Willy Cobb In Conversation With FAULT Magazine
Blurring the line between Southern grit and grunge melancholy, Willy Cobb is rewriting the sonic script for Nashville’s alt-rock scene. With the release of his newest single “New Chapters” via War Buddha / Warner Records, Cobb trades beer-truck tropes for something far more vulnerable—chronicling personal evolution, fatherhood, and self-discovery with gripping honesty. His music, often described as “fit out not in,” is a lifeline for Southern outsiders who don’t see themselves in the mainstream country narrative.
FAULT Magazine caught up with Cobb to unpack the emotions behind New Chapters, the creative hurdles he’s had to leap, and the kind of artist he’s becoming—one who’s learning to lean into collaboration while holding tight to his small-town storytelling roots.
FAULT Magazine: Can you walk us through the songwriting process of New Chapters and what headspace you were in when this track started to form?
Willy Cobb: I was really in a kind of a down, sad headspace. I was sitting there thinking about all the new stuff that was happening at the time—I had a new kid, I had a tour coming up in the UK, I had songs that needed to be done for my record deal—and I’m just trying to come to terms with that, ’cause I’m usually such a happy-go-lucky, free, not-really-giving-a…you know, and now I have all these responsibilities and things I’ve got to worry about. That’s when I started the track.
FAULT Magazine: How do you personally define the kind of artist you want to be in a scene like Nashville?
Willy Cobb: Honestly, I feel like my record label describes it pretty well with the ‘fit out not in’. I’ve been here for four years now and I’ve tried to hang out with every group of people—from Belmont kids to the writers on Music Row—and I just feel like there’s none that I really fit in with, you know? I get along with everybody, but I don’t feel like I’m in my tribe yet, you know what I mean?
FAULT Magazine: You’ve spoken about representing Southern kids who felt like outsiders. Do you write with those listeners in mind, or is your music more of a personal reckoning that they just happen to connect with?
Willy Cobb: I like to think that I keep those kids in mind when I write. I feel like a lot of music nowadays is just either ‘drugs/guns/money’ or ‘beer/truck/girl’, and that’s like your only two options. I like to write about real topics that are near and dear to me and that are also probably near and dear to those kids too.
FAULT Magazine: There’s a strong visual component to your work. Do visuals play a role during the songwriting process, or do they come after the music has taken shape?
Willy Cobb: I’m honestly going to say visuals don’t really come in when I’m writing. I don’t think about visuals; I’ll figure all of that out later. I think more about the song and the structure of things. What comes later with artwork and stuff can come later. First I want to get the song down. I have to feel a vibe to get visuals.
FAULT Magazine: Your previous works all carry a distinct emotional tone. Are you building toward a larger narrative with these releases, or are they more standalone reflections?
Willy Cobb: Well see, man, you’re hitting the hard-hitting questions now! I haven’t really thought about it like that. I guess I do see myself as having a larger narrative. I just want to be a storyteller and show things the way my cousin Brent writes—when he writes he paints a picture. His whole narrative is being a storyteller from GA. I guess in a way I want to be my own version of that.
FAULT Magazine: Looking ahead, what do you hope your listeners take away from this phase of your career creatively?
Willy Cobb: I would like them to think of it as just me figuring it all out. I’m still trying to fill out my sound and figure out what I’m most comfortable with and what I’m best at writing. I’ve only got about 10 songs out so far, so I want listeners to know that this is all part of the growing process.
FAULT Magazine: What “new chapters” are you writing for yourself as an artist right now?
Willy Cobb: Well, I’m finally starting to open up to more writing sessions and take more of a collaborative approach. When I first came into all this, I thought I had to do it all by myself, so I’m learning to depend on people a little bit more. For me as a person, I’m a very independent person and I don’t like relying on people, but I’m learning to rely on others more.
FAULT Magazine: What are you most looking forward to for the rest of the year?
Willy Cobb: Honestly I’m ready for the new EP to come out. Really looking forward to that. I think it’s going to be a heater.
FAULT Magazine: What has been the most challenging creative hurdle you’ve had to overcome?
Willy Cobb: Honestly, like I said with the writing sessions, for about two years I feel I was in a sort of writer’s block and I couldn’t break out of it—up until a few months ago when I started doing these writing sessions. My first session, I got scheduled with these two dudes from LA who’d written several big albums before and had some big hits. I was scared I would get in there and it was going to be them carrying me the whole time, but in fact it was quite the opposite. It kind of showed me you can write songs, you can do this, you’re just in your head too much.
FAULT Magazine: What is your FAULT?
Willy Cobb: I trust people too much. And I love Coca-Cola too much, because it’s definitely gonna give me diabetes.y gonna give me diabetes.