For forty minutes take a minute for yourself and let Brent Cobb’s sublime melodies, vocals and honest lyrics drench your soul in goodness with ‘Southern Star’, his first self-produced album, released on ‘Ol Buddy Records/Thirty Tigers.
Kick back in your nearest chair and let Georgia native Cobb take you on a sweet musical journey that is a homage to his southern home and everything that is good about music. Life is tough; let the music balm soothe and uplift you.
Album opener and title track ‘Southern Star’ (named after a bar he used to go to with long-time friend the late Jason ‘Rowdy’ Cope of Steel Woods) sets the tone for living a simple life surrounded by good people and good love. The groove is perfect to zone out to, its power reducing any rushing-around-life we think we have to do. The GRAMMY-nominated Cobb invites us to slow down with these ten soul-steeped electric tracks, which he describes as ‘southern eclectic’ and I truly appreciate the gate opening for a new genre from an artist who knows what he’s doing in a studio or on a stage.
In ‘It’s a Start’, crawfish, barbecue and day-drinking receive the Cobb treatment, these iconic images of the south shared to remind us to value the small things that make up a life. As Cobb says, “You know how when you’re growing up, you’re told that if you ever get lost out there, look for the northern star to help find direction back home? Well, I’m from Georgia, so I always look for the southern star. This album, the songs, the sounds… they’re all a product of where I’m from, both musically and environmentally”.
The driving-situation-based and philosophical ‘Patina’, with its gospel tinged organ sound, is one of my favourite tracks on the album; good music and slow driving go together like Nashville and Tennessee; it’s got “a way of making my heart feeling like flying”.
‘The Devil Ain’t Done’ offers an uptempo beat that just makes you want to dance. As music mainly intended. The juxtaposition of living and dying are synonymous in literature and in Country music. Indeed, Charlie Daniels’ devil had a brief good time in Georgia.
‘Miss Ater’, written and recorded by fellow Georgia songwriter Sally Jaye, pines a ballad of a lonesome woman that makes me think of a folk-based Delta Dawn, waiting on her love in a forgotten town.
This generation of Country that’s taken hold over us and Cobb during the the last decade, along with cousin Dave Cobb gets a mention on the stellar mid-tempo track with the pounding kick drum, ‘When Country Came Back To Town’, “proving simple truths and music they just don’t go out of style”. Listen out for your favourite artists who “saddled up and drove Country back to town”. You’ll have likely seen a few at Country 2 Country or they’re on your wishlist. During the months leading up to ‘Southern Star”s release, Cobb spent much of his time on the road, playing to stadium crowds of 60,000 people as Luke Combs’ opening act. Perhaps that’s why it feels so well-timed. Not only is it a snapshot of an artist at the peak of his songwriting abilities; it’s also a love letter to his southern roots, made all the more potent by his recent travels.
If this Cobb-style of Country could head across the water to the UK in March 2024, that’d be real nice. Bring some friends. ‘Southern Star’ is perfect for fans of Jason Isbell, Lukas Nelson, Margo Price, Drake White and Chris Knight.
Tracklisting: 1. Southern Star 2. It’s a Start 3. Livin’ The Dream 4. Patina 5. ‘On’t Know When’ 6. Kick The Can 7. Devil Ain’t Done 8. When Country Came Back To Town 9. Miss Ater 10. Shade Tree Record Label: Ol’ Buddy Records/Thirty Tigers Release date: 22nd September 2023 Buy the ‘Southern Star’ album now
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