1 of 2
2 of 2
It wasn't until he lived in Los Angeles for seven years that Dave Cobb realized the magnetic power of the South.
'The whole time I was in L.A., almost all of the friends I made were Southern,” says the Grammy-nominated producer, who spent the first quarter century of his life in Georgia. 'You can run away from the South, but you can't run away from the Southerners.”
In the eclectic L.A. music scene, Cobb found a niche working with modern-day outlaw country artists like Shooter Jennings and Jamey Johnson. Recording their albums sent him on a steady string of visits to Nashville studios. 'The more I came back here, the more homesick I got for the South,” Cobb says.
In 2011, he officially relocated to Music City, and the strategic move thrust him into a music community bursting with indie talent that the West Coast lacked. In the past two years alone, he's produced critical and commercial smashes like Sturgill Simpson's Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, Jason Isbell's Something More Than Free, and Chris Stapleton's Traveller. He also got reacquainted with the Southern way of life, where value is placed on family and home. Those ideas fuel his new concept album, this month's Southern Family, which features a dozen tracks united by one simple theme: stories from the South.
'I wanted it to feel like there was no window between the storytelling aspect and the listener,” Cobb says.
At the producer's request, each contributing artist pours their heart outand perhaps no one does that better than Anderson East with 'Learning,” his full-circle tribute to his father.
'There's so much to offer in that subject matter, and this is something that peeked its head out,” East explains. 'I wanted to write a song about and for my old man just to let him know how much I appreciate the upbringing I got.” (Upon hearing the tune for the first time, East adds, his father was 'quite tender.”)
Another powerful track is Brandy Clark's 'I Cried”: the true tale of her dying grandfather, her grandmother having to go on without himand her own role in their relationship.
'I wasn't planning on releasing it because I couldn't imagine singing it every nightI'm just too close to it,” Clark says. 'When Dave asked if I would do it for the Southern Family record, I was really happy to give it a home, and honestly, I don't think there is a better home for it than on this project.”
The rest of the album's roster is as much of a snapshot of Cobb's personal contacts as it is a sampling of today's most acclaimed country and Americana artists. There are takes from old friends like Jennings ('Can You Come Over”), Johnson ('Mama's Table”), and Isbell ('God Is a Working Man”). Miranda Lambert supplies ma-and-pa nostalgia with 'Sweet By and By,” while Morgane and Chris Stapleton serve up a haunting version of 'You Are My Sunshine.” And the Black Crowes' Rich Robinson summoned a gospel choir for the album closer, 'The Way Home.” Each cut is a scrapbook-style reflection on the artist's upbringingand how the particular quirks of Tennessee or Texas or Georgia has shaped who they are.
'I think that's where the beauty of all the songs comes from,” East says. 'Having everybody's different perspective on what's important.”