‘Like a dream’
Rising star Brent Cobb touring with ‘some of the best in the business’
Brent Cobb is ready to do a sound check at Lake Tahoe.
It’s a moment when his life slows down and he can take it all in.
The country singer is opening for Grammy winner Chris Stapleton’s All American Road tour.
“It’s like a dream,” he says of the tour. “Everything is so big, and I’m working with some of the best in the business.”
Cobb is a rising star in the country music scene, though he’s not new to it.
After spending a good chunk of his career as a professional writer in Nashville, Tenn., Cobb decided to give it a go as a solo artist.
What’s resulted is his Grammy-nominated debut album, “Shine On Rainy Day,” and his most recent, “Providence Canyon.”
He’s also been heating up the late-night TV circuit with his performances.
On July 25, he appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” and he sang the single “Ain’t a Road Too Long.”
“This was only my second time doing a show like this,” he says. “I’m jet-lagged now, and I could have done better. I’m always beating myself up after these things.”
Self-criticism aside, Cobb is blazing a trail of his own within the music industry.
A lot of Cobb’s journey was as a staff songwriter on Music Row.
This means he would clock in for a day’s work and pen quite a few songs before the day was over.
“It’s the career path I chose,” he says. “So you have to be able to open yourself up to new experiences and writers on a daily basis. That’s how I met Chris. We wrote together while I was on Music Row. He’s one of those guys that everybody loved and respected. He’s the real deal.”
Cobb says putting together “Providence Canyon” was a journey.
Named after a Georgia gully that Cobb often visited as a teenager, the album is about a life lived on the run. There are road songs, half-lit drinking tunes, tributes to friends and family, and nostalgic nods to one’s younger years.
“I’ve always liked the funkier side of country and the funkier side of rock,” he says. “Those influences have been a part of me for years, but they’re really coming to the forefront now. When you’re touring with Chris Stapleton and you’re performing to a crowd of 10,000 people before he hits the stage, you find yourself wanting to play something upbeat.”
Cobb says some songs were several years old and he wrote plenty more to round out the album.
“We spent a couple days here and there in the studio over four months,” he says. “We tried to go with our gut feeling in putting the album together. I tend to try and let it all fall out of thin air. I don’t try to think too much about it.”