Red Clay Strays, Travis Tritt, and Brent Cobb

I was lucky enough to get to tickets to see Travis Tritt at a place called the Don Gibson Theater in a little town west of Charlotte named Shelby NC.

Don Gibson was a famous songwriter from Shelby and the theater is a tribute to him. The place is very well done. The interior is mix of art deco and 1950’s design. The place is laid out great. There is a bar and separate lounge area and then the stage and seating are on another side. The place only holds 400 people so you really get an intimate experience.

Travis was great in this setting. I felt like I was sitting in his living room . His voice sounded great and the band he had was very talented. They did a lot of slower songs. They also did all of his radio hits which really got the crowd going. He also did some versions of Don Gibson songs as a tribute to the person that the venue was named after. He played for a long time and really left everyone in awe of his vast musical knowledge. For a person that started out as “pop” country, he has really redefined himself as traditional and a top notched musician.

Wednesday 24th May. The Borderline. Brent Cobb. Its two nights after the terror attack in Manchester and my feelings are the same as when I saw Gary Clark Jr the night after the Bataclan attack. By not attending or the artist cancelling just gives into the terrorists. Yes we must grieve but we have to carry on. The events from Monday night just reinforce the delicacy of life and so we must enjoy every moment we have. If we risk assessed everything we did we would never leave our beds and even then I’m sure there’s a risk associated with that.

So big thanks to Brent and the packed crowd for letting the show go on.

Brent Cobb is a country singer songwriter from Georgia and to avoid any confusion and a doff to Alejandro Escovedo it’s not Americana but firmly country. He’s written for, been covered by or opened for a lot of country’s big stars but he’s now an established artist in his own right.

We’re back at the newly refurbished Borderline and whilst I will never reconcile the painting over of the great musical history of the venue they have on the whole done a good job and Brent and accompanying guitarist enter from the new secret door stage right.

We are then treated to the finest country music for the next seventy minutes. Cobb, full of stories in between songs, genuinely pleased to be there sings from the heart about the South. Tonight’s set is drawn from his latest album along with choice covers from Dwight Yoakam and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

There’s no bass or drums tonight but it’s a perfect blend of electric and acoustic guitar and delightful harmonies throughout. Cobb promises to bring the full band across next time.

On a night of highlights the title track from the album ‘Shine on Rainy Day’ is the obvious stand out with the crowd singing along too. It’s a co-write with the talented Andrew Combs who I saw perform the same song two weeks ago, although he does claim that Cobb’s title for the song is wrong.

So another great country gig, two in two weeks and with Cale Tyson next week, there’s never been a better time for intelligent male country.

Keep on country rockin y’all