Recent Posts

• January 30, 2026Awards, Country Music

  2026 Grammy Awards Preview: Country Music Dads’ Picks, Snubs, & Surprises

  Awards Season is here, so the Country Music Dads must weigh in on what is most deserving, who was snubbed and how the Grammys may be the ultimate dad award show. It's the 2026 Grammy Awards preview edition of Country Music Dads!

• December 18, 2025Country Music, culture, Dad Life, Masculinity

  Beefing Bros: Making Sense of Gavin Adcock and the Fightin’ Side of Country Music

  What’re you looking at, son? You wanna go? Well, it seems like Gavin Adcock can’t get enough of the fightin’ side of country music, and the media (The Dads included) can’t get enough of his bologna. This week, we dive into the beefs, why country music seems to foster this kind of violent rhetoric, what dads should do about it and how the media landscape makes it all worse.  While you're listening, please take two minutes to fill out our listener survey! What do YOU want to hear about country music and modern fatherhood in Season 3? Survey will be live until January 31, 2026. https://countrymusicdads.com/feedback/

• November 21, 2025Country Music, culture, Dad Life

  Why Thanksgiving is the Ultimate Country Music Dad Holiday– and Why It Gets No Respect

  Thanksgiving doesn't get any respect, but we're looking to change that. The beleaguered middle child of the holiday season, Thanksgiving is often overlooked. Yet so many elements of Thanksgiving (gathering with family, romanticizing our past traditions, and reckless binge-eating, among others) seem to make it the perfect holiday for a dad and for country music. We explore why Thanksgiving doesn't get its due and we take our best shot at creating a Country Music Thanksgiving Playlist.

• November 5, 2025Country Music, Interviews

  Songbirds’ Son: Shooter Jennings on Waylon The Artist, Waylon The Dad and The Legacy of Both

  This episode needs no introduction: Shooter Jennings joins Donnie and Dave to discuss his dad’s cache of recordings, the process of bringing together three albums' worth of new Waylon Jennings music, and his feelings about the first installment, Songbird. Shooter talks at length about the discovery of Waylon’s previously unreleased music, his relationship with his legendary dad and his own role as a father of two. This one was big for the Country Music Dads, as there couldn’t be a more perfect topic for this podcast.

• October 15, 2025Country Music, Interviews

  Ryan Posner: The Dad Behind Y’all Star Revue on Country Music’s Evolution

  This week, Donnie speaks with Ryan Posner, a Los Angeles-based bass player, side man and musical director, about balancing his home and professional life, how to define country music, why it is important to push art forward and how bass players make great dads.  They dive deep into the value of his current project, the nearly weekly Y’all Star Revue, a showcase at the original Desert 5 Spot in Hollywood. This event highlights the best local and touring country music talent who are on the verge of breaking out.

• September 10, 2025Country Music, culture, Dad Life, Masculinity

  The Mustache Rides Again: Greatest ‘Staches in Country Music (and Beyond)

  This week, the Dads talk about a growing trend in country music and on the faces of men everywhere: the mustache. While facial hair is divisive, this episode takes a light-hearted view of the ‘stache, the correlation between masculinity in society and the prevalence of mustachioed individuals and much more. This is just one long “Change My Mind” segment, and you won’t be disappointed. 

• August 13, 2025Country Music, Interviews

  Jeremy Pinnell on Country Music, Jiu-Jitsu and Balance

  In this episode, The Dads speak with Jeremy Pinnell, a country music dad from Elsmere, Kentucky.  Jeremy released his first full-length album in 2014 on SofaBurn Records, featuring a collection of songs that draw from his life to tell a truly country story. Jeremy recently released brand new singles “Save You” and “Come Home to Me.” He joined the Dads to talk about family, finding balance and all sorts of other topics on this episode. 

• August 6, 2025Babies, Dad Life

  Why Dads Should Take Parental Leave, Plus a Country Music Dads Update

  Dave goes solo for this episode with a brief update on Country Music Dads' plans in the coming months and with a brief rant about parental leave for dads.

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  July 23, 2025Country Music, Dad Life, Interviews, Raising Girls

  Sean Burns Does It All

  This week, the Dads sit down with Manitoba's own Sean Burns. He’s a sideman, a frontman and a radio man -- and he’s your new best friend. Sean has been playing bass and touring with one of Canada’s best underground country stars, Corb Lund, for years. He makes time for his own solo career as a songwriter and purveyor of classic country sounds as the frontman of Sean Burns and The Lost Country.  And he’s also the evangelical lover of traditional real country music and as the host of the Boots & Saddle Show, your humble home of honky-tonk and beautiful country music by beautiful country music singers, he shares his takes on what make great country music every Tuesday on CKUW 95.9 FM in Winnipeg, and then on podcast services around the globe.  Throughout the show, they discuss the balancing act of being a touring musician with a deep passion for the music and being an engaged father to a young daughter. For Sean, it’s all about how the two worlds influence one another and finding the right balance as he navigates his life with his wife and kiddo.

• July 9, 2025Country Music, culture, Dad Life, Education, Playlists, Stay-at-Home Dads

  Family Vacation is a Lie

  ... or how I traveled with kids on summer break, and all I got was this grape snow cone. This week, the Dads talk about the season of family vacations. While these trips are a tremendous amount of work, all the research and our lasting memories suggest that, although these journeys aren’t exactly vacations, the family trip is incredibly valuable to the family unit.  This episode explores some of the research — both academic and anecdotal — that supports our theory that these trips are great for families (if only in the long term), as well as some of the great country songs that can help us through the grind of the summer family vacation or family trip.