Dave Cobb’s Tribute to a Homespun Heritage
Lee Zimmerman
Posted On March 16, 2016
Dave Cobb’s newly crowned status as a superstar producer is further affirmed by the names and number of artists who have turned to him when it comes to overseeing their albums. It’s further evidenced by the gathering of leading lights that join for this superstar summit of sorts — one that celebrates their Southern roots and a musical bond common to many at the forefront of today’s Americana movement.
Inspired by the Antebellum threads bound together in White Mansions, a 1980s concept album revolving around tales of the Civil War, Southern Family is both poignant and personal, its contributors sharing mostly original songs specific to the region that lies below the Mason Dixon line.
With Cobb at the helm, each artist taps tradition through material that puts a singular spin on songs infused with country, folk, blues, and the soulful roots of Southern soil.
Of these, “You Are My Sunshine” is the only notable cover, but given Chris and Morgane Stapleton’s twangy treatment and its mournful refrain, it sounds as fresh as it is familiar. Not surprisingly then, the songs that surround it are soaked in the kind of sentiment one might expect from an album celebrating home and hearth.
John Paul White’s mournful, low-cast lament “Simple Song” starts the set off on a decidedly reflective note, but it’s Brandy Clark’s soaring, searing “I Cried” that raises the emotional bar overall. Zac Brown’s take on “Grandma’s Garden” and Jamey Johnson’s read of his own “Mama’s Table” evoke the emotion generally associated with days gone by, or a shared tale about one’s family and forebears. Likewise, Rich Robinson’s hand-clapping, sing-along gospel choir on “The Way Home,” Jason Isbell’s rustic, down home treatment of “God Is a Working Man” and Anderson East’s channeling of Booker T, Al Green, and Otis Redding on the moving and majestic “Learning” each realize the essence of Southern soul.
Given the artists involved, it’s hard to imagine a more formidable tribute to the South’s unique musical sensibility. Credit Cobb and company for one of the most stirring song cycles in recent memory.
