Cole Swindell Reflects on Fatherhood, Daughter Rainey’s First Birthday, and Seeing His Late Dad in Her

Cole Swindell might be busy on the road, but he wouldn’t miss the chance to celebrate his baby girl’s first birthday. The country star says his wife Courtney is planning a special party for their daughter Rainey, who will turn one on August 7.

With Swindell scheduled to perform tour dates from Wednesday, August 5, through Saturday, August 8, he shared plans to celebrate Rainey’s milestone moment on Sunday.

“I’ll be coming in hot Sunday morning,” he told K99.1 FM. We’ll be doing her birthday party and just celebrating a year.”

The “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” singer went on to say that before having a child, he was always told how quickly they grow up and now he is experiencing that first-hand.

“It’s just, you hear how fast it goes, that’s all you hear. And you blink and you’re coming up on a year, her first birthday party. So it’s true. Time flies,” he admitted.

Although Swindell is still navigating his first year of fatherhood, the experience has already inspired some of his most personal music yet. Earlier this year, he released “Girl Dad,” an emotional tune about moving on in life and not being able to share the big moments with his late father.

The 43-year-old tells the radio station that although he still misses his dad every day, seeing glimpses of him in Rainey has brought him a sense of comfort he never expected.

“Until the day we shot ‘Girl Dad,’ she had been around some of my family, but not a lot. And I’d been getting the glimpses of her and like, ‘Am I crazy? Am I just wanting to see this?’ And then somebody in my family, they’re like, ‘Man, I see Keith in her eyes.’ And I’m like, ‘Thank you.’ One, because I’m happy about it. Two, because I’m glad I’m not completely crazy that she does resemble him,” he explained.

This realization has helped remind Swindell that even though his dad is no longer physically present, he is always with him.

“To have a little reminder of that every time I look at her, I mean, the Lord works in mysterious ways and sometimes you don’t understand it. But then for me to be able to look back, I think 10 years later, and I can understand that the things I’ve been through have shaped me into getting ready to be a father and the man I needed to be. And that has not come easy by any means. It’s been a learning process.”

As he continues to balance life on the road with fatherhood, Cole Swindell is cherishing every moment as a family of three while continuing to honor the memory of the man who helped shape him.