When sitting down to talk with Brent Cobb, he’ll humbly tell you that he’s just out there doing what he knows how to do. He’ll tell you that he’s just playing regular old country, but we’ll tell you that what he’s doing is special. We caught up with Cobb after his set at Stagecoach Music Festival, where he captivated an entire crowd, that honestly probably didn’t know his name.
TCN: Let’s talk about Shine on Rainy Day. Tell us about the making of it.
BC: It only took about four days to make, but about a decade to come together. The actual process was only about four days, though. Dave and I did a record together in 2006 and wanted to get back together for about 10 years. I moved to Nashville from Los Angeles and he stayed out in California. I tried to tell everyone that I had a bad-ass record producing cousin, but no one would listen to me. I couldn’t get anyone to invest in my producing cousin. I had toured for about 4 or 5 years, did 120 dates a year, then my wife had our first baby. So, I stopped touring and wrote, then Dave called me about a year-and-a-half into my child’s life. He was doing his southern family record that we wanted me to write for and that was the first time we’d gotten into the studio together in 10 years. While we were in there, it felt like coming home. We knew we had to do a record together. So we did, and I’m very proud of it.
TCN: Your sound is very different, what were your influences in developing that?
BC: Well, Dave and I are both from Georgia. We grew up around The Allman Brothers and really liked that jam. I like early Willie Nelson, like Shotgun Willie. My writing style really lends itself to groovy, country kind of funk. It’s the only thing I know how to do, just regular old country.
TCN: You mentioned living in two big cities, Los Angeles and Nashville. How do they compare to being back home?
BC: Los Angeles really wasn’t for me, but it was the first place I’d lived outside of my hometown. I love LA now, but it was a little too much for me back then. Nashville is great. I’ve been there for eight years, and I love it so much. It’s a great city.
TCN: Well, you’ll be leaving Nashville soon, to go back out on tour. You’re opening for Chris Stapleton this summer, how do you feel about that?
BC: I’m excited. All the tours I’ve been on have been fun. I’ve been glad to be on them, but the Stapleton tour will be the first time in 12 years that I will be able to afford a bus. That’s going to make it really nice. It’s touring arenas, too. All the fans, when I opened three shows for him before, are our fans. They don’t know it yet, but they like the same stuff.
TCN: How did the tour come together? Was it because your music lends to a similar audience?
BC: All I know is, Morgan had more to do with it than Chris did. When Shine on Rainy Day came out, Morgan got it, liked it and started posting about it. Then when we opened the show for them, at Ascend Theater in Nashville in November, I remember getting done with our set and hanging out, when Morgan said, well you better get ready for next year. I said, “Don’t be talking that sh*t if you don’t mean it,” and she’s the one that did it. She’s from Georgia, as well. I guess that is how it happened, she said she looked at Chris and said, “What I say goes, ain’t that right baby.”
TCN: So, what was your first job before all this happened?
BC: For my first job, I was a tree surgeon. I worked for a tree service back home and I cut trees for a living. I made pretty good money. If this doesn’t work out, I’ll got back to that.
TCN: Well, we think you’ll be fine with what you’ve got going on now.