Adam Doleac Shares The Story Behind ‘Ain’t She,’ Talks Touring And Life As A Soon-To-Be First-Time Dad

Adam Doleac is gearing up for an eventful year, with upcoming releases of new music, a busy touring schedule, and the anticipation of becoming a father.

The rising star closed out 2023 by treating fans to a rendition of Switchfoot’s “Dare You to Move” and then ushered in 2024 with the debut of his latest original release, “Ain’t She.”

Striving to delve even deeper into his musical journey, Doleac is dedicated to releasing an abundance of music throughout the year.

“To start the year off right, I wanted to give my fans a sneak peek at this next chapter of my journey with music. ‘Ain’t She’ is not your average love story, it’s about the girl who saved the guy. I wrote this track with the sentiment that we get lucky in life with that one person who can turn your world upside down for the better,” Doleac says.

Starting on February 21st, Doleac is set to embark on his headlining Wrong Side Of A Sunrise Tour, featuring special guests Greylan James, Troy Cartwright, and Graham Barham.

Country Now recently caught up with Adam Doleace to chat about the release of his new songs, his upcoming tour, and his growing family. Check out our exclusive Q&A below.

What is the story behind your newest song “Ain’t She”?

I wrote “Ain’t She” about my wife. I’m from Mississippi, so I kind of say that phrase all the time. A lot of times the phrases that I say turn into titles. It’s funny, sometimes it takes me years to realize, “oh, that’d be a cool title,” but that’s kind of what happened with this one. Since I wrote it down on my phone, I’ve loved the idea. I love a good title to start because I want it to look good on paper. So, it just started with those two words – “Ain’t She.” I think my favorite love story is the kind of guy that can’t save himself, or get out of his own way, but then he meets the girl that comes in and changes everything for him.That’s kind of what happened to me when I met my wife. I could be wrong about this, but I think most guys want to look across the room while having a beer with their buddy at the bar and see their wife or girlfriend or whoever it might be, and just kind of turn to their friend and say, ‘man, she’s way too good for me.’ I think that’s the highest compliment that a guy can pay and the kind of girl that every guy wants to find. That’s where the idea started and it just kind of turned into what you hear now.

Can you provide more details about the inspiration drawn from your wife, MacKinnon?

Yeah, I mean I was kind of the guy that had everyone from my parents, to my brother, to my friends thinking that I would be single forever. They just thought I was going to be single forever because I dated a lot of people, but I never really would settle down for anybody that lasted a long time. I thought I would get married a lot younger and it just kept going and going, so they kind of kept thinking that. Meeting my wife has opened up a lot of those emotions and feelings of forever in love that I always wanted, but almost gave up on. I remember vividly I was giving up. I just kind of felt like I dated everybody and I was kind of giving up women for Lent. The year that I met my wife, I decided I wasn’t going to talk to any girl. I was just going to spend some time on my own. I think I went out to a show, eight or nine nights later, and that’s when I met my wife. I was just at the point of giving up and then I finally met the right one. I think that’s inspired a lot of songs, lyrics and all of my writing. I’m glad that I’ve landed in this kind of love song space in music because I really do love a good love story, and I like writing about my own. 

You co-wrote “Ain’t She” with John Pierce and Paul DiGiovanni. What was this songwriting process like? 

I remember we just kind of started with the title and lines that we loved. I remember it started with “she’s wilder than an Oklahoma wind.” I think John said that line and we all were like, “well, that’s cool. I love that line. I love that picture that it paints.” So we kept digging at it like that. I remember we wrote a chorus with a different melody and then we came back and changed the melody to what it is now. It was a songwriting session that probably ended up taking eight hours. I know a lot of times people say, “oh, it’s a hit,” and “it just fell out in 30 minutes.” However, this was not one of those times. We wrote for four hours one day. I think we had a verse and a chorus, and then we came back the next day with fresh ears and kind of changed some stuff up and ended up finishing the song. It took a couple of days, but I tend to like that. I like to write something, go home and sleep on it, come back and listen with fresh ears the next day. That’s what we did with that and I think it turned out great. Paul really killed the production and it turned out great. It doesn’t go exactly where you think it’s going to go, which I love. I like to keep people guessing and keep it interesting when you’re listening and I think that song did a good job of that. 

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What is your favorite line in “Ain’t She”?

I love the hook line “she’s way too good for me,” but I also love “she’s wilder than the Oklahoma wind.” I think I’m actually going to make merch for the tour that has that featured on it, which will be really cool. Another favorite line of mine is “she’s champagne in the dive bar smoke” because I feel like it is me and my wife for sure. I’m a big, I love all things vintage, all things old dive bars, Miller High Life, that kind of thing. She’s kind of the opposite of me in that way, but we go together really nice, so I like that a lot. 

What can fans expect from your forthcoming chapter of new music?  

Yeah, I think songwriting is just so much of a muscle and the more that you do it, just like with any other muscle, it just gets stronger and better. I’ve got a few more years under my belt with this new music coming out, so I think it’s going to be a little deeper. I’m digging a little bit deeper on this record. It won’t just be all love songs. For example, there will be some heartbreak on it, and some different emotions I haven’t really explored yet. I have a song called “Bar Named Jesus” that I think is probably the best song I’ve ever written before. I’ve never teased it and I probably won’t. I don’t really need to know if people like it. It’s just, I think it’s that good. So there’s some songs like that on the record that are digging a little deeper into my songwriting, which is good because I haven’t really gotten to do that yet. I’m really excited about that and hopefully I’ll have a feature or two coming as well. 

How have your fans reacted to your release of “Ain’t She” and your cover of “Dare You To Move”?

Amazingly. The “Dare You to Move” cover was so cool. Andy Skib, who produces a lot of my music, we were supposed to write one of these days late last year and we got canceled on. We still wanted to do something and so we said, “let’s do a cover song.” He basically asked me, “What’s the first song you remember loving?” My answer was “Dare You to Move” by Switchfoot. That was just a very visceral feeling and I can go right back to that same place. I never really tried to sing it and also I never really paid that close attention to the lyrics. I just love the song. So, when I was recording that song I was like, “Wow, this is actually a beautifully written song.” It’s kind of crazy that I never picked up on that, but we just tried to make a cover that was my favorite. Covers by artists are ones that are unique to the artist and they kind of put it in their own style. We tried to do that and I think we did. Andy’s so good at getting that out of me. That recording is something that I can confidently say I’m really proud of. The reactions have been incredible. It went super viral on Instagram the first time I posted it, so that was so cool to see. Then Switchfoot started commenting and I got to interact with them a little bit. I got to kind of hang with one of my favorite bands from when I was younger and it was a good experience. They were awesome, sweetest guys ever, and they were super supportive of me putting this out. Actually, they were a big reason that I got to put this out because they were kind of pushing for it, which was great. “Ain’t She” as well, has been the biggest release I’ve ever had. It was the fastest song to a million streams and the reaction from fans has been great. I’m excited to get out there and play it on the road.

What are you most excited about during the “Wrong Side Of A Sunrise” Tour?

Just the fans and getting out there. That’s the biggest reason that I love making music is to watch the way that it can impact other people and the effect it can have on people’s lives. I like the VIP sessions before the show, and going out after the show or before the show to meet fans. All that stuff is really fun for me and I love getting to just kind of experience that with them. I get to make music all year round in Nashville. It’s really playing in front of people that I love. That’s such a special thing. These rooms we’re playing in, they’re probably 1000 tickets or 1500 tickets, so they’re kind of smaller and they’re more intimate. In the past I think I would’ve told you, I would rather be out with Zach Brown or Kane Brown or Old Dominion or Carly Pearce with 20,000 people like we’ve done. While that’s great, I really have fallen in love with the thousand people that show up that are there just for you, and it’s a really, really special thing. We want to keep putting out music and keep growing those rooms.

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You and your wife are expecting your first child in May. As you will be on tour, how are you and your wife preparing for your child’s arrival? 

If you look at the tour dates, there’s a pretty large gap in there. We have done our due diligence on the front. Hopefully that all holds up and nothing changes, but we are prepared and really excited for this baby. I mean, I think this is something that we’ve both always wanted to do. It wasn’t really a surprise. The only surprise was how fast it happened, but other than that, we are just really excited. One of my favorite qualities about her is that I’ve always been able to see how good of a mom she’s going to be. So I’m excited to get to see that side of her happen this year. I’ve always wanted to be a dad too, so we’re really excited. It’ll make touring and everything a little more difficult and I’m interested to see how it makes me feel just leaving the house for the weekend, which is normally something I can’t wait to do. I’m sure it’ll be the same just with a little more missing you tagged onto it. We’ve decided we’re going to have a traveling baby, and we’re going to live life as best we can.

How do you envision balancing raising a child and pursuing your musical endeavors?

I envision being very sleep-deprived. No, again, I think such a huge part of that is having a great partner and wife and mom in MacKinnon. I feel like that’s going to go a long way. Mac is from Nashville, so she has all of her family here, so we luckily have a good bit of help for those times that I can’t be there. With that being said, we are very much a do it together type of family, so it’s probably just going to look a lot like an extra tour bus out for the weekend where we can all be there or an extra flight or whatever it is. We do our best even before we have a child to do as many things together as we can just because it kind of sucks to experience these as the career goes and you’re having these first and these fun moments that you’re doing. You don’t want to really experience them without the other person. I’m sure we’ll feel the same way with our baby, so we’ll find a way to kind of do it all together and just learn as we go.

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What goals have you set for yourself for this year?

My first goal was to release a lot of new music. That was a big thing coming into this year that I was not going to budge on. I think after last year we put three songs out and this year I want to at least triple that. Touring was another goal of mine. Keep headlining. Like I was telling you earlier, I just really have fallen in love with the intimate shows and building that fan base. Just one ticket at a time, one fan at a time, or one person cheering “Ain’t She” or “Dare You to Move” at a time. That’s just kind of how it happens.  A lot of my other goals are a side from music this year, which is being a great husband, being a great dad, and learning how to do all that as well. There’s a lot on my list of resolutions/goals, and we’re off to a good start. The snow in Nashville has not helped with the dietary resolutions, but everything else is going well.

Fans can keep up with Adam Doleac on Instagram.