Brody Cobb and Cobb Guitars, Richland Ga

Waaay down. And I DO mean waaaaay down, in a South Georgia town….there lives a man who manufactures sound. His name is Brody Cobb, and I am long blessed to call him friend.

Brody and I grew up together, but I have since relocated to Alabama. Seeing some posts of his lately, I thought it might be time to shine a little light on this hidden gem.

I can remember being a small child and visiting the Cobb family at cookouts and such, as my daddy was a close friend of his daddy, the late Earl Cobb of Richland, GA. Talk about pickin’! In South Georgia, “pickin’” can mean one of two things; either you are pickin’ meat from a whole cooked hog, or you are pickin’ bluegrass. (This is not the same thing as picking. They do that more up North.) The Cobb family usually combined thiers and had what we like to call a “throwdown”. Those were great times. Good fellowship, food, and local musicians who were usually pretty good. Even though he was just a kid, Brody would usually get up and sing and play us a few. Even at that age he was a star.

Well, my friend Brody grew up; and so did I… but that music in him never did quiet down. Over the years, he became sort of our own private rock star. We’d go pick him up and bring him home to pick music at my brother’s house all the time, before he was even old enough to drive. He played every time, often several different instruments; and he always did it happily and for the sake of just getting to pick. He spent some time playing with a local band called H2O, and I remember really digging them and having to be hauled out of their practice hall a time or two.

Brody is one of the single most talented pickers on the face of this Earth, and I can say that with some knowledge. My own path took me on many musical travels. He can play just about anything from heavy metal to blues to downhome country, but he is best known in my circles for his awesome and original bluegrass sound.

All of that though, is a story for another day. You see, Brody has a new gig going. He’s started his own business, not playing, but BUILDING guitars. He’s still in the area, but his sound is now resonating all throughout the world, and it’s growing.

Cobb guitars started in the middle of the 2010’s, and I am proud to say that my own bluegrass pickin’ brother, Mr. Mark Murrah of Richland, was lucky enough to be one of the first Cobb guitar owners. He loves it, because Brody puts his all into the instruments he makes. They are an extension of his art; per se, and are of exceptional quality. He puts careful thought into the wood he uses, and builds them up from scratch. The guitars he builds ring as true as nature…like they were simply meant to be heard. The pickers that play these instruments carry a little of Brody’s soul every time they play.

Over the past couple of years, his little luthier shop has seen some important faces. A true musician can hear the quality in a build just like a racecar driver can hear the quality in an engine. Brody’s little shop has put Richland, GA back on the map.

If you ever find yourself down (wayyyy down) around this little town of Richland, you should look him up. In bluegrass, we love our Martins and our Gibsons. Cobb guitars have everything those big names have to offer but more; the heart of a man is poured into them. A man that knows music so well he can build it from scratch.

Richland, GA and the bluegrass music community want to thank you, Mr. Cobb, for manufacturing these instruments. In this way, your sound will live on, and ring out, forever. It’s people like you that keep bluegrass alive, and your contributions to the history of our sound are greatly appreciated.

Keep on building our boogie! We love you!

-Meg Johnson
LITTLE MAGGIE AND THE COSMIC ZOO

Keep it going Brody! – Love, Maggie