Cochren & Co. frontman Michael Cochren is opening up about how becoming a father after eight years of prayer shaped his band's third studio album, "Runs In The Blood," in a new interview with CCM Magazine.
The album, which Cochren said took nearly three years to complete, marks a departure from his previous sound. Rather than recreating what worked before, he built the record around the song "The Lows," a groove-driven track that led him toward a more soulful, genre-blending direction shaped by his upbringing in southern Indiana, drawing from country, soul, soft rock, and Southern Gospel influences.
The album arrives during a season of major life change for Cochren, whose wife, Leah, gave birth to the couple's first child on New Year's Day 2026, following eight years of infertility that JubileeCast has followed closely. "I'm in my 30s now, I'm an actual adult, I have a little baby now," Cochren told CCM Magazine. "So who am I? What's made me what I am? Where have I come from? Where am I going?"
Those questions became the album's foundation, exploring themes of heritage, gratitude, and identity rooted in faith. "I wanted to invite everybody into that, talking about heritage and family, where I've been, but also where I'm going as a result of what runs in the blood of Jesus," Cochren said.
Cochren also reflected candidly on the tension of answered prayer, admitting that even after years of longing for a child, adjusting to fatherhood has come with its own challenges. "It's so crazy how you can get your prayer answered and then go, 'Is this the right thing?' Because this is really hard," he said. "But God is showing us some amazing things in this season."
Cochren & Co. will support the album with a fall tour alongside Zach Williams.
Related Article: A Miracle Baby Born on New Year's Day: Cochren & Co.'s Leah Cochren Has the Most Beautiful Mother's Day Story This Year
