After playing Rupp with Stapleton & Stuart, what drove Brent Cobb to gospel at The Burl?

Brent Cobb always knew he had a gospel album in him.

To his audiences, the Georgia songsmith was something of a country poet, a writer versed in levels of Southern inspiration and honky tonk attitude that more than matched those of his Nashville contemporaries. But Cobb also realized at some point a record would surface that fully reflected not only his respect of Southern Gospel but also the way country pioneers before him embraced such music. He just didn’t know when.

“First of all, I grew up going to a small country church, plus all of my country music heroes, at some point in their career, made a gospel album. So, A: it is who I am, and B: it’s who I want to follow in the same footsteps as. It’s sort of a rite of passage as a country artist.

“It also represents some the earliest songs that I grew up singing and learning, so they have heavily influenced my songwriting and my whole life. Still to this day, a lot of the structures and the depth of lyrics ... it’s all from these songs. From gospel – Southern Gospel music.”

But there was an unexpected catalyst for the project. Going into 2020, Cobb was set for his career to take a big step forward. He had already been well-received among country’s more respected song stylists – a fact confirmed by his placement on a sold-out Rupp Arena concert bill that featured Chris Stapleton and Marty Stuart in late 2018. Going into the new decade, he had an album of gloriously underproduced original songs titled “Keep ‘Em on They Toes” on his own Ol’ Buddy label ready to roll. Then the pandemic hit, followed by an even bigger crash.

In July 2020, Cobb was driving with his 1-year-old son when his truck was T-boned at a rural four-way stop. Cobb escaped with a broken collarbone. His son, strapped in a rear-facing car seat, was unharmed.

That prompted a call to cousin Dave Cobb, multi-Grammy winning producer for the likes of Stapleton, Jason Isbell and John Prine, as well as several of the songwriter’s own albums. The time for a record of Southern gospel standards had arrived. The resulting work, “And Now, Let’s Turn to Page ...” was released in late January.

“The inspiration for this music was always there,” Cobb said. “I will say ‘When It’s My Time’ (the album’s only original song) was inspired from the wreck. I wrote that one with my wife. But something like ‘Old Rugged Cross’ (done up on “And Now, Let’s Turn to Page ...” with a spacious, echoey grandeur reminiscent of country gospel records from the late ’60s and early ’70s) is personal to my family. It was my granddaddy’s favorite gospel song, my mom’s favorite gospel song and my favorite gospel song. But when performing that song after the wreck ... I mean, I’ve always known how fleeting time was. But the idea of leaving this world and everything that I love… I don’t know. That’s what we’re all going to do. It’s all temporary. It just doesn’t last forever.

“The idea of even spending an eternity in some place like heaven, that’s supposed to be perfect, is still bittersweet, isn’t it? You still go, ‘Man, I don’t know. I got my kids and my wife and my friends and my family and all these wonderful people I’ve met along the way in my journey. I don’t know if I want to leave. I don’t know if I’d want to spend it anywhere other than here. But I do know when I’m performing ‘Old Rugged Cross’ specifically, it’s sort of bittersweet. The wreck sure put that in perspective, of how quickly it can all be gone.”

While “And Now, Let’s Turn to Page ...” may have been born out of a self-described “moment of clarity,” its music is ripe with affirmation. Cobb’s vision for the record was to have its sense of spirit be universal. In other words, he wanted to make a gospel album that would reach beyond an exclusively gospel audience. Perhaps no other tune on the nine-song record speaks to that drive better than a version of “Are You Washed in the Blood?” that packs a joyous electric drive. The song sounds like it came soaring out of the doors of a saloon instead of the pages of a hymn book.

“My original idea for this album when I brought it to Dave was to make a Jerry Lee Lewis country album. He made such amazing country albums from, like, ’68 to ’79.

“Right before going in to make the album… We already had everything lined up. We had the studio time booked – the musicians and everything. I called my manager, maybe for some reassurance. I said, ‘Man, am I doing the right thing with my record label, Ol’ Buddy, getting off the ground during a global pandemic? Should I go and spend all this money on making a gospel album?’ And he was like, ‘Man, you just got to do what your heart tells you to do.’ And he was right. I knew I needed to make this album.

“I had a lot of songs of my own, but I didn’t know if I had a bunch of songs that would make sense for one album. And a gospel record had been weighing on my heart for many, many years anyway. I had no high expectations. I just knew I wanted to make a Southern Gospel album that would appeal to anybody. It has nothing to do anyone’s faith or lack thereof. It doesn’t matter what anybody believes. And I think that’s what’s happening. That’s all I wanted to happen, so I’m happy and proud.”

Mostly, though, Cobb wanted a record that “sounded like home” – meaning, he wanted the feel of the Southern Gospel sound that filled the church he attended as a child. He wanted a sense of family and friendship, too, along with the unspoiled simplicity of a country project produced far from the commercial trappings of Nashville. That explains why the album’s guest list includes the Antioch Gospel Trio, which features the singer’s father, Patrick Cobb.

Curiously enough, Cobb also said making an album made up of mostly non-original songs has also broadened the narrative and musical scope when it comes to his own writing.

“Well, my publisher wasn’t happy about this record,” Cobb said with a laugh. “But, man, I think back to my buddy Jason Rowdy Cove (guitarist for The Steel Woods who died in January 2021 of diabetes complications at the age of 42). He was like my older brother. He instilled the idea in me that everything is input/output. The more songs you learn, the more music you listen to – I mean, really listen to - the better your craft will be. So, for sure, anytime you can put something out there, it comes back around. I’m sure I’ll write better just from learning, wholly learning, these gospel songs. Yeah. Input/output. He was right.”

Brent Cobb

When: 8 p.m. Feb. 17

Where: The Burl, 375 Thompson Rd.

Tickets: $17 at theburlky.com. Gabe Lee opens.