Nashville networking helps Brent Cobb launch career

How does an aspiring singer-songwriter from little Ellaville, Ga., land the coveted gig of opening for Chris Stapleton this summer - when he's never had mainstream radio air-time or commercial success?

Friends - especially friends who recognize talent when they hear it.

Brent Cobb will attest there's merit to the old saying, "it's as much who you know as what you know."

Hot off his network TV debut June 12 on Conan O'Brien, Cobb will be playing Revelry Room on Friday, June 23. Bonnie Bishop will open for the country singer.

Cobb's road to success was about 12 years in the making. He grew up in a home where his parents encouraged his pursuit of music. His dad was an appliance repairman by day and musician by night, who had the chance to chase his own dream of making music in Nashville, but turned it down to stay in Ellaville and be a dad and husband.

At 17, Cobb was attending a family funeral when he met a long-lost cousin, Dave Cobb, who was working as a Los Angeles record producer. His clients included Shooter Jennings. The teenager slipped a demo to his cousin, who listened to it on the way to the airport.

"Two days later, he called me and said he and Shooter wanted to fly me to LA to do a record," Cobb recalls. But the singer says the move to LA was just "too big a culture shock for a guy from Ellaville" and he returned to Georgia.

Meanwhile, country superstar Luke Bryan heard Cobbs' 2006 album. Bryan encouraged Cobb to come to Nashville, stay with him and meet some booking agents, which he did. Cobb returned to Georgia for just four months before uprooting and moving to Nashville in 2008.

"I was developing photos for Walgreen's in Franklin," he says of his day job while writing songs in every free moment.

"A year went by, and one morning I decided Walgreen's wasn't what I moved there to do. I called one of the people I'd met at Carnival Music and asked about a publishing deal. He told me to come in. Three months later, I had a publishing deal, and I've been there ever since.

"In that world of songwriting, you meet a lot of people, make a lot of connections," he says. And Chris Stapleton, revered by all the up-and-coming writers, was one of them, says Cobb.

"All of us young writers loved Chris because of the way he could write a song and deliver it."

For three years Cobb built up his catalog, putting out an EP in 2011. Through that he was offered a spot on the Country Throwndown tour with Willie Nelson, Randy Houser and Lee Brice - and his network continued to grow.

After coming to Nashville, he had songs recorded by Bryan ("Tailgate Blues), Kenny Chesney ("Don't It"), David Nail ("Grandpa's Farm") and Eli Young Band ("Go Outside and Dance").

He toured on that EP for three years, until his wife became pregnant and he stopped to focus on songwriting. At that point, country radio was all about Bro Country, he says, which wasn't his sound. Therefore, his songs weren't being cut.

"It was a slow burnout. Then Dave called out of the blue and said he was putting together a concept album called 'Southern Family.' I wrote a song for it and recorded it. It was like coming home.

"Through all these things I tried to be friends with everyone and not make enemies. Now here I am on the Stapleton tour after 10 years of making friends."

He credits Stapleton's wife, Morgane, for an assist landing this gig. His cousin slipped Morgane a copy of Cobb's latest album, "Shine on Rainy Day." She loved it, he says, and convinced Stapleton to bring him on their tour.

Cobb says "Shine on Rainy Day" will be the foundation of his Revelry Room show.

"In my shows, I tell too many stories, but I enjoy talking to people. We are all in this together."

Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.