Father’s Day Review – Luke Combs – “Fathers & Sons”
#500 & #510 (Country, Traditional Country) on the Country DDS
Regardless of what you might think about some of his music, it’s clear that this Luke Combs guy is a good egg.
Right now, popular music is in an arms race, with massive stadium superstars releasing 30-track albums trying to monopolize the charts and dominate algorithms. Luke Combs is very much in that gaggle of America’s topmost entertainers with widespread appeal, especially after his version of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” became the “song of the summer” in 2023 and shot to #1 in all of music.
And so what does Luke Combs do as heavyweights like Taylor Swift and Morgan Wallen trade blows at the top of the charts? He releases an understated and mostly acoustic twelve-song traditional country concept album delving into the love shared between sons and fathers to coincide with Father’s Day. This is quite remarkable to say the least.
Fathers & Sons is far and away the best-written album of Luke’s career. It’s also far and away the most country-sounding album of his career. Poignant, purposeful, heartfelt, and graced by perfect timing, it’s everything you were hoping it might be when Combs announced it only about a week ago, and nothing you were worried it could have become as he tries to compete for attention in the crowded music space.
The key to a good song about sons, fathers, or family in general, is to capture the emotion inherent in these familial relationships without being overly sappy and sentimental. Like a Hallmark movie, if the pandering for an emotional moment is too obvious, it will fall flat. Working in grays and nuance, and not stating the most obvious is how to land an emotional wallop. Let the audience come to some of the conclusions themselves.
In each of the twelve tracks on this album—including ten co-written by Combs—that balance is struck just about right. The opening song “Front Door Famous” captures the feeling of coming home with a couple of rugrats overjoyed to see you like you’re some kind of superstar, even if in Luke Combs case, he is. The career of a musician always getting called away becomes the cutting inspiration for the song “All I Ever Do Is Leave.”
When Combs sings in the ending song, “What’s this every other weekend and leaving all about?,” it cuts hard, no matter if you’re a product of divorce. Most all of the seasons and scenarios of fatherhood are expressed on this album, from the sweet and sentimental moments, to those of faraway longing or love lost, including for those who’ve passed on.
Timing is so essential to the potency of this album, just like it’s essential to all great musical moments. Luke Combs made this record when his kids were still young, and that fresh feeling of fatherhood was still coursing through his veins, and his own father is still around to savor these moments. And yes, releasing it on the week of Father’s Day when so many fathers, sons, and daughters are celebrating helps center your attention on the subject matter, and savor it like it’s meant to be.
This is the type of music that is perfect for a Sunday morning: slow or mid tempo, reflective, and acoustic like you’re sitting on a back porch or a pier. It features appearances by folks like Sam Bush, Bryan Sutton, and Charlie Worsham as opposed to the usual modern mainstream studio crowd. Fathers & Sons slows everything down and allows you to appreciate the small things in life and the most important moments.
This album is not a masterpiece. Some of the songs get a little listy with the lyricism like a Luke Combs song will. And sure, a few of the moments or songs may get too syrupy for some. But co-writers like Lori McKenna, Jessi Alexander, Rob Snyder, and Erik Dylan bought into the vision Luke Combs brought to this album, and made a collection of songs that’s greater than the sum of its parts.
1 3/4 Guns Up (8.1/10)
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June 16, 2024 @ 7:50 am
Great lyrics. I just wish Luke Combs would stop Pitch Correcting his vocals.
June 16, 2024 @ 11:11 am
Not really hearing that on this album. These days, anything emanating from Music Row is going to have the vocal run through a myriad of filters to make it sound like something they believe mainstream listeners want to hear, which is “perfect.” I think that can give the impression of pitch correction. But having called out many albums that clearly bring Auto-Tune to bear in a heavy handed manner, I’m not hearing that here. I’m hearing a mainstream album clean up to the point of being distracting. Perhaps that also includes pitch correction in some places.
June 16, 2024 @ 7:11 pm
I wouldn’t know for certain without a professional looking at it. But on a lot of Luke Combs’ songs, including this album, I’m hearing those artifacts that you get when folks use PitchCorrect to squeeze the vocals onto a note (like in Auto-Tune).
I know that these practices are widespread in mainstream Nashville. The music industry needs to do some soul searching. Because if they have their audience conditioned to listen to computer-generated vocals, then why do you need Luke Combs at all? Just generate the whole thing in AI (e.g., that Carolina-O song).
June 21, 2024 @ 8:43 am
Everyone gets pitch corrected wether they need it or not or even know it is being done. Everyone!
June 21, 2024 @ 9:27 am
Ah, two old canards. (1) The Barry Bonds excuse: “I didn’t know I was cheating. I thought I was taking flaxseed oil.” (2) And the everyone else does it excuse.
If you listen to artists like Chris Stapleton, Tyler Childers, and Susan Tedeschi, do you hear PitchCorrect on the vocals? But you do hear on a lot of pop country tracks ….
June 16, 2024 @ 9:10 am
Not gonna lie, I’m a bit on the fence whether I’d call it his best, because ‘Gettin’ Old’ has some absolute showstoppers that might reach higher peaks, even if this is more consistent and organic with that fiddle and mandolin.
Did it stop me from going to the record store as soon as it opened to try and get a copy for my dad for Father’s Day? Absolutely not. This might not crossover fully, but man, with the right audience, it’s going to have staying power. This is a grown MAN album, and I mean that as the highest possible praise.
June 16, 2024 @ 9:20 am
I like how Luke recorded this whole album live for the first time. Remember him that way is the best song on the album
June 16, 2024 @ 9:37 am
Another guy with a rock voice.
Saw him on the CBS Sunday Morning Show earlier today. He does not fit the definition of what country music is or should be. Dreadful vocals. Seems like a nice man but he is definitely not country.
Maybe the time has come to eliminate the word “country” from the genre once and for all and call it what it truly is – rock music.
In the 21st Century country music is dead. Long live & God Bless all the country oldies from Hagqard, Jones, Buck, Loretta, Tammy and all the other country legends. The best country music was recorded long ago.
June 16, 2024 @ 11:15 am
“He does not fit the definition of what country music is or should be.”
Totally understand the “rock vocals” comment, but that’s a ludicrous statement. Willie Nelson doesn’t have “country” vocals either. This is country music, most especially this album. Luke Combs sings like Luke Combs sings. Then when someone puts on a country accent, they get accused of being phony.
June 16, 2024 @ 12:25 pm
It’s not just the vocals. The instrumentation is also rock.
Appears that country music cannot be saved.
RIP Country Music.
June 16, 2024 @ 12:54 pm
So an artist like Buck Owens who had big hits with songs like Tiger By The Tail that featured no fiddle or steel guitar is acceptable, but a record very fiddle and mandolin heavy is “rock instrumentation”? What an ignorant take. Luke Combs absolutely is a country artist, even if you don’t like his vocals.
June 16, 2024 @ 2:51 pm
“Appears that country music cannot be saved. RIP Country Music.”
This is literally the most ludicrous statement to ever grace this site in the almost 9 years I’ve been here and that’s saying a lot. You must be deaf, dumb, and blind or maybe it’s your first day here? I don’t have enough hours in the day to listen to all the incredible recent music that’s come out. I feel sorry for your ignorance as I’m sure we all do.
June 16, 2024 @ 4:12 pm
JB – been here (albeit mostly lurking) about the same 9 year time frame as you. You’re spot on with this response “Saving” country is a hyperbolic turn of phrase but if this album isn’t evidence that mainstream country hasn’t moved in the right direction I don’t know what to say. Guy sure seems to be singing from the heart.
June 17, 2024 @ 1:24 pm
Correct. There’s so much incredible new country music, I can’t keep up.
I love Waylon, Haggard and Loretta but if you don’t love new country, then you’re not listening to the right music
Thanks Trig for introducing me to this artist:
Matt Castillo – Pain and Sorrow
June 16, 2024 @ 7:55 pm
Sheesh. Tough crowd. If I bump into Bryan Sutton or Sam Bush at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival next week, I’ll inform them that they’re not rock musicians.
June 16, 2024 @ 7:21 pm
I’m never gotten a rock vibe from Luke Combs. Some of his stuff has so much PitchCorrect that it sounds like Pop music. But he has enough of a twang (and no growl) that I’ve always thought of his voice as more country than rock.
The comment about 21st Century country music being dead seems hyperbolic. There is a lot of bad mainstream pop country. But there is also a lot of great music coming from the independents: e.g., Tyler Childers, Jason Isbell, CWG, Allison Russell, etc.
June 23, 2024 @ 8:17 am
I struggle to comprehend how you can claim Country is dead when:
a: You obviously look at this website and can’t have missed all the recommendations?
b: we have endless amounts of true Country artists around right now.
If I was one of those artists and read your words, I’d be gutted!
June 16, 2024 @ 10:32 am
Come on folks, the man is singing his heart out about his sons. If you have children you would appreciate what he’s singing and feeling. Happy Father’s Day Luke Combs!
June 16, 2024 @ 10:39 am
As a grandad, Let ’em be Little Country Boys is just awesome.
June 16, 2024 @ 10:49 am
Thanks for posting. I like Luke Combs, have all of his albums, though I enjoy this new one a bit less than the last two, and I am seeing him in concert next month. The guy can certainly sing for real, but I feel the pitch correction all over his albums is way too obvious and rather damaging to the organic vibe he’s going for. I’ve done some Melodyne tuning work on my own voice–I am NOT a good singer—and I have worked on real, successful singers as well and there is a point with pitch correction past which weird flanging effects and a watery, almost garbled noise intrudes on the voice, when it is done too much. I hear this side effect all over Luke’s albums—especially in sparse, open sections if he sings any trills. I wish he would do more takes in the studio or let his stuff have some flaws rather than manicure it so much this way. I remain a fan of his music, but this choice on all of his albums keeps me from liking them more. Is anybody else really bothered by this?
June 16, 2024 @ 12:32 pm
I hate when I can hear it. I really believe the record labels are preparing us for A.I. artists. By unnecessarily making real singers sound like a computer, it will be harder for listeners to distinguish between human and A.I. music. Or not care either way.
June 16, 2024 @ 11:13 am
Some examples of what I believe are pitch correcting side effects in Combs’ song The Part is the flanging at—
“through the window pane” (0:18)
“you miss out” (0:33)
“one-off show” (0:37)
“highways” (1:37)
June 16, 2024 @ 11:41 am
Guess I have tin ears.I don’t hear any difference between the passages in “The Part” you highlight and any other phrases in the song. (BTW, “The Part” is one of several songs on “Gettin’ Old” that apparently will never become a single — unless no singles are planned from “Fathers and Sons” and the “Twisters” banger is just a one-off and the label plans to continue mining “Gettin’ Old” for singles until a more commercial record is ready.
Not that there couldn’t be singles from “Fathers and Sons.” It’s just that the country radio mindset is “bops” and “bangers” for the beach, bar and tailgate cuties when the weather gets warm, with more reflective, serious music pushed only in fall and winter.
June 17, 2024 @ 1:47 pm
I love old school country, but I equally love new country
Bangers and tailgate cuties are fine with me
June 16, 2024 @ 11:14 am
Trig, you really need to do some digging on this whole pitch correction thing. How widespread is it, both in the studio and in the audio chain at live performances? Is it strictly mainstream country’s problem, or could some of the artists and bands routinely praised on this website be guilty of the same thing? And if the artist can deliver a good live performance, should we still come down hard on that artist for (perceived) studio wizardry getting the voice just right on the recording? I mean, who would want to get the pitch wrong on something people are going to be listening to for years?
June 16, 2024 @ 11:43 am
I have talked about this many times over the years. Auto-tune is a tool. If you have a perfect performance in the studio, but one note is slightly off, using Auto-Tune as opposed to scrapping the entire performance is the best and most efficient way to get the job done, no different than moving a snare drum crack slightly out of time. Most every artist does this, or the engineers/producers/mix/master people do, indie or mainstream.
Where it becomes problematic is when it is used wholesale on an entire album to correct for someone who probably shouldn’t be singing for a living anyway. Luke Combs is not one of those guys. He’s a choir boy. This album was recorded live, so there were probably a few places where the pitch was off, and it was corrected. I don’t personally feel this is an “Auto-Tune” album, like the ones I’ve called out by name by George Strait, Cody Johnson, and others. But I appreciate some might have a more sensitive ear for this than me.
June 21, 2024 @ 8:48 am
I repeat: Every vocal gets run through pitch correction software. In studio, live concert- everyone everywhere always. It is not discussed with the artist.
June 16, 2024 @ 11:15 am
As a father of two young sons, this one hits hard. Real hard. This is absolutely the mainstream country record of the year. But I’d like to go ahead and nominate it for album of the year now.
June 16, 2024 @ 12:44 pm
Before kids, this one wouldn’t have been my jam.
With kids, absolutely blown away. So glad he put this project out there.
June 18, 2024 @ 6:34 am
I have a young son and another coming in a few weeks. Never particularly cared for Luke Combs other than a cursory listen, but put this on when I got to work today and damnit if I didn’t almost start crying by the third song.
I wouldn’t have given this the time of day a few years ago, but I have a feeling I’ll be listening to this for a long time.
June 16, 2024 @ 11:19 am
I certainly don’t hear these kinds of pitch fixes with other modern country / Americana notables like Joshua Ray Walker, Pony Bradshaw, Billy Strings, Jason Isbell, Gabe Lee, and Charles Wesely Godwin and only in small amounts with rising stars like Carly Pearce and Megan Moroney. There are some pretty glaring fixes on Willie Nelson’s The Border, but certainly it’s a lot more understandable for a 91 year old legend to dial in some help.
June 16, 2024 @ 11:47 am
No doubt that mainstream country albums tend to come with heavily processed vocals that if you’re used to listening to independent artists, your ear is going to pick up on. Shows like “The Voice” and “American Idol” have turned singing into a skills competition, and made mainstream consumers to expect everything to be perfect all the time.
I don’t doubt Auto-Tune was used on this album, especially since it was all recorded live. I appreciate and respect your ear for picking up on it. I didn’t really find it as that significant on the album, but I’ll go back and listen.
All that said, it’s a little sad that after what Luke Combs has done here, some are primarily focusing on whether Auto-Tune was used, and if his vocals are “country” enough. That seems to be missing the forest for the trees with “Fathers & Sons.”
June 16, 2024 @ 11:55 am
I don’t think it’s automated Autotune, but a deliberately and manually fixed vocal performance done after the fact in a program like Melodyne.
I find weird the artifacts distracting more so in his music than any other modern country artist I follow and support. I notice things like this when I mix, and I am just surprised that a singer as robust as Combs leans so heavily on it.
Like I said, I am a fan, but find this choice distracting with his music and was curious if others did. If the correction doesn’t bother you, that’s great and allows you to better enjoy the forest without noticing a bunch of aluminum trees.
June 16, 2024 @ 7:17 pm
Some of those singing shows are also auto-tuning/pitch-correcting the version that gets broadcast on TV, so that is not the best example.
A lot of the Indy country artists mentioned above sound like they are singing naturally. The examples I keep thinking of are Chris Stapleton, Tyler Childers, Jason Isbell, CWG, and Allison Russell.
But it is also possible that a producer altered the vocals with one of the above, but just did it more discreetly.
June 16, 2024 @ 11:01 pm
K. These are good points. The bottom line is many artists use correction and use it subtly and well in a way that isn’t noticeable or is only barely noticeable—e.g. I hear some adjustments on the Zach Top LP, but not a lot, and mostly, they blend smoothly, and I really dig the album and am looking forward to seeing him open up for Lainey next week…
So the problem for me is that I really enjoy Luke Combs’ singing, songwriting, and overall earnestness, but am distracted by his heavy handed and very obvious corrections, which don’t blend well for me. Technology can be used well or poorly, and I mean my comments on this topic as constructive criticism for a very likable and talented guy who has the chops to deliver smoother, much more natural work.
June 16, 2024 @ 11:27 am
Should be interesting to see how commercially successful this album will be. Definitely comes across as a special project rather than the next studio album.
But what a fantastic album this is.
In a world full of Swifts & Wallens, be a Luke Combs
June 17, 2024 @ 2:48 pm
Could all y’all let one day pass without somebody on this site taking a cheap shot at Morgan Wallen? Well I guess your dogs are happy that they not getting kicked as much.
June 16, 2024 @ 11:31 am
I use to be a Jon Pardi stan… but the dude has let me down with his recent efforts. Last Night Lonely & Cowboys n Plowboys very check listy fodder.
Sick of his beer drinking light weight tunes.
He needs to sing songs like Combs , Jordan Davis & Cojo. Songs about life, his wife, and his kids.
This album is awesome!! Go Luke
June 16, 2024 @ 12:02 pm
Great album. Im not a big fan of his but this is what an album should be. I like it when albums have a central theme as opposed to all over the place. The last song, take me out to the ballgame is great. I got lucky to a point and ended up on being on the good end of a bad breakup back in the day and had custody of my kids but i still think about what ifs far as if it had taken a different course. Remember him that way is probably my favorite, hit me hard in the feelz. Great album, great review. Thanks for highlighting this one, i probably wouldnt have bothered otherwise.
June 16, 2024 @ 12:18 pm
I’m just glad to hear a country artist celebrating Father’s Day instead of the annoying “new holidays” that popular culture is pushing like June Teeth and alphabet month.
June 16, 2024 @ 7:58 pm
We’ve been celebrating Juneteenth down here in Texas for decades. The rest of the US has now co-opted it. Don’t get me started.
June 17, 2024 @ 9:23 am
You do know that the greeting card industry was behind the creation and selling of both Fathers and Mothers Day, right?
June 18, 2024 @ 7:31 pm
Don’t be so reasonable Howard. If we acknowledge all holidays are made up then we’d have no reason to attack the black and gay ones!
June 19, 2024 @ 5:11 am
Great thing about music is that it can be interpreted different ways for different people.
I’m a son who was lucky to have the full support of my parents after I came out to them. Whether Luke meant it that way or not, “Whoever you turn out to be” is very much a Pride Month song for me.
June 16, 2024 @ 12:50 pm
I’m a lot older than Luke Combs. I generally don’t listen to his pop country style of music but I always respected him as person, his lyrics are palatable and his songs fuggin rock.
Now he’s “grown up” and gone soft. His songs now all sound the same and have a prettt tight formula to them and they are mostly slow and boring. If I want slow and boring(I do) music then I’ll listen to someone who has something better to say and says it in more creative ways that jive with my vibe. This album’s ok by this “grown up” boring version of Luke Combs albums but I don’t know. I hope I explained myself coherently.
June 16, 2024 @ 3:41 pm
Huge Luke fan here. So I’m appropriately biased. But l think the album is spectacular. He doesn’t need to be judged, because he’s entered no contest. He’s an entertainer, and l, for one, am entertained. Love you Luke – keep being you.
June 16, 2024 @ 12:54 pm
I agree that I like Luke using Father’s Day to create and sing about relationships that really matter.
Like Billy Strings album with his dad, its nice to hear positive music about family.
June 16, 2024 @ 1:45 pm
I have really enjoyed the articles and comments since discovering this website a few months ago. I don’t know how I missed it for so long. I don’t listen to the radio anymore and tend to listen to what I grew up on. I always listen to new releases on here and try to keep an open mind about it at age 72. That being said, I can not believe how many great young songwriters, pickers, and singers there are today. Every week on here I hear some great songs from new artists. Sorry but there is a lot more talent out there today than when I was young. I hear a lot of people my age complaining about country music being gone or done, seems like there’s a resurgence of good country to me. Try listening to some people that aren’t dead.
I really hadn’t listened to Mr. Combs before but the 2 songs above sound pretty good to me. Like Kris said, if it sounds country that’s what it is. Sounds country to me. I enjoyed both of these songs on this Father’s Day.
I hadn’t really listed to Mr.
June 16, 2024 @ 2:46 pm
It’s my first Father’s Day, got a seven month old named Waylon and this album hit just right. Luke’s matured and naturally made the right moves throughout his career. Super easy to root for. Great album, and great Father’s Day review Trig.
June 16, 2024 @ 2:48 pm
Well said. I am digging this album and all the feels that come with it.
June 16, 2024 @ 6:15 pm
first song made me so emotional i had to turn it off. assuming the rest is just as good
jeremy pinnell is pretty good (he rips)
June 16, 2024 @ 8:31 pm
“My Old Man Was Right” written by Luke and Lori McKenna is going to be one of my finalists for song of the year. It’s BRILLIANT.
June 16, 2024 @ 9:33 pm
Autotune has only become such an issue in music discourse because there’s this weird moralizing around it. It’s a effect on a record, either you like how it sounds (which depends on the type of song, amount of it used, etc.) or you don’t. But I wouldn’t think any less of Luke Combs if he had every single note messaged into place as long as it sounds good. Just like I’m not upset when photographers use Photoshop to edit their pictures, or writers use keyboard and not a pen & paper to compose their work.
This album has clear, obvious pitch correction. It’s not my favorite sound, but the songs are heartfelt and Luke Combs is a good singer. Both things can and are true.
June 17, 2024 @ 12:45 am
…approaching this very emotional and quite personal project first and foremost from a technical point of view is… – completely missing the forest for the trees. kinda sad too.
June 17, 2024 @ 6:33 am
There are some artists where the use of computerized vocal (enhancements?) are blatant and obvious. Morgan Wallen’s vocals sound like he’s singing through the telephone from another universe. The vocals on Kasey Musgraves’ last album sound as if she dictated the lyrics through Alexa and Siri. When it comes to someone like Luke, I’m not hearing an obvious attempt to drastically change the sound of his voice. For the most part his albums sound like a human singing. If the engineers are using mixing to tighten up the vocals in areas, it doesn’t really bother me, and I don’t think it’s really obvious to the average listener.
The whole point of recording a studio album is to capture the best possible version of an artists music. No one seems to complain about the effects used by instrumentalists. I’d bet almost every musician in the band has some sort of effect connected to their instrument. Just as the engineer will use effects to make the music sound the way the band and producer want. You think those retro country bands that everyone thinks sound so authentic aren’t using effects to give the guitar’s those retro tube amp sounds? How about the vocal reverb?
Studio tricks aren’t anything new, and it’s often the reason live albums often feel a bit hollow, even though there is some magic to the rawness of it. But no one really want’s their favorite artists to release nothing but live albums. It’s the studio magic that makes these albums great. Seems Luke’s success has lead to a bit of the picking apart of his music other artists don’t suffer.
June 17, 2024 @ 9:00 am
Man, Huntin’ by Yourself Again hits hard.
June 18, 2024 @ 12:30 am
Thanks for this review. I have really enjoyed the new album & appreciate all that was put into it. Also singer/songwriter Ray Fulcher also was one of the co-writers. He has written many of Luke’s #1’s
June 18, 2024 @ 4:47 pm
A little late to the party on this one, but I agree this is Combs’ best album thus far. I had the opportunity to hear him in Salt Lake the day after he released his single “The Man He Sees in Me.” I bought the tickets because of Cody Jinks and CWG who were opening; by the end of the night, I was a Luke Combs fan, despite being so-so on him before the show. Although he doesn’t play the most traditional stuff, you can see the love he has for his music and his family. It was cool hearing his new single and the meaning behind it; all in all, he seems like a decent guy who is moving country in a better direction than any other major star has for a while.
June 18, 2024 @ 8:43 pm
I don’t really search for Luke, but don’t get mad if he pops up on a Playlist. After reading the reviews I decided to check it out and have to say it’s my favorite he’s done. Maybe it’s because I’m getting softer in old age, or maybe my own relationship I had with my dad but man some of these hit hard. “In case I ain’t around” reminded me of the conversation we had before his passing, and the line in “remember him that way” about the S on his chest starting to fade another good line about realizing your dad won’t be there, even more so when you know one day you’re kid will see you the same way. Have to second what someone else said about “my old man was right” being the stand out for me. Good review Trig
June 21, 2024 @ 7:37 pm
The more i listen to this, the more i love it. Probably going to be album of the year for me. It may not even be close.
June 22, 2024 @ 1:40 pm
I love this album…the songs…the singing…the production…everything. It would be a great road album too, but you have to be able to drive though tears. ;~)