Welcome, Guest! | Sign Up or Log In
Lauren Alaina, Sam Hunt, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church & More Share Heartfelt Memories of Their Dads for Fatherā€™s Day

Lauren Alaina, Sam Hunt, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church & More Share Heartfelt Memories of Their Dads for Fatherā€™s Day

From ā€œThatā€™s My Jobā€ and ā€œA Boy Named Sueā€ to ā€œDrive (For Daddy Gene)ā€ and ā€œLove Without End, Amen,ā€ country artists have a long tradition of connecting with their dads in song.

In honor of Fatherā€™s Day on June 17, Eric Church, Dierks Bentley, Kip Moore, Sam Hunt, Lauren Alaina, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood weighed in on the impact their fathers had on them.


Eric Church

ā€œMy dad is aā€”Iā€™m trying to find the right words to describe him. My dad is a great guy, honest guy, very call it like he sees it, which is where I get a lot of that. No BS. Iā€™m gonna tell you how I feel whether you like it or not. Iā€™m that guy, Iā€™m me . . . My dadā€™s that way, so I get a lot of that from him. Thereā€™s also an honesty and an integrity that my dad carries himself with that Iā€™ve always admired.ā€


Dierks Bentley

ā€œMy dad was my biggest influence in country music because my dad loved country radio. So, we always drove around listening to country radio and George Strait, Hank Williams and Randy Travis and all these guys. Without him, I wouldnā€™t be doing this, thatā€™s for sure.ā€


Kip Moore

ā€œHe would just play all those classic recordsā€”Little River Band, Jackson Browne, Springsteen, Seger, Willie Nelson, Kristofferson, Sam Cookā€”like classic music. Heā€™d be singing the songs and telling us why it was such good music. And I looked up to him so much, thatā€™s the music I gravitated towards and thatā€™s what I continue to listen to. Whenever I think about those old fishing trips, thatā€™s what I think about is on the way down there, him singing those songs and all of us singing ā€™em.ā€


Sam Hunt

ā€œIā€™m obviously biased about my parents, but Iā€™ve been around a lot of great men of integrity, but he is by far the best man that I know. Heā€™s just taught me so much about being a man, doing the right thing, knowing the difference between right and wrong. And even though I donā€™t always follow his lead, I definitely know better because of him, and that means a whole lot to me. I was just really fortunate to have him as a dad, and heā€™s great.ā€


Lauren Alaina

ā€œOh my gosh. My dadā€™s the best. Iā€™m really proud of my daddy. ā€œOctober 6th will be his five-year anniversary of being sober. So thatā€™s a big one for us. And itā€™s been really amazing the last few years with his recovery. Our relationship was a little rocky before he went into rehab and now we talk every single day. And he is my daddy and Iā€™m so proud of him. Heā€™s the hardest worker I know, and thatā€™s why I work so hard because I grew up watching him do it. Iā€™m proud of him and he moved to Alabama for work and he loves it, and heā€™s like 30 minutes from the beach. So, Iā€™m trying to hit that beach up every minute I can. But Iā€™m really proud of him, and heā€™s a great dad and he always has been.ā€


Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum

ā€œI definitely got my Type-A personality from my dad. Heā€™s the same way, but one thing Iā€™m so appreciative ofā€”especially from a father-daughter relationshipā€”my dad always, always talked to me, even when I didnā€™t want to talk to him. He would force me to communicate and talk through things, and not always the easy stuff, which is such a rare quality in a man, truthfully. And so, I am very, very thankful for that. I think it helped me find the right husband for me, and I also know that it will help me be that much of a better communicator to my children.ā€ ā€”Hillary Scott

ā€œMy dad was a really hard worker growing up and was always great, however hard he worked, heā€™d always make important time for family, important time to be home for dinner and be there for a lot of special moments for us growing up. For all the money he would make, he would always give a portion of it back to charity or to the church, and so that was always important for me to watch. We had a great relationship growing up. My dad plays guitar, heā€™s very musical. I learned how to play acoustic guitar with him playing ā€˜Day Tripperā€™ by the Beatles and all these old songs weā€™d play together when heā€™d show me how to play these James Taylor songs and things like that. So, definitely want to pass along music, of course, to my children, as well, like that.ā€ ā€”Dave Haywood

all photos by Jason Simanek

Playlist

Recently played

Cat 96
Cat 96
Cat 96
Cat 96
Cat 96
Cat 96
Cat 96
Cat 96
Cat 96
Cat 96
Cat 96
Cat 96