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Andrew Combs is a young man with an old soul. And with his raw talent, captivating stage presence, and songs that serve as mesmerizing storytellers, the Texas-born singer-songwriter who now lives in Tennessee, is definitely on his way to more success. Since the on-the-rise singer-songwriter will be performing at Proud Larry’s on July 22nd in support of his new album, All These Dreams, I had the opportunity to chat with him about his new record, taking a cue from musical legends, and more.
I’m curious about your decision to relocate from Dallas to Nashville and get into the publishing industry. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
Well, the simple answer is that all of the guys I looked up to did that at different times; Mickey Newbury, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Ed Clark. So I figured I’d give it a whirl as well.
I worked backwards and listened to your first album, Worried Man after listening to All These Dreams, and sonically speaking, the new record is bigger sounding and also a bit more hopeful. What was your thought process going into the new record?
In terms of production, it was definitely something I thought of beforehand. Worried Man was made over the course of six months. I’d save up enough money each month to record two songs. So we’d go in and there wasn’t much pre-production or any sort of thinking too much about the songs. And it turned out, like you said, a bit more stripped down or raw. On All These Dreams, I had somewhat of a vision for what I wanted it to come out as and I enlisted two of my good pals to produce the record and I knew that they could help me bring that vision to life.
As far as the hopefulness of All These Dreams, I wasn’t really aware of that going into it, but I can see it now.
Another thing I noticed was the cohesiveness of the tracks. It reminded me of a novel in the sense of having multiple chapters that tie into the overall work. Did you have a thematic vision when you started recording this album or just go song by song?
I took it song by song to a degree. We recorded six songs first and then a few months later we did six more. I can see why you would say that. I like to read a lot and that probably filtered its way in there, whether I knew it or not. But it wasn’t thought out or planned like what song should be where.
Do you have one favorite song on the record or one you feel best represents the album as a whole?
I think if I had to pick one … it would be the first song, “Rainy Day Song.”
What authors and works have you been reading lately?
I love Barry Hannah and Larry Brown. They both came from your neck of the woods! Recently I’ve been reading this guy, Rick Bass, who is an environmental writer. His stories and structure are strong and he’s not just talking about wildlife. It’s very lyrical the way he writes. I’m trying to get into poetry, but (laughs) I’m not very good at it.
That’s a great selection! Since you will be in our neck of the woods for your upcoming performance, what can the audience expect from your live show?
A full band and lots of great harmonies. Obviously, there were a lot of auxiliary things like strings and percussion on the record that I can’t bring on the road with me right now, but I have a great group of guys playing with me. So it should be fun! 
