Country star Dustin Lynch was at an impasse. The only way forward was to have ‘Killed the Cowboy’

By MARIA SHERMAN
AP Music Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ahead of Dustin Lynch’s sixth studio album, “Killed the Cowboy,” the 38-year-old country star sensed some inner conflict. He had achieved many of his goals; he spent the last decade securing country radio hits and ranking in a cumulative billions of streams. The question became, what next? Should he settle down and, figuratively kill his interior cowboy? “Where do I want to be in five, 10, 20, 30 years?” he told AP. That question isn’t exactly answered on the record, but no vulnerability is left unexplored across it: from the sole collaboration with Jelly Roll, “Chevrolet,” a reimagination of Dobie Gray’s 1973 hit “Drift Away” to playful tracks like “Honky Tonk Heartbreaker” and “George Strait Jr.”