Trent Dabbs

Trent Dabbs, a Nashville-based singer/songwriter who also runs his own label, brings a pop sensibility to folk and rock songs steeped in pastoral imagery. Shaped by the work of Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Big Star, the Beatles, and Nick Drake, he entered the music scene in the early 2000s through the album Quite Often. Over time his approach broadened to include mainstream touches, such as synthesizers on the 2010 release Transition, then veered toward harder-edged rock on Southerner in 2011. By 2018 he had reached his eleventh full-length with Positano. Outside his solo recordings, Dabbs supplies songs to other performers including Ingrid Michaelson, American Authors, and Kacey Musgraves, while forming one half of the duo Sugar + the Hi-Lows alongside fellow singer/songwriter Amy Stroup.

Raised in Jackson, Mississippi, he introduced a Southern gothic Americana style carrying pronounced Big Star-like overtones on his debut Quite Often. Dennis Herring and Clay Jones produced the 2004 album, which appeared on Herring’s Sweet Tea imprint. The record drew favorable reviews and placed tracks on the soundtracks to The OC and The Mountain, while also securing Dabbs an opening slot with R.E.M. at the Ryman Auditorium. His second album, What’s Golden Above Ground, arrived in 2006 on his own Ready Set Records label and was produced by Justin Loucks and Ian Fitchuk. In 2010 he released a pair of albums, Your Side Now and Transition, both produced by Thomas Doeve. The latter brought added synth production to his singer/songwriter foundation, audible on tracks such as “Counting Sleep” and “Off We Go” with Erin McCarley. Songwriting opportunities for other artists expanded during this period, yielding contributions for Katie Herzig, Joy Williams of the Civil Wars, Mat Kearney, and additional acts.

His sixth album, Southerner, appeared in 2011. Its muscular rock songwriting and rollicking energy surfaced on cuts including “Don’t Blame Love” and “Neil Young.” The steady pace continued with Future Like Snow in 2012 and The Way We Look at Horses in 2013. At the same time Dabbs wrote for the Nashville television series, supplying “Don’t Put Dirt on My Grave Just Yet,” “Shine,” and “Undermine.” He also joined Ingrid Michaelson on her sixth album, Lights Out. Returning to his interest in Americana and Bob Dylan, he issued his ninth album, Believer, in 2015. The following year he explored a lush, atmospheric direction on The Optimist. His eleventh project in nearly as many years, Positano, came out in late 2018.