Over the past two decades, Blackberry Smoke has 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 Georgia-based band—vocalist/lead guitarist Charlie Starr, guitarist Brandon Still, guitarist/vocalist Paul Jackson, bassist/vocalist Richard Turner, and drummer Brit Turner—draw inspiration from Southern rock, blues-leaning classic rock, and rootsy vintage country.
When Starr started writing the songs that would become Blackberry Smoke’s new album, Be Right Here, the first tune he 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.
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. Today, Turner continues to receive treatment while remaining an active and steadfast force in the band.
Working once again with Grammy® Award-winning producer Dave Cobb, Blackberry Smoke has crafted music that’s raw and immediate sounding. They recorded the album live in the same space; an approach Cobb also prefers as it lends itself to a looser vibe. 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.”
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