Brent Cobb
Schedule
Wed Sep 29 2021 at 08:00 pm
Location
200 41st Street South Birmingham AL 35222 | Birmingham, AL
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For his fourth album,Keep 'Em on They Toes, Brent Cobb is giving his songs thespace they need to speak for themselves, a reflection of his own decision to
write about the way he sees the world.
"My last couple of albums have been about people and places, and I wanted this
album to be about thoughts and feelings," he says. "I think it's pretty easy to
look around and see what's going on in the world. With my heroes and the people
that I listen to, it seems like the natural progression for me."
Yet at his core, Cobb still writes country songs, so there's a continuity
betweenKeep 'Em on They Toesand past projects like 2016'sShine on Rainy Day(a
Grammy nominee for Best Americana Album) and 2018'sProvidence Canyon, named for
a gorge near his hometown of Ellaville, Georgia. After living in Los Angeles and
Nashville to develop his music career, Cobb and his family moved back to Georgia
a few years ago -- a decision that he says absolutely affected his songwriting.
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"It's funny because the last two albums were about me growing up in Georgia, and
now we're back here," he says. "I'm not writing about missing it anymore, so the
songs are coming from within now. It's not a longing for home, it's what I think
about now that I live down here."
Cobb and members of his band recorded the project in Durham, North Carolina,
with producer Brad Cook. "All of his records sound so sparse, but there's a lot
of space being taken up at the same time," Cobb says. Inspired by the
spaciousness of classic country albums like Jerry Lee Lewis' 1977 LP,Country
Memories, the new project allows the listener to hear everything that's going
on, yet the songs remain the star of the show.
ThroughoutKeep 'Em on They Toes, Cobb is diplomatic rather than political --
although he's been told numerous times over the years that artists shouldn't
voice their opinions. He disputes that notion. "I'm a songwriter for a living,"
he says. "My job is to write about what I see and think and feel and hear."
Cobb and his wife Layne co-wrote the title track as if imparting wisdom to their
newborn son, yet he believes that anybody can get on board with its message:
"The best thing you can do / When the ignorance shows / Is walk on to your own
beat / Keep 'em on they toes." Cobb says he wrote most of the other songs around
that song. But...They Toes? "That's just how country folks talk," he says.
Next, in "Shut Up and Sing," he reflects on the relationship between artists and
social media followers with a clash of fiddle and harmonica conveying the static
of two differing opinions. That's followed by a simple country song called "Good
Times and Good Love," which he co-wrote with longtime buddy Luke Bryan (who also
plays piano on the track). What ties these two songs together, Cobb believes, is
the notion that nothing is going to last forever. Why not enjoy the time we have
left?
Still, the obligations of adulthood add a sense of dry humor to "Sometimes I'm a
Clown," while "This Side of the River" serves as a mature reflection on this
time in his life. And for those who feel the need to tell him -- and everybody
else -- how to live, he poetically brushes them off with "Dust Under My Rug."
Yet there isn't a preachy component toKeep 'Em on They Toes. Instead it captures
the mindset of a man who values a simpler time despite living in a modern world.
One of the album's liveliest songs, "Soap Box," was written by Cobb and his
father, Patrick Cobb, who instilled an early love of music and songwriting into
his son. Nikki Lane provides a "perfectly imperfect" harmony part, giving the
track a cool, casual vibe.
In contrast, Cobb built the track of "When You Go" around his acoustic guitar,
underscoring the song's message of letting go of unnecessary things. "It's like,
man, we've only got one life. A lot of things are important, and of course we've
got a world to leave behind for our kids to inherit, but we ain't gonna be able
take some of the things with us. We need to maybe not sweat the small stuff," he
explains.
While "The World Is Ending" fits into the overall feel of the album (not to
mention the COVID-19 pandemic), it's actually from 2011, written in response to
those who predicted a doomsday when the Mayan calendar ran out in 2012. The
cosmic imagery of the song is contrasted with the down-home life he portrays in
"Little Stuff," the final track on the album as well as Cobb's personal
favorite.
"It fits because -- I'll be honest with you -- over the last couple of years
I've eaten a lot of mushrooms. I've had a crazy experience on mushrooms about
how connected everything is," he says. "I actually went down to a little creek
and tripped. I thought, 'All we're here to do is sit and watch the sun rise and
set, for as long as we're here.' You've got your opinion, I've got mine, but
what I think is really important is taking a trip to the river and getting right
with whatever your center is."
Even so, Cobb forges a personal connection throughoutKeep 'Em on They Toes, just
as his musical heroes have done before him.
"To me, listening to this album feels like I'm sitting there with somebody,
having a conversation," Cobb says. "I would hope that it feels like sitting with
an old friend you haven't seen in a while. There's nothing like being alone and
listening to an album that is quiet and conversational -- like those old records
by Jerry Lee Lewis, Roger Miller, or Willie Nelson. I hope my music is that way
to somebody now."
Solo artist. Frontman. Behind-the-scenes songwriter. For more than a decade,
Adam Hood has left his mark onstage and in the writing room, carving out a
southern sound that mixes soul, country, and American roots music into the same
package.
It's a sound that began shape in Opelika, Alabama. Raised by working-class
parents, Hood started playing hometown shows as a 16 year-old, landing a weekly
residency at a local restaurant. He'd perform there every Friday and Saturday
night, filling his set list with songs by John Hiatt, Steve Warner, Hank
Williams Jr, and Vince Gill. As the years progressed, the gigs continued — not
only in Alabama, but across the entire country, where Hood still plays around
100 shows annually.
These days, though, he's no longer putting his own stamp on the songs of
chart-topping country stars. Instead, many of those acts are playing his music.
Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert, Anderson East, Frankie Ballard, Josh Abbott
Band, Lee Ann Womack, and Brent Cobb are among the dozens of artists who've
recorded Hood's songs. An in-demand songwriter, he signed a publishing deal with
Warner/Chappell Nashville and producer Dave Cobb’s Low Country Sound in 2016,
while still maintaining a busy schedule of tour dates in support of his third
solo release, Welcome to the Big World. Two years later, he continues the
balancing act with his newest album, Somewhere in Between.
A showcase for both his frontman abilities and songwriting chops, Somewhere in
Between also shines a light on Hood's strength as a live act. He recorded most
of the album live at Nashville's Sound Emporium Studios over two quick days.
Teaming up with producer Oran Thornton (Angaleena Presley's Wrangled, Miranda
Lambert's Revolution) along the way, their goal was to create something that
reflected the raw, real sound of his concerts, where overdubs and unlimited
takes are never an option. Also joining Hood in the studio were bassist Lex
Price, guitarist and co-writing partner Pat McLaughlin, and drummer Jerry Roe,
all of whom captured their parts in a handful of live performances. Hood tracked
his vocals at the same time. Stripped free of studio trickery and lushly layered
arrangements, Somewhere in Between is an honest, story-driven record — the sort
of album that relies on craft, not gloss, to pack its punch.
It's also an album that finds Hood telling his own story. A dedicated family
man, he wrote "Locomotive" after watching his young daughter develop her motor
skills while playing with a set of blocks. A road warrior, he penned songs like
"Downturn" about a life filled with wanderlust and long drives from gig to gig.
A native Alabaman who still lives in the Yellowhammer State, he celebrates
America's rural pockets with "Keeping Me Here" and "Real Small Town," two songs
that fill their verses with images of main streets, open landscapes, hard times,
and good people.
Somewhere in Between may be autobiographical but there's a universal appeal to
this music. A true blue-collar songwriter, Hood shines a light on the everyday
experiences — from family to friends to the thrill of Friday nights — that we
all appreciate. It's extraordinary music about ordinary lives, performed with
conviction by a man who continues to balance a critically acclaimed solo career
with his commercial successes as a songwriter.
"It's southern music," he says, grouping Somewhere in Between’s wide range of
music under an appropriate banner. "That's what it represents: the soulful side
of southern music, the country side of southern music, the genuineness of
southern culture, and the way I grew up. One of the t-shirts I sell at every
show simply says ‘Southern songs’ and that's a good summary of what I do. It's
what I've always done."
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Where is it happening?
200 41st Street South Birmingham AL 35222, Birmingham, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
