Dylan Gossett is well aware that his career has been ridiculously fast-tracked.
In just one year’s time, the 25-year-old Austin, Texas, native went from half-seriously uploading songs to social media to becoming one of country music’s most in-demanded live draws. On the strength of a pair of EPs — including Songs in the Gravel that dropped in March — Gossett has consistently played to capacity crowds in the U.S. and abroad. In March, he performed his first show with a band with a high-profile slot on Rolling Stone’s Future of Music showcase at South by Southwest.
Gossett understands that artists only ever get one rise out of obscurity, and he’s determined to take it all in.
“It is the wildest experience to me,” he says. “When you see people in New York, London, Australia, singing words to your songs, that you otherwise would never have seen in your lifetime. It’s crazy. It’s fulfilling. It’s an amazing feeling, not just for me, but for them as well. Both of us are going through this in unison.”
Along with Wyatt Flores — who brought Gossett along as an opening act last summer for what became Gossett’s first-ever concerts — he is at the crest of a wave of artists stripping country music down to emotive lyrics over acoustic guitars. It’s still too soon to write a eulogy for tailgating-in-booty-shorts country music, but Gossett and his contemporaries have clearly forced their way to a seat at the table in Music City with charisma and substance.
A year ago, Gossett was still working at Circuit of the Americas, the F1 racetrack in Austin where he took a job shortly after graduating from Texas A&M in 2021. He was heavily influenced by Shane Smith and the Saints and Flatland Cavalry, and he first turned heads by posting a cover of Flatland’s “A Life Where We Work Out” on TikTok. Gossett quickly moved into uploading original songs. “To Be Free” was his first, followed by “Coal,” his breakout hit and signature song at his shows. He’s as grateful for his quick viral rise as he is that he no longer needs such help.
“Being able to separate from social media and the virality of it is massive to me,” Gossett says. “I think all artists feel this way. That’s why I have so much respect for guys like Shane Smith and Flatland who have done it a different way, and paved their ways like they did. Their fan bases will be with them until the day they leave the earth.
“I still post on Instagram, because I just like getting stuff out so that fans can hear it,” he continues. “But I never tried to put all my eggs in that basket.”
Gossett is the first artist signed to Big Loud Texas/Mercury Records — the Lone Star offshoot of Big Loud Records co-founded by Miranda Lambert and Jon Randall. That endorsement by two of the state’s most successful country songwriters validated Gossett. “Having them be a block, a safety point between you and the craziness of people who don’t care about you, who see you as a dollar sign, it’s a huge help that can’t be overstated,” he says. His label signing happened in November. By January, he was in Australia, opening for Noah Kahan.
When I first learned about Gossett, I was working on my third book — Red Dirt Unplugged, now in the presale stage and set for release in December — and in the midst of profiling a host of artists who are redefining country music almost overnight. After seeing video of Gossett’s Australia shows, I dropped everything to make room for him. (A modified version of this story will be turned into a chapter in the book.) That is how I landed at the Exit/In in Nashville in April, watching Gossett’s first-ever concert in the traditional home of country music.
Gossett sold out Exit/In during the onsale, even before fellow quick-risers Ole 60 were announced as the opener. The final tally was 510 tickets sold. By the time he closed with “Coal,” his commanding, gravelly vocals were unable to drown out the audience: “They say pressure makes diamonds, so how the hell am I still coal?” they shouted.
Gossett’s “Back 40 Tour” — kicking off Sept. 6 in College Station, Texas — illustrates just how quickly his stock has risen. He will headline the Ryman Auditorium on Oct. 23, six months after his Exit/In show. After selling out the 1,200-capacity Irving Plaza in New York in November — a nearly fivefold increase from Mercury Lounge, where he played back-to-back nights to crowds of 250 in March — he added a second night at the venue. So far, he has added six shows and upgraded two others to larger venues since the tour went on sale.
It’s a staggering trajectory by any measure, but especially so given that his first gig with Flores only happened in September, at the venerable Blue Light in Lubbock, Texas — a city that’s home to Texas Tech University. For an A&M alum and devout Aggie like Gossett, he recognized the irony of debuting in front of Red Raider students and fans, at least until he remembered that both A&M and Tech share a heated rival in the Texas Longhorns.
“In the middle of the show, my guitar died, and all these rowdy people were wanting music,” he says. “While I’m fixing my guitar, they start chanting something about the Red Raiders. Well, I’m an Aggie, so, I say, ‘Gig ’Em!’ and immediately the place erupts in a massive boo… I don’t really know how to save this, so I just throw up a double ‘Horns down,’ and the place erupts again, but in cheers.”
Gossett grew up surrounded by sports, with his parents both educators. His father was a head basketball coach and assistant football coach, and his mom was a teacher. They also imparted a love of music onto Gossett and his brother, Blake, who now plays in Dylan’s band. The Eagles, Boston, and George Strait were common sounds around the house, and Gossett got his first guitar around the fifth grade. By their teen years, the brothers would regularly play songs around a campfire at the lake home of their grandfather in suburban Austin — to which the Songs in the Gravel EP pays homage.
When Gossett began releasing music on TikTok, he admits his parents were mostly clueless to the impact it would have. Gossett was too.
“I posted a video — the Flatland cover,” he says. “Before this, if I was getting 1,000 views on a video, it felt like I was a rock star, right? So, it was Mother’s Day, and I tell them, ‘I don’t want to blow y’all’s mind, but I just got 20,000 views on this video.’ And my parents didn’t understand TikTok, so they just asked if it was good. I mean, it’s not crazy, but it’s good.
“That night, I posted ‘To Be Free,’ took a shower, got out and checked how it was doing. And it had like 4,000 views. Then, I refresh it, and it’s at 5,000. Julia, my wife, and I had never experienced this, so we’re both just going, ‘This is cool. This is fun,’” he says. “By the end of the night, we’re both sitting in bed, just refreshing it. All of a sudden, it’s at like 100,000 views. She took this picture of me in a cowboy hat with a cigar like, ‘I made it! 100,000!’”
Shortly after that, Gossett posted “Coal.” It did a million views in 24 hours.
The song, written in under a half hour, was born from classic early-20s angst and, according to the songwriter, connected with a wide swath of fans because they were able to identify with a feeling of stagnancy.
“I was in my apartment, just going through some things. I felt like my life was kind of piling on, nothing was working, and I was wondering why,” he says. “I also knew that a lot of people related to it. That’s what fueled it once it was out.”
With “Coal” so unfailingly popular, there’s no pressure on Gossett to release music at a frenetic pace. But his whirlwind touring life has created a problem: He has not yet found time to write and record a full-length album. He’s hoping to change that in 2024 but acknowledges that his catalog may be filled with EPs in the short term.
“The reason I put out EPs rather than singles is because I really believe in projects, and I am over the moon to get an album out. The last thing that I am going to do is put out a half-assed record that I don’t think is ready,” he says. “But I want to be clear, there is definitely more music coming from me this year.”
Josh Crutchmer is a journalist and author whose third book, Red Dirt Unplugged, is set for release on December 13, 2024, via Back Lounge Publishing.
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