Dave Cobb Added to Country Music Hall of Fame Board
Country and Americana producer extraordinaire, and multi CMA and Grammy Award winner Dave Cobb can now add Country Music Hall of Fame board officer to his resume. He was announced with a host of other new officers by the Country Music Hall of Fame this week, along with the reelection of Vince Gill as the board’s President for the 18th consecutive term, and Steve Turner returning as Chairman of the board—a position he’s held since 2008.
Country Music Hall of Fame trustees and officers do not vote directly on who gets chosen as the Hall of Fame inductees each year. This is handled by an anonymous committee seeded by the Country Music Association, or CMA (read more). But the Hall of Fame board oversee important operations and makes policy decisions affecting the Country Music Hall of Fame itself.
Originally from Savannah, Georgia, Dave Cobb played in a band called The Tender Idols before getting his first producer opportunity for Shooter Jennings in 2005. In 2009 he produced the Oak Ridge Boys’ album The Boys Are Back, which helped put Cobb on the national map. Since then he’s produced award-winning records from Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Brandi Carlile, Colter Wall, Zac Brown Band, Lori McKenna, Dillon Carmichael, Old Crow Medicine Show, and most recently the debut effort from Ian Noe. Dave Cobb is the go-to music producer in country music and Americana, prolific as he is revered, winning multiple ACM and Americana Music Association awards to go along with his Grammy and CMA trophies. He’s also the current caretaker for the historic Studio ‘A’ in Nashville.
Also named as new Hall of Fame board officers were Jay Turner of MarketStreet Enterprises, and Susan Wente and of Vanderbilt University. They join current officers Earl Bentz, Mike Dungan, Randy Goodman, Keel Hunt, Lon Helton, Donna Nicely, Gary Overton, Jim Seabury, Bill Simmons, Clarence Spalding, Chris Stewart, Troy Tomlinson, Marcus Whitney and Tim Wipperman. Al Giombetti was also elected to a three year term as a trustee and the board’s Executive Vice President, and trustee David Ross was elected as secretary.
Dave Cobb was featured at the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2018 as part of their annual “American Currents” exhibit highlighting some of the most important individuals in country and Americana in the here-and-now.
Tex Hex
June 27, 2019 @ 10:31 am
Congrats. What else can be said about Dave Cobb? He’s certainly helped introduce and usher new fans into the genre in the last decade or so. Count me in, there. Pretty much anything he’s working on, I’ll give a listen. Doesn’t always mean I’ll love it, but there’s a good chance I will.
ScottG
June 27, 2019 @ 11:19 am
I know he has some detractors, and that’s perfectly fine. His production style, as is musical taste, is subjective. But as briefly as possible, here are a couple things I personally like about him:
1) He records old school and therefore makes records that sound like humans, like bands. Not computers. Maybe that sound isn’t for everyone, but I love it. And anything that accentuates the human element of music, that is mostly dead in other genres, is perfect for country / americana (IMO).
2) Artists, including his most famous and successful one, initially chose him for the way his records sounded. NOT the record labels for financial reasons.
Good for him, I say the more involved he is the better, as long as he still has time to make great sounding records.
Two Stepper
June 28, 2019 @ 4:22 am
You might be thinking of Sturgill as his most successful artist, but he produces Jason Isbell, too!
ScottG
June 28, 2019 @ 8:18 am
I’m very aware. No, by the numbers, I’m referring to Stapleton.
Sainte Terre-er
June 28, 2019 @ 7:50 am
I’ll tip my hat to anyone involved with Colter Wall, but Dave Cobb, especially, is a reliable signpost as to whether I’m about to enjoy something I’m listening to – most recently, Ian Noe. This is a well-deserved honor for a brilliant producer.
Blackh4t
June 28, 2019 @ 1:05 pm
His acceptance speech will be monotone and bland without any planning and bundled together as he goes. And will be praised for its ‘rawness’ and ‘authentic sound’ and other words that basically mean ‘boring’
He’s a bit of a fail from me.
Mike W.
June 29, 2019 @ 9:59 am
He’s still a great choice for this board. Who would you rather have on it, Dave Cobb or Dan Huff/Joey Moi?
Cobb definitely has a sound, one that you could argue isn’t varied enough artist to artist, but this beats some hack like Joey Moi being named to the board.
Blackh4t
June 29, 2019 @ 11:17 am
I kind of hate to say it, but I’d have to pick Jay Joyce. He’s made some terrible stuff, but also some amazing work for Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris etc.