Brent Cobb
Don VanCleave

Brent Cobb Teases New Album With 'King of Alabama'

Brent Cobb kicked off the hype train for forthcoming album Providence Canyon, out May 11 on Elektra Records imprint Low Country Sound, with the debut of digital single "King of Alabama."

Cobb once again crosses modern country storytelling with his native South Georgia's greatest export, classic Southern rock. His driving riffs propel the pickup truck in his story's accompanying video down Southern roads to the next town.

The road dog we're following down that lost highway is the late Wayne Mills. The former University of Alabama football player toured college towns for years with the Wayne Mills Band. That hard work resulted in chances to share the stage with Blake Shelton, Jamey Johnson and fellow Alabamian Taylor Hicks. Mills lost his life after being shot in the head during a Nov. 23, 2013 altercation with Chris Ferrell, owner of Nashville's Pit and Barrel bar. Ferrell is currently serving a prison sentence for second-degree murder.

Beyond revisiting the triumph and tragedy in the Mills story, Cobb's song serves as yet another musical nod to the hardships and freedoms of the road that make country singers and truck drivers ideal source material for song lyrics.

Read More: Rooted in Country: Brent Cobb on Kris Kristofferson's 'To Beat the Devil'

Its video mirrors the song's touching story and country-rock feel brilliantly. Made by Tom Jarrett for Dreambear, the animated film tells the story of an ambitious singer and guitarist hitting those highways and hedges to play whenever and wherever, sharpening the talents heard on Mills' five studio albums. It also acknowledges the senseless end of a creative journey now charted by Cobb and other hungry young talents.

Cobb's new album hopefully fills whatever potholes remain on his own journey as an artist with a heart for songs about the South land. He's fresh off 2016's career-defining album Shine On Rainy Day. That album's success transitioned Cobb from one of Miranda Lambert's go-to songwriters to her Living Like Hippies tour mate.

 

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