Acoustic musician Brent Cobb has had his music described as ‘blue collar country’, although in style it has hints of Americana and soul mixed in. Cobb has established a growing reputation as a songwriter of note, his songs have been covered by a number of major country musicians including Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, and Luke Bryan. Just before his visit to the UK for some London shows, AR’s Andy Hughes chatted with Brent at his home in central Georgia.
What prompted your initial interest in the acoustic guitar?
Well, my family were players, there were usually acoustic guitars laying around the house when I was growing up. I wasn’t too interested in playing the guitar, I would maybe lie it on the floor and pluck at the strings and see what noise came out, tap the body to hear the strings resonate. Then I met a guy my age, and he was smaller than me and he had shorter fingers, and he could really play the guitar. So, I figured, if he could play that well, then I should be able to do it as well, so I started to learn. We started a band together, and that was the start of my career in music. I think if there is someone to spur you on in your initial interest, maybe a family member, or in my case a friend, then that can set you on the path to being a musician. And thank heavens it did, without that friend and learning to play, I wouldn’t be here talking to you now.
What’s your acoustic guitar of choice?
I play a little Gibson L100, it’s a Limited Edition, they only made nineteen of them in 2017, and I got it through the Gibson company. I thought it was really special when I got it, and I knew it would age really well, and it has. The older it gets, the better the sound is. I really love the boxy sound it gives me, and the strings are completely dead in tone. I don’t like bright-sounding strings. The tone is a mix between sort of ‘conversational’ and a little bit of classical tone, but not really the majority of either. It has a small body, and I really like it.
Any other guitars you use in the studio and on tour?
I have a wonderful 1942 Martin that has a gorgeous tone, and the wood on it is really nicely seasoned. I think guitars like that grow so well because they don’t have the option of a pampered life, they absorb the atmospheres around them. They get propped up next to wood-burning stoves, and they get hauled on the buses with no heaters on them and they play in hot rooms and cold rooms. It’s a bit like having a pet, where people reckon the pet starts to look like its owner, I think it’s the same principle with guitars, they absorb the spirit and feeling of the person who owns them, and I think that’s wonderful.
Do you use any specific tunings for your guitars?
Not really, no, I’m pretty much down the line with my sound and my tunings. Occasionally I tune a step down, because I like the darker tone that gives me. The only thing when I am recording is, I don’t like new strings, they are too bright. I like the sound of dead strings, so I always string a worn-in set before I go to the studio. I play some bass on my albums, and I always put a piece of foam behind the strings before I play. I just like a ‘played-in’ sound for my guitars.
What’s your writing process?
I guess it’s pretty similar to most other people’s nothing too unusual. I start out just noodling some chords and some notes, and just making some sounds to get the feel of what may develop into a tune. A lot of musicians do that, they either sing nonsense sounds, or they use words that fit the meter of the melody. Paul McCartney is famous for calling Yesterday‘Scrambled Eggs’ when he was writing it, but as a musician, I know he wasn’t ever going to call the song Scrambled Eggs. He simply sang the first words that came into his head that fitted with the melody he was working out. A lot of writers work that way. When you watch The Beatles’ documentary, and see them working in the studio, they just scat lines out to find their way into the sound of a song. I think it’s a pretty standard way of composing, and it works for me. What you start with is very rarely what you end up with, but that’s not important. It’s the finished song that matters.
Do you ever construct your guitar parts to make them easier to re-produce when you are playing live?
I don’t worry too much about something tricky, I can always learn it before I take it out on the road. On the song Mornin’s Gonna Come, there is a call-and-response between the electric guitar and my acoustic. I’m hammering my A string, and the electric answers, and we take it back and forth. The lyrics are really hard to sing live, with that guitar interplay. I knew when we recorded it that it was going to be tough to play and sing the lyric at the same time, but I also knew it would be worth it when I worked it out. I knew I’d be able to train my mind to master both together, I would never let a complexity like that put me off. If it works for the final song, I will find the way to let me play it out on stage.
On a similar theme, do you like o stretch out the technical side of your playing?
Not if it’s only for the sake of showing off to people in the audience. For the maybe three or four people in the audience who will actually recognise the complexity of something, and the vast majority who neither know, nor care how tricky the playing is. I’m a songwriter first and foremost, and my aim is to convey the song to the audience the best way I am able. Showing off for the sake of it is just something I don’t do.
You have carved an enviable reputation in the Country world for having your songs covered by a large number of other artists, some of the biggest in the genre. Have you ever wondered what it is about your songs that appeals to other musicians and makes them want to sing them to their audiences and album buyers?
To be honest, I have always wondered about the appeal of my songs regardless, whether it’s me singing and playing them or someone else singing and playing them. My intention when I started out was always to be a songwriter. I always wanted to tell a story, my story, and if that connects with people, that’s wonderful. I never really saw myself going out on stage and singing my songs myself, it just kinda worked out that way. The simple fact is, people turn up to see and hear me play my songs, and other artists keep calling and asking if they can record my songs, and while those two things are happening, I’ll just keep right on writing and playing my songs.
What’s the song you wish you had written?
I love The Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding. I can just picture Otis sitting and strumming his guitar and enjoying the sun, and writing down what he can see. He wasn’t a great guitar player, but he was good enough to get the chords he needed for the song, and I get that.
Would you like to have your songs used in television or on film?
Sure, I think any writer would. These days there are a lot of drama series on American television that use different and unusual songs and music to overlay the action, or for a beginning or end theme. They can be quite a good money earner if you get a good deal and the series is popular. For the pilot of Yellowstone, they used my song Let The Rain Come Down. Maybe my songs will crop up again on other shows, we’ll have to wait and see.
Do you practice with your acoustic?
Not so much, mainly because I seem to be playing all the time. First thing I do when I get back from a tour, when we have had dinner and the kids have gone to bed, is get my guitar and sit and play for a while. I do love to play, so I don’t need to set aside time to practice anything, it just rolls along.
Do you have a favourite song in your live set, the one you look forward to playing?
Yeah, it’s Keep ‘Em On They Toes which I wrote with my wife. I don’t need to look forward to playing it, but that’s because it’s the first song in the set! I know some people like to save their personal favourite song to play for the middle, or the end, or even the encore. But I like mine first, I think it sets the tone for the evening, makes us all feel good from the very start of the show.
Some artists create an image, a persona, in order to enhance their popularity. I suspect this is something you would never even think of, but I thought I’d ask you about it anyway.
With me, what you see is what you get, and I don’t think I’d sleep too well if I thought that I was not being myself when I stepped out onto a stage to play my songs. I know some people do that, and they are a lot more successful than me, but I wouldn’t want success like that, if that was what I had to do to get it. I’m myself, that’s the only person I have ever wanted to be, and that’s not about to change.
Following your London shows, will you be coming back to the UK?
Well, the shows are a kind of taster, to see what the response is, and if things go well, then I would really hope we can come back next year and do a full tour, see some more of our fans in the rest of the country. I really hope that happens.
ANDY HUGHES.