By Cameron Lee
October 22, 2024
Every so often, a bright young troubadour emerges from the great state of Texas. The latest is Dylan Gossett, a 25-year-old singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player from Austin whose emotive brand of introspective, red dirt-tinged country/folk has been filling venues with fans across the states. On Sunday night in Charlotte, it was one of the toughest tickets in town, as 700-plus people packed The Underground for a country show which also featured Yadkin County, North Carolina native James Tucker.
Tucker, who released a dazzling four-song OurVinyl Sessions live album in May featuring wholesome heartland country tracks like “Man I Am” and “Stay Home Tonight,” performed for a captivated near-capacity crowd as the opener. Backed by his five-piece band, which brought a cosmic radiance to Tucker’s rugged sorrow-filled voice and poignant lyrics, he gained some new admirers from his impressive performance.
Dylan Gossett’s rise has been swift but astounding. It’s only been a little over a year since the Texas A&M grad started uploading covers of songs on TikTok like The Lumineers’ “Ophelia.” His song “Coal” propelled Gossett through the country music algorithms on social media showcasing his wonderfully wounded voice and vivid lyrics.
Another early track that helped launch his career is his first single, “To Be Free,” released in June 2023. He performed the song early in the set, exhibiting his live vocal prowess, before the song swelled into a sparkling country tune with several howling in the audience.
The tempo picked up for “Tree Birds,” a spiritually hued love song that showcased his band’s instrumentation (which features his brother Blake on guitar) and Gossett’s harmonica chops. Part of Gossett’s appeal is his ability to craft melancholy melodies like on “If Had A Lover,” which has him lilting about lonely nights yearning for the right life companion: “Well, if I had a lover, couldn’t keep it undercover and fall for her like leaves / And if I had a dollar, I’d save the whole holler and buy that girl a ring.”
“No Better Time,” the title track to his debut EP, had the crowd bobbing and singing along to the song about pursuing your dreams. It was released not long after he started gaining traction as an artist. In it, he describes taking a chance: “Well, a quarter in a fountain means that people still have dreams / And a token in a pocket means that people can come clean. So come on now, boy, don’t you be afraid to start / Cause sweat on your skin is better than regret on your heart.”
These kinds of lyrics and the vulnerability in his voice make Gossett such a relatable singer-songwriter. With his keyboard player performing luminous notes, transitioning into the final chorus, the crowd collectively belted the lyrics.
Later, he broke out an unreleased track, “Song About You,” co-written with his banjo player Colton Forrest Hardy, as the duo played the stripped-back soulful tune to a tranquil swaying audience.
One of the evening’s sentimental highlights was ”Beneath Oak Tree,” a song dedicated to his wife, which has him waxing poetic about the sun hitting the oak trees where they got married in Wimberly, Texas just last year.
He ended the evening with the song that skyrocketed his career, “Coal,” which ponders if pressure made diamonds, how one can still be coal. There’s a celestial quality to Gossett’s songwriting that reaches your core, like an autumn wind gust through screen doors. With a wonderstruck audience singing his lyrics throughout the night, it’s easy to see the grip his voice and stories have on his fans.
It was a night of pure and good-hearted country songs that brought Charlotte closer to a budding modern day troubadour you’ll likely hear in less-cramped venues soon across the world.
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