Video Premiere: Trent Dabbs' "Follow Suit"

Download Trent Dabbs’ “Follow Suit” here.
—

Singer-songwriter Trent Dabbs will release his sixth full-length album, Southerner, on Feb. 22. Below is a Paste-exclusive premiere video for the song “Follow Suit,” a dark, alt-country tale about refusing to succumb to outside influences.

Dabbs grew up in a Mississippi, a culture fond of literature and religion, and then moved to Nashville where he was swamped with country music. The influence of both those places clearly emerge: “The ghosts of Johnny Cash, old gospel-choirs, Neil Young, and Nick Drake are heard roaming the halls of Trent’s songs,” according to his website.

Dabbs gathered Nashville-based artists and called the collection Ten Out of Tenn, a moniker that serves both as the title of his recording company and touring group. Although he has had mainstream exposure through television and film outlets like Grey’s Anatomy and One Tree Hill, Dabbs is still not a household name.

Perhaps his new album will change that. For Southerner, Dabbs “wanted to peel back the layers…and portray ten separate stories that have been woven into [his] southern life.” The album is a throwback to older generations when entire albums were the major focus rather than a bunch of standalone singles. Similar to those older records, Southerner’s tracks coalesce into a sum that is greater than its parts. After all, as his site says, “it is the story that concerns Trent the most.”

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.