Country music star Chris Stapleton's genre-bending sound has earned him five Grammy Awards and a spot among country greats of all time. An integral part of Stapleton's success is his partnership with acclaimed country music producer Dave Cobb and his artistic muse, harmony singer and wife Morgan.
The trio met with 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi inside historic RCA Studio A in Nashville to reflect on their creative process and collaborative relationship.
Cobb, himself a guitarist and bassist, has worked with music royalty, producing for Barry Gibb, Sturgill Simpson and Lady Gaga. In 2018, he contributed to the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack for "A Star Is Born". Dave Cobb, a six-time Grammy Award winner, told Alphonse that producing Chris Stapleton was a unique experience.
"I mean, we're playing live," Cobb said. "And that tone you hear on the record is what he's saying at the time. And that's what the band played at the time. And it's very unusual to make a record." Stapleton elaborated on the change in production style, "It didn't happen before. That's how we used to do it." "No, and it used to be like that, you know, maybe until the '80s," Cobb confirmed. “But it is – when you listen to these records, you are hearing what really happened and is documented in that room.”
Stapleton and Cobb have won two Grammy Awards for their collaborations on the albums "Traveller" and "From a Room: Volume 1".
Chris Stapleton described the dynamic between the three musicians, saying that "we feel safe pushing back against each other" in an attempt to make the best version of what we're doing. He described Morgan as a "voice of reason" in the recording studio, explaining that men can often get lost in the subtleties of a track or be distracted by a unique piece of equipment. Stapleton's rehearsal location in Nashville is filled with musical ephemera.
"Chris and I are two... the kids are running down a path and going somewhere. And Morgan will walk up and he'll be like, 'You know, try something different.'" Cobb told 60 Minutes. . "She's always right," he said.
Cobb insisted that the musical partnership between Chris and Morgan Stapleton took Chris' voice to the next level. "I mean, a big part of the sound for me is the two of them singing together. Very few people in the world can live with her. And she certainly can."
Dave Cobb credits Chris Stapleton for his simple, honest style. "If you listen to the records, the records are very short," he said. "It's really about the song, the song that Chris wrote."
Chris Stapleton is one of his contemporaries for producing music that blends genres including Southern rock, blues and country. Dave Cobb told 60 Minutes that Stapleton's voice in his ear included excerpts from Otis Redding, Paul Rodgers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. "They have all the great American music summed up in a number of ways," Cobb said.
Cobb believes that Chris Stapleton's raw, emotion-laden songwriting abilities elevate him above the rest. "I mean, it just creeps out of him," Cobb said. "It's like there's no filter between his thoughts, his voice, and the performance on the record, you know. I think that's what makes him special. It's what you hear on the record and whatever he wants to say." Whatever is internal is very easily removed from it."