Outside is colder than the PBR in my fridge, but a little time with Cole Swindell’s first single warms everything up just right. “Chillin’ It,” released in the summer of 2013, is the very essence of redneck summers. It’s catching up with Montgomery Road past all the ’burbs, turning onto Front Street in Morrow and ending up at Flat Rock. Then it’s just waiting for some boy to come along with nice lips, a 12-pack of shitty beer and a hankering for trouble.
Swindell is the essence of my childhood, plus everything I wanted as a teenager growing up in Florida, a million miles from home. He’s part of that “new Country” scene that isn’t so much about the “broncs and blood” Garth brooks sang about, but more about getting into some fun on the Chattahoochee with Alan Jackson. Songs like “A Dozen Roses and a Six-Pack” are as small-town heartache as it gets. And “Let Me See Ya Girl” is the perfect shade of redneck romanticism that would’ve made me swoon in high school. (OK, fine — and now too.)
Swindell’s story is the epitome of the American Dream. He went from selling merch at concerts to nabbing a songwriting contract and opening up for some of the biggest names on the radio. He watched every move his predecessors made, studied the way the business worked and soon found himself on the right stage with the right audience. Now he’s on the radio and coming to the Gardens. Most of us will never end up in the rodeo. We can, however, let this new wild boy of Country talk us into some post-show redneck shenanigans. I highly recommend we do.
Swindell’s Cincinnati show is part of a “twin bill” with “Bulls, Broncs & Barrel Racing,” an “Extreme Bullriding” event. Visit cincygardens.com for info.
COLE SWINDELL plays at Cincinnati Gardens Sunday, Feb. 8. Find tickets/more info here .
This article appears in Feb 4-10, 2015.