{"id":534443,"date":"2026-01-22T11:19:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T11:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/534443\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T11:19:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T11:19:17","slug":"meet-maddox-batson-a-country-justin-bieber-in-the-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/534443\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Maddox Batson, a country Justin Bieber in the making"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Maddox Batson sits in a swivel chair in a West Hollywood recording studio on a recent evening, spinning idly as his mother and manager go over their plans for the next few days.<\/p>\n

The freckle-faced country singer, who turned 16 just before Christmas, has been here working on songs for the last week or so with a handful of writers and producers. Batson likes coming to Los Angeles because of what the dry climate does for his voice and because he reckons he gets a different sound \u2014 \u201cmore pop-leaning, I guess\u201d \u2014 than he does back in Nashville. Tomorrow, he\u2019ll fly home for a quick stay before heading out again to a gig in Indiana, this time on his tour bus with the family dog in tow.<\/p>\n

\u201cHumphrey \u2014 that\u2019s my guy,\u201d Batson says of the black-and-brown dachshund, whom he introduced to his audience onstage in 2024. His mom, Salina, recalls the scene: \u201cIt was his first headline show, in Tuscaloosa, and he\u2019d just gotten Humphrey as a surprise from his sister. Maddox held him up<\/a> like the beginning of \u2018The Lion King.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The dog has since become a fan favorite, Batson notes, adding that his team is designing a plush Humphrey toy to offer at the merch booth. \u201cThe margins on that are gonna be crazy,\u201d he says with a grin. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna sell so many.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Country music has long made room for precocious teen stars, beginning with Tanya Tucker<\/a> (who scored a hit with 1972\u2019s \u201cDelta Dawn\u201d when she was just 13) and moving through LeAnn Rimes in the 1990s and Taylor Swift<\/a> in the early 2000s. In 2018, 11-year-old Mason Ramsey found instant internet fame (and later a major-label record deal) thanks to a viral video that showed him yodeling Hank Williams\u2019 \u201cLovesick Blues\u201d in the aisles of a Walmart.<\/p>\n

Few in Nashville would say that puppy love powers the genre right now: This week, Billboard\u2019s country albums chart is topped by Zach Bryan\u2019s \u201cWith Heaven on Top,\u201d which ponders his messy breakup with the podcaster Brianna Chickenfry, who\u2019s accused Bryan of emotional abuse; behind that are three of Morgan Wallen\u2019s albums, each of which presents Nashville\u2019s biggest act in lightly villainous terms, and a greatest-hits set by the happily pugnacious Jason Aldean<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yet Batson \u2014 the youngest member of a class of teenage up-and-comers that also includes Ty Myers<\/a> and Waylon Wyatt \u2014 is slowly building a fan base with slick but wholesome pop-country songs like \u201cGod Talkin\u2019\u201d (\u201cI could find him in the sky, I could find him in a pew \/ But, girl, I found mine in your five-foot-five baby blues\u201d) and \u201cGirl in Green,\u201d which comes with a smiley music video set at a school dance.<\/p>\n

Sixteen months after he signed with Warner Records, Batson has more than 3.5 million followers on TikTok and another million on Instagram; last year, Lainey Wilson took him out on the road as an opening act, while Billboard put him on its 21 Under 21 list alongside Sombr<\/a> and Katseye<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Batson dropped his latest single, \u201cAny Other Night,\u201d last week. Built on a twangy R&B groove that echoes Baby Bash and Frankie J\u2019s 2003 hit \u201cSuga Suga,\u201d it\u2019s about the singer\u2019s willingness to ditch his boys at the bonfire in the event that his phone lights up with a call from his crush; the song\u2019s throbbing beat and Batson\u2019s rappy flow demonstrate his intuitive understanding of how porous borders between styles have become in the streaming era.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think MGK said once that there are no genres of music \u2014 there\u2019s only good music and bad music,\u201d Batson says at the recording studio. In addition to his mom, the singer\u2019s sister Loren is here, as is his cousin Alex, who recently joined Team Maddox as road manager. \u201cHe just graduated from Mississippi State,\u201d Salina says, \u201cso we put him to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

After our chat, the Batsons need to decide where to have the final dinner of this trip to L.A. Last night they went to Nobu; another night they ordered in from Gwyneth Paltrow\u2019s Goop Kitchen. \u201cThe food is excellent \u2014 I wish she would franchise it and open one in Nashville,\u201d Salina says of Goop. \u201cNashville would go feral for that place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and brown suede cowboy boots, Batson elaborates on his idea about genre. \u201cI feel like there\u2019s a spectrum, right? There\u2019s zero, which is right in the middle, and then there\u2019s two, which is full country \u2014 like Zach Top,\u201d he says of the \u201990s-nostalgic neo-traditionalist. \u201cThen you have negative two, which is pop music \u2014 Sabrina Carpenter<\/a>. As long as you\u2019re in that realm, you can be considered both.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Country <\/p>\n

Batson joins a long line of teen stars in country music that also includes Tanya Tucker, LeAnn Rimes and Taylor Swift.<\/p>\n

(Michael Rowe\/For The Times)<\/p>\n

Aaron Bay-Schuck, Warner\u2019s CEO, thinks that approach will help propel Batson to heights attained by one conspicuous former teen star. \u201cWe believe the upside on Maddox is certainly in-line with the career trajectory Justin Bieber<\/a> has enjoyed,\u201d the exec says.<\/p>\n

Batson grew up playing sports in Birmingham, Ala. \u201cI was a big hooper back in middle school \u2014 averaged around 35 points per game,\u201d he says. \u201cBut then I got this knee disease in my right knee called Osgood-Schlatter.\u201d The condition, which strikes many young athletes, causes painful inflammation of the growth plate just above the shinbone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt straight crushed me at the time,\u201d he says of the diagnosis, \u201cbecause basketball was my entire life. But that\u2019s kind of what kick-started music for me.\u201d He and his dad, who plays guitar, started posting performance videos on TikTok; eventually, he expanded his repertoire to include more influencer-style content, including a so-called \u201cget ready with me\u201d clip that\u2019s been viewed more than 37 million times.<\/p>\n

Batson released his breakout single, the yearning \u201cTears in the River,\u201d in early 2024, just around the time he transitioned to homeschool. \u201cThey put homework on me, and I\u2019m like, \u2018I\u2019m not doing this,\u2019 and they\u2019re like, \u2018Yeah, you are,\u2019 and I\u2019m like, \u2018OK, maybe I will,\u2019\u201d he says with a laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cTears in the River,\u201d which reached the top 20 of Spotify\u2019s U.S. Viral 50 chart, drew the attention of Warner Records; the label signed Batson in September 2024 and immediately put out \u201cX\u2019s,\u201d which recounts a night spent dancing with a girl in a club, both of them marked with black Sharpie on their hands to show they\u2019re underage.<\/p>\n

Between \u201cTears in the River\u201d and \u201cX\u2019s,\u201d Lana Del Rey and Quavo recorded a country-ish song Batson co-wrote called \u201cTough.\u201d He and Del Rey both played Indio\u2019s Stagecoach festival<\/a> last April. Did Batson catch her set? Alas, he had to split early for another show in Arizona. He saw videos of her performance, though, including the much-discussed moment when she sang about making out with Wallen before advising anyone listening against \u201cATVing with him when you\u2019re out west.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat caught me off guard,\u201d Batson recalls. \u201cCan you imagine? Poor guy. Now she\u2019s married to that alligator guy<\/a>? He\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked whose career path he admires, Batson mentions Bieber, One Direction and the Jonas Brothers. \u201cThose guys have made all the right decisions,\u201d he says of the Jonases, who started out as teen phenoms in the early 2000s and last year toured arenas. \u201cLongevity is one of my biggest things,\u201d he adds. \u201cI want to be around for a long time \u2014 not just another teen up-and-down type of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The challenge in setting that up is \u201cmaking sure that the music you put out, you\u2019re not aging out of it the very next year,\u201d according to Jesse Frasure, a Nashville veteran who co-wrote and produced \u201cAny Other Night.\u201d \u201cAt Maddox\u2019s age, a year is a huge deal,\u201d Frasure says, in terms of the subject matter of his songs. \u201cNot to mention that sonically, your voice is literally changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frasure acknowledges that the cheerful innocence of \u201cAny Other Night\u201d is out of step with the \u201cemo-male thing going on\u201d with Wallen, Bryan, Gavin Adcock and the like. \u201cBut I think we\u2019re in need of a swing of fun, good-time country music,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Time will tell whether country radio agrees. So far, Batson hasn\u2019t found much support among programmers, who still wield enormous influence in the format \u2014 more, for sure, than their Top 40 counterparts do in pop.<\/p>\n

Yet social media is \u201cwhere Maddox fans live,\u201d says Warner\u2019s Bay-Schuck, which suits the singer fine. Even after a few years of steady posting online, he\u2019s happy to keep making TikToks that allow him to connect directly with his following.<\/p>\n

\"Maddox <\/p>\n

Maddox Batson says he admires the career paths of Justin Bieber, One Direction and the Jonas Brothers.<\/p>\n

(Michael Rowe\/For The Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cI love being known as relatable,\u201d he says. \u201cI want everyone to feel like, if they meet me in person, they would never be scared to say \u2018What\u2019s up?\u2019\u201d He\u2019ll put that to the test with a tour set to launch next month in Florida and a stop at L.A.\u2019s Wiltern on April 8. Before that, he\u2019s got work to do on the debut album he hopes to release this year.<\/p>\n

To many musicians Batson\u2019s age, the LP is an old-fashioned artifact, but it\u2019s important to him. His favorites: Wallen\u2019s \u201cDangerous,\u201d Bieber\u2019s \u201cMy World 2.0\u201d and John Mayer\u2019s \u201cBattle Studies,\u201d which he points out was released the same year he was born.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, and Michael Bubl\u00e9\u2019s Christmas album,\u201d he adds. \u201cI know every word. He\u2019s super cool, dude. I just found out he\u2019s sponsored by Rolex.\u201d<\/p>\n

Batson is himself wearing a nice watch, which he checks out in a mirror as he prepares for a photo shoot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a reflective surface Maddox passes that he doesn\u2019t like,\u201d Salina notes with a laugh.<\/p>\n

How\u2019s it feel to be roasted by his own mom?<\/p>\n

\u201cShe does it all the time,\u201d the singer answers. \u201cI\u2019ve learned to love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGotta keep those feet on the ground,\u201d Salina says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, ma\u2019am.\u201d<\/p>\n