BLACKBERRY SMOKE

When Charlie Starr started writing the songs that would become Blackberry Smoke’s new album, Be Right Here, the first tune the vocalist/lead guitarist worked up was “Dig A Hole.” Formed by an old guitar riff married with a Wurlitzer chorus riff written by keyboardist Brandon Still, the swampy psychedelic-rock song is a powerful statement about choosing your path in life—whether you want to give into temptation or walk a more righteous road.

“In life, we all are faced with choices,” Starr says. “Are we going to do good, or are we going to do bad? Are we going to love, or are we going to hate? We have a finite amount of time, each of us on this Earth. So probably want to make the best out of it instead of wasting time.”

“Dig A Hole” is the lead track on Be Right Here and sets the tone for another expansive set of rock ‘n’ roll from Blackberry Smoke. As always, the Georgia-based band—Starr, Still, guitarist/vocalist Paul Jackson, and bassist/vocalist Richard Turner—draw inspiration from Southern rock, blues-leaning classic rock, and rootsy vintage country. But, on Be Right Here, Blackberry Smoke sounds even more self-assured, from the strength of their songwriting to their musical execution.

Over the past two decades, Blackberry Smoke has developed this confidence and amassed a loyal fanbase, leading their last five full-length albums to achieve great chart success, including 2021’s You Hear Georgia, which reached #1 on Billboard’s^® Americana/Folk Albums chart.

The band wrote and recorded You Hear Georgia during the most intense periods of the pandemic but held off on releasing it until they could go tour again. Starr says Blackberry Smoke took the same deliberate approach with Be Right Here, which was recorded in late 2022 and early 2023, around the same time drummer Brit Turner was diagnosed with a type of brain tumor known as Glioblastoma. “We didn’t feel a whole lot of pressure to go in and make this one quickly,” Starr shares. 

Working once again with Grammy Award^®-winning producer Dave Cobb, Blackberry Smoke has crafted music that’s raw and immediate-sounding. They tracked the album live in the same space; an approach Cobb also prefers as it lends itself to a looser vibe. “I remember different times I would say, ‘I think we should redo that,’ and he’s like, ‘No, leave it that way. That way it’s magical,” Starr remembers. “It’s just as natural and real as possible.”

Location also factored into Be Right Here’s sound, as they recorded most of the album at Nashville’s beloved RCA Studio A, and then polished it off in Cobb’s studio in Savannah, Georgia. “It’s down in the low country and beautiful,” Starr says of the space, called Georgia Mae. “This album has a swagger to it, a deep in the pocket kind of feel. Those surroundings helped give the record that feel.”

Be Right Here’s lyrics are particularly literary, full of vivid and relatable characters that ensure the songs often resemble rich short stories. For example, “Whatcha Know Good,” a co-write with Brent Cobb, is a “feel-good song,” driven by an amiable narrator who gets along with everybody and dislikes negativity. “There’s plenty of bad news when you turn on the television,” Starr says. “The dude in this song, he doesn’t want to hear it anymore. He wants to go fishing and talk about good news. We were giggling the whole time because we know that guy. Maybe we are that guy.”

A laid-back, Stones-like guitar lick from former Buckcherry guitarist Keith Nelson inspired “Like It Was Yesterday,” helping Starr conjure another very specific character: an earnest young guy who doesn’t have much life experience, but knows what he likes and is grateful for good times. “I picture him laying on the hood of his car with his girl, staring up at the moon and the stars,” Starr says. “It’s the idea of holding onto that fleeting moment, because it can slip away from you.”

Other Be Right Here highlights include “Azalea” and “Little Bit Crazy,” both co-written with Starr’s frequent songwriting collaborator Travis Meadows. The latter song—which begins with a chorus of soulful gospel singers before blooming into a languid Southern rocker—features a narrator who’s embroiled in a relationship that’s fun, but not necessarily healthy.

Meanwhile, the lovely, elegiac folk ballad “Azalea” is centered on someone who seems emotionally bereft and spiritually lost, but is working hard to find their way home. “It’s a heavy song. It’s not a happy song, per se,” Starr says. However, “Azalea” has a distinct streak of optimism near the end, which Starr says is intentional: “There’s some hope in there, too. It comes with both Travis and I being fathers. Hold on to your kids as tight as you can without smothering them.”

The delicate balance of familial protection also permeates the easygoing “Other Side of the Light,” a co-write with Levi Lowrey. Written from the perspective of a young boy on an obstacle-filled road trip, the tune stresses that he’ll find shelter and safety with his mom. In contrast, the stomping “Hammer and the Nail,” which Starr wrote with Nelson, takes another approach to family ties—in this case, a son who needs to decide if he’s going to give into his wild side and take after his rebellious father. Fittingly, lively acoustic guitar gives way to an explosive chorus, with freewheeling bar-blues piano and raucous electric riffs.

Be Right Here ends on a confident note, the organ-driven power ballad, “Barefoot Angel.” Starr says he doesn’t write many love songs but made an exception here. “It’s either me singing about my wife or some guy singing about his wife that’s in the same situation, which is, I wouldn’t be able to do anything without her. When I’m worried and feeling bad, she makes it better.”

For Blackberry Smoke, embracing the light and finding the silver lining are once again at the heart of what they do best.

DUANE BETTS
& PALMETTO MOTEL

By the time Duane Betts began working on Wild & Precious Life—his triumphant debut solo album—he’d already spent two decades creating his own version of guitar-slinging, story-driven American rock & roll.

“It felt like the right time to make something that was entirely my own vision,” he says. “This is a record that guitar players will love, but at its core, it’s really a song record. It’s an album about who I am, where I come from, and what I believe in.”

The years leading up to Wild & Precious Life’s creation were a whirlwind. Betts cut his teeth with the bands Backbone69 and Whitestarr, then spent the better part of 10 years playing guitar alongside his father—legendary Allman Brothers co-founder Dickey Betts—as a member of Dickey Betts & Great Southern. He’d also travel the world as a touring member of Dawes before releasing an EP of his own songs, Sketches of American Music, in 2018. As the decade drew to a close, Betts co-founded The Allman Betts Band, releasing two records in 2019 and 2020.

Even so, the need to create a full-length solo album—one that nodded to his musical roots while simultaneously pushing ahead into new territory—continued to gnaw at him. “I wanted to make a record which would really capture that old school Florida vibe,” says the Sarasota native. Following his instincts, Betts assembled his dream team of musicians—including guitarist Johnny Stachela, bassist Berry Duane Oakley, keyboardist John Ginty, and drummer Tyler Greenwell—and took up his old friends Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks on an offer to record at their own Swamp Raga Studio in Jacksonville. Wild & Precious Life was recorded to a two-inch analog tape during a series of live-in-the-recording-studio performances in 2022.

“We set up as a band, tracked everything live, and kept whichever takes had the magic,” says Betts, who co-produced the album with Stachela and Ginty. The band welcomed a number of guests into the fold too, finding room for Marcus King (who swaps guitar solos with Betts on “Cold Dark World”), Nicki Bluhm (whose haunting harmonies run throughout the country-flavored “Colors Fade”), and Derek Trucks (who contributes searing guitar leads to the album highlight “Stare at the Sun”). Bobby Tis handled the album’s engineering duties, while seven-time Grammy^®-winner Jim Scott mixed.

Wild & Precious Life offers up a timeless version of American music—a mix of blues, rock, folk, and country that could’ve blanketed the FM radio airwaves during any number of decades. It’s a modern album inspired by some of the best parts of the past, full of sharply crafted songs written in a state of deep reflection and Betts’ journey toward sobriety. “Waiting on a Song” is a timeless tribute to patience, faith, and the muse itself, laced with fiery fretwork from Betts’ Les Paul Gold Top. “Circles in the Stars” is equal parts cowboy campfire song and folk ballad, with Betts singing a love letter to his wife over the earthy resonance of a vintage, post-WWII Martin D28 acoustic guitar that once belonged to his father. The twin guitar harmonies that define “Stare at the Sun” breathe fresh life into southern rock. “I was inspired by a conversation I’d had with Derek, where he was talking about my father’s guitar playing,” Betts explains. “He told me, ‘Your dad is one of those players who’s not afraid to stare directly into the sun,’ and I loved that line. I was already working on a new song, and Derek’s sentiment gave the song a center.” Even the album’s instrumental track, “Under the Bali Moon,” seems to conjure up its own storyline, thanks to a combination of evocative slide guitar and non-western twinkles of piano.

Wild & Precious Life captures the emotional release of overcoming struggle, appreciating the fleeting nature of life, and celebrating the joy of being present.

Wild and precious, indeed.