Luke Combs’ Growth As A Musician, And A Man, Is Apparent On Fourth Studio Album ‘Gettin’ Old’

Luke Combs country music
Jermey Cowart

Gettin’ Old is HERE.

Luke Combs’ fourth studio album is out everywhere today, and I don’t think the album title could be more fitting. There’s a growth in the sound, and the message on the project, that is apparent and refreshing.

The North Carolina native delivered 18 new songs today, including previously released songs  “Love You Anyway,” the lead single “Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old,” “Joe,” and most recently, “5 Leaf Clover.”

And while he just put out the adjoining project, if you will, Growin’ Up right around seven months ago, things are already changing for him.

Luke and his wife Nicole announced that their second child, a baby boy, is due this September, and welcomed their first son, Tex, last June.

While we all know and love Luke’s beer-drinkin’, country heaters, this new record certainly reflects his current season of life and all of the transition he’s experienced lately, both personally and professionally, which he says was no mistake:

“This album is about the stage of life I’m in right now. One that I’m sure a lot of us are in, have been through, or will go through.

It’s about coming of age, loving where life is but missing how it used to be, continuing to fall for the one you love and loving them no matter what, living in the moment but still wondering how much time you have left, family, friends, being thankful, and leaving a legacy.”

Songs like “Fox in the Henhouse” are totally different from anything Luke has ever put out, and almost has a Chris Stapleton kind of sound to it, while “Love You Anyway” is right in that Luke Combs wheelhouse we’re used to hearing from a production standpoint.

Most notably, the closing track “The Part” is a stunner of a song where he addresses the fact that all the good, material parts of being a rockstar musician touring out on the road don’t always make up for “the parts” that they don’t tell you about, like missing out on things back home and being a lot more lonely than people would think.

A co-write by Luke along with Kenton Bryant and Ray Fulcher, it stopped my in my tracks and is the perfect song to close this record with. If it’s not a shining example the maturity and growth he talked about being a theme here, I don’t know what is.

In an interview with Esquire promoting the album, Luke noted how he’s found himself slowing down some since Tex arrived last year, choosing to spend more time at home hanging out with him as opposed to staying on the go all the time like he had been.

He says that, while having #1 songs on the radio is cool, he’s making music because of the art and joy of it, and nothing else:

“You obviously would love for it to keep going. But chasing records or streaks, I don’t benefit from it as a human being.

It’s great to have the most weeks at Number One or whatever; that stuff’s amazing. Nobody wouldn’t want those things.

But I don’t ever think about that when I go in to write a song or produce a record, because then you’ve lost the whole art and the joy of it.”

He poignantly added:

“I’m not going to sacrifice the integrity of what I love to do just for that. I’d be bummed to see it end, but my son would still smile when I got home, so it’s fine.”

I guess that’s just part of gettin’ older, eh?

Make sure you check out some of my early favorites below…

The Eric Church co-write, “My Song Will Never Die”:

Of course, he absolutely crushed his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.”

It’s easily one of my favorites on the record:

This one, “The Part,” is an easy standout for me… it’s a “wow” moment, for sure:

“Fox in the Henhouse”

Gettin’ Old Tracklist:

1. “Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old” (Luke Combs, Rob Snyder, Channing Wilson)
2. “Hannah Ford Road” (Luke Combs, Jamie Davis)
3. “Back 40 Back” (Luke Combs, Ray Fulcher, Jeff Hyde, Driver Williams)
4. “You Found Yours” (Luke Combs, Thomas Archer, Dan Isbell, James McNair)
5. “The Beer, The Band, And The Barstool” (Luke Combs, Rob Williford, Reid Isbell)
6. “Still” (Luke Combs, Jamie Davis, Ray Fulcher, Dan Isbell, Dustin Hunley)
7. “See Me Now” (Luke Combs, Kenton Bryant, Ray Fulcher, James McNair)
8. “Joe” (Luke Combs, Erik Dylan, James Slater)
9. “A Song Was Born” (Luke Combs, Casey Beathard, Dan Isbell, Reid Isbell)
10. “My Song Will Never Die” (Eric Church, Travis Meadows, Jonathan Singleton)
11. “Where The Wild Thigns Are” (Randy Montana, Dave Turnbull)
12. “Love You Anyway” (Luke Combs, Ray Fulcher, Dan Isbell)
13. “Take You With Me” (Luke Combs, James McNair, Rob Williford)
14. “Fast Car” (Tracy Chapman)
15. “Tattoo On A Sunburn” (Lukes Combs, Ray Fulcher, Ben Hayslip, Dan Isbell)
16. “5 Leaf Clover” (Luke Combs, Jessi Alexander, Chase McGill)
17. “Fox In The Henhouse” (Luke Combs, Jamie Davis, Dan Isbell, Dustin Hunley)
18. “The Part” (Luke Combs, Kenton Bryant, Ray Fulcher)

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