Blackberry Smoke brings Southern spirit

Blackberry Smoke's latest album, “You Hear Georgia,” turned into a pandemic silver lining for the Atlanta rock quintet.

“I was really excited this time,” frontman Charlie Starr says by phone. “I'd written a bunch of songs, then lockdown comes along and I wrote some more with friends who were all in the same boat — ‘I'm just sitting around. Let's do something. Let's write a song. Let's collaborate somehow.' That turned into some really good songs that might not have been written otherwise.”

The group recorded “You Hear Georgia” in Nashville with 10-time Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb, who Starr and company found to be all about “the human side” of making music.

“He's really great in that he does not try to change who you are musically. He just wants to capture what you're doing in a really good way,” Starr says. “He's all about the moment, not about perfection. It doesn't matter if there's a couple of mistakes in (the song), as long as you were feeling it. At the end of the day I was feeling like ‘Thank you for reminding me we're not machines.'”

“You Hear Georgia,” which features guest appearances by Jamey Johnston and Gov't Mule's Warren Haynes, debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard Rock, Country and Independent album charts in June. It won't be Blackberry Smoke's only release this year, either. The group has recorded a set of Rolling Stones covers that will be released as “Stoned” for Record Store Day on Nov. 26.

Blackberry Smoke, the Allman Betts Band and the Wild Feathers perform at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24, at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre, 14900 Metro Pkwy., Sterling Heights. Tickets are $25 and up at 313-471-7000 or 313Presents.com.