Artist: Andrew Combs
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “4×10” (Loudon Wainwright III cover)
Album: 5 Covers & A Song
Release Date: July 27, 2018
Label: New West Records
In Their Words: “This song sparked the initial idea to record a collection of covers. Jordan Lehning (producer) and I had a bonding moment over this tune and how perfect we thought it was. In fact, we even thought of doing the whole EP of just Loudon songs. In my opinion he is one of the few writers who can cover the territory of familial relationships in such a shrewd and comfortable manner. It’s an important topic in life, but a hard thing to write about. He inspects, with a critical eye, the relationship of husband and wife / father and mother, what can happen when things go wrong between the two parties, and how those emotions and experiences can be ingrained in their children.
In the end, like many of us, he surrenders to the idea that he has inherited some faults of his folks, ending the last verse as he started the song, saying “its not strange, no mystery / you and I are history.” In this moment the word “history” references the end of a relationship but also how we are all continuing traditions, positive or negative, carried on from our parents. What a beautiful and cyclical way to bookend a song. I could go on and on about Loudon’s words — every line probably deserves analysis. This has become one of my favorite songs of all time.” — Andrew Combs
Photo credit: Balee Greer
