Brent Cobb is truly one of the best in the business, and it shows in his latest single “When Country Came Back to Town.”
Hailing from the small Georgia town of Ellaville, Cobb has seen some commercial success throughout his career as a hit songwriter, and he’s played some massive shows opening for Luke Combs and some of the industry’s biggest stars.
He’s even gained some solid traction on his original music, too, with non-mainstream hits like “Black Creek,” “Keep ‘Em on They Toes,” and “Diggin’ Holes.”
By all accounts, though, Brent Cobb should be way bigger than he is. It seems as if he is one of those artists that has an infinite amount of respect from other artists, as a songwriter and a person, yet for whatever reason, his music hasn’t caught on with fans quite to the extent that the music of Tyler Childers, Jason Isbell, or the Turnpike Troubadours.
And while I think he ought to be considered in the same realm as those types of artists, Cobb seems to be pretty content with his somewhat-below-the-radar position as a torchbearer behind the scenes.
This is all apparent as you read between the lines in his latest single “When Country Come Back to Town,” a spectacular ballad in which Cobb perfectly encapsulates the state of country music today, perhaps indirectly bashing the bro-country era that is (hopefully) behind us and putting into perspective how great we really have it with the music that is coming out today.
Name dropping tons of other artists and industry names who are in some degree responsible for turning the tides, Cobb tastefully shouts out many of the greatest in the game right now while maintaining the integrity of a cleverly written, heartfelt tune that name-dropping to this extent can sometimes hinder.
“I got started professionally in a time between two worlds. On one side, listeners were mostly still only exposed to new music through the radio. CDs still sold. Myspace was an infant. It wasn’t easy for independent artists, especially independent country artists, to be heard.
There were a lot of label heads who had pretty much checked-out after 30 years of a career through the ’80s and ’90s but were still running the show.
On the other side, streaming was becoming the new norm and was as threatening as it was hopeful for songwriter/singers like myself, who didn’t fit any music business executives of that time’s mold for what would work. I was fortunate enough to experience first-hand the rise of artists like myself, considered to be outside of the mainstream radio market.
I’ve made a lot of music and met a bunch of friends along the way. ‘When Country Came Back To Town’ is about that first wave of people in my time. My people.”
Check the song out for yourself, “When Country Came Back to Town” is an absolute masterpiece.
“I was there when Shooter Jennings rewound the sound like a cassette
I watched Jamey Johnson cut (You) “Can’t Cash My Checks”
Back then Rowdy Jason Cope was running shine sunset to vine
Picking songs with Leroy Powell, making redneck-isms rhyme
I guess not everyone knows Cousin Dave but he been around awhile
Proving simple truths and music, they just don’t go out of style
It’s hard to tell but when you’re in it sometimes the moment’s too profound
But if I had to bet my money
That’s when country came back to town
Right after that I moved to Nashville and most the Broadways stars
Wanted to be Cody Canada, Ryan Bingham or Hayes Carll
They seemed too cautious to commit, so they surrendered to the game
But nobody sang like Brandi Carlile or wrote like Nikki Lane
But you couldn’t deny that it was lost or how it would be found
But when Sturgill climbed High Top Mountain
Country came back to town”
I highly recommend you go check out the rest of the lyrics to this song, as the whole thing is just an incredible ode to the best music out there right now.
Cobb actually debuted this song at The Basement in Nashville alongside Aaron Raitiere last year, so go ahead and check out that live video, too.
“When Country Came Back to Town” follows recent singles “Southern Star” and “Patina” as the third single off of Cobb’s forthcoming record Southern Star, set to be released on September 22.
Brent Cobb has released a lot of special music throughout his career, but if these three singles are an accurate indication, Southern Star is going to be some of this beloved industry veteran’s best work yet. Check out the other singles for yourself below.
“Southern Star”
“Patina”
