By Cindy Watts
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.