR racing legend Dale Earnhardt, who died in a crash on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
A decade after Swindell played me his first dad song, his record label sent me “Dale Jr.” I grew up in East Tennessee, and my dad was a car mechanic. Watching NASCAR was almost as important as church service on Sundays, and Earnhardt was the king at our house. My dad died unexpectedly in November. This is my first Father’s Day without him. When Swindell and I met to talk about “Dale Jr.,” both of us were emotional.
For obvious reasons, “Dale Jr.” is track three on Swindell’s new album, Spanish Moss, which will be available on June 27.
Cole Swindell and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Bond Over Losing Their Dads
“It’s a song that really has nothing to do with NASCAR or any of that,” Swindell explained. We met in a Nashville studio to talk about his new album. “It’s just about real-life situations and how two people that may be in the spotlight related to something that wasn’t so great. I think we feel the same. We were lucky to have our dads as long as we did.”
Swindell, who has charted 13 No. 1 songs as an artist and 14 as a songwriter, wrote “Dale Jr.” with Greylan James and Matt Alderman. It includes what might be his favorite lyric of his songwriting career.
We just did what missin’ dad sons do
Swindell met Dale Jr backstage at one of his shows. And instead of discussing the singer’s platinum songs or the retired racecar driver’s most impressive wins, they talked about losing their dads. When James and Alderman asked Swindell about Dale Jr., it reminded him of their sentimental conversation.
“I’m like, ‘Dale Jr. is the most down-to-earth, just coolest guy in the world,” Swindell said. “We connected over ‘You Should Here,’ and I think he just said he could obviously relate to the song. It’s just wild what songs bring people together.”
“All We Talked About Was Sr. and You”
“Dale Jr.” lyrics include: Last night I met Dale Jr.| Backstage at a show| We drank a few Bud Heavys| And he said, “Man you know| Who should be here right now| With his arm round my back?” | We didn’t talk about gold records| Or all of his checkered flags| Naw, we just did what missin’ dad son’s do| Yeah, last night I met Dale Jr.| And all we talked about was Sr. and you
The song shows Swindell that regardless of fame or popularity, everyone deals with and feels the same personal losses.
By the end of the interview, Swindell had changed into a sports-themed pullover that said “dad.” His eyes immediately filled with tears as he talked about finally becoming a dad himself.
“Life has definitely changed a lot, but in the best ways,” Swindell said. “Usually, we’re strictly talking about my career and music. And now it’s cool to have something that with Courtney and our new baby, who I love more than anything in the world. I don’t think you can describe feelings you have for a child. You can just tell that you have to experience it. But, I’m going to love writing about her.”
(Photo by Robby Klein)
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