For our 30th Clapper Sounds Interview, we’re highlighting folk, Americana musician, Bobby Gossett.
Bobby (@FrioShoals on Clapper) is a Texas-based singer-songwriter. Bobby’s currently working on his first EP, blending truth and fiction together in his unique mix of folk and country. We sat down with Bobby to talk about his artist journey, his thoughts on content creation as an artist, his EP, and more!
Clapper Sounds is meant to be an intimate musical experience, and we want that mission to translate into our written interviews too. Listen to his music as you read to get to know Bobby Gossett and his unique sound.
Let’s start from the beginning. What is your first memory of being involved with music? How did you start your artist journey?
I was raised on a farm in northeast Texas and my dad had this, huge vinyl record collection. And I spent many hours at even a young child turning his records on this giant stereo cabinet. I would just sit around and listen to his records. He had a wonderful collection and that’s still my favorite genre of music – Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Simon, Simon and Garfunkel. The old singer songwriter music, I still love that and I think from there I was just in love with music.
My dad liked to sing, so we were always singing around the house. Music was a big thing in the family and we love the same kind of music. And then as I got old enough to discover my own music for myself outside of what was put in front of me, I started to love underground music. Dad bought me a guitar when I was around 15 years old and I taught myself to play. I still wouldn’t consider myself a guitarist, but I can put enough chords together to sing songs and write music.
How would you describe your musical style? Who are your biggest inspirations?
There’s definitely country styling in my music. I don’t set out to try and make country music because It’s not where my influences lie. But because of where I’m from, because of my accent, what I grew up around, and the things that I sing about that, there is some country there. My biggest influences are James Taylor, Ray Lamontagne, I love acoustic guitar and singer-songwriter music. So I would like to think that my style lies there! Americana, maybe some folk in a country twang. I’ve been in the studio working on an album and we were really trying to pinpoint what we’re gonna call this genre because it’s hard to place. One song may fall more country and some not so much, hopefully, that’s a good thing.
What are your thoughts on content creation as an artist? How do you feel about artists having to balance their social media presence and still be committed to their art?
That’s a challenge for me. I work full-time, I’m part-time engineering student at UTSA taking three classes, a semester. And I’ve got a big family. I have four daughters, and a grandson that count on me to take care of them and to be there and to be dad and participate. So music, although it’s my passion, I still have to consider it a hobby and stress reliever. It can’t be my number one priority, I can’t always disappear to my studio to write, make music, or make social media content. Making content is something that I really struggle with because it’s not like a lot of other content. The type of content I make takes several hours of practice before it’s good enough to record and then several takes to get it through without any major mistakes. I’ve learned not to be a perfectionist because I do want to get content out there and keep doing it. People enjoy it and it feels really good to put something out there that somebody said moved them in some way. I’m happy with the response levels that I get, and It’s a lot to maintain but I keep up somehow.
How did you find out about Clapper? Why did you decide to share your music?
I learned about Clapper when people started talking about a TikTok ban. I had been growing over there and had so much content that I thought would just disappear. Of course I’m on all the other platforms, but I wanted something that was similar that might fit me better. I got on Clapper and posted a couple videos and they did well. Clapper’s a better community because it’s all about supporting and interacting with each other. As long as you’re active and actually meeting people and being a member of the community, you seem to do well and grow fast. Once I learned that, I saw a lot of growth. And I met some members of an amazing group: Rob and Friends. That was a pivotal point that really picked off the growth. The community is really supportive and just provides a lot of opportunity to get in front of the group and perform. It’s been great.
I heard you have an EP coming out! Tell us a little bit about it.
It’s gonna be six or seven songs. We’re still debating on whether to tag a cover of a well-known song within the album to bring a little more attention. We’ve three recorded and we’re ready to start releasing! Our first release date will be October 20th with my first single, Frio Shoals. Then we’ll follow up November 24th with my favorite song, which is Fireside. That’s a duet with another Clapper member, Jess Scarzone. She made that song blossom into something beautiful.
I met with my producer at the studio yesterday. I’m working with Mack Damon; he won a Latin Grammy and he’s well known in San Antonio. He’s worked with a lot of big-name artists and I’m honored that he was willing to fit me in. He’s been awesome to work with and he seems real excited about the project. So happy with what we’ve done so far.
Deciding to be an artist can have its ups and downs. What advice would you give to that young artist who is just learning to play guitar, or starting singing lessons and whose dream is to be a musician?
For as many hours of the day as you can, practice your craft. It needs to become second nature, where you’re not thinking about the technique and you can really get lost in the art. So, put in the hours, number one. Number two, don’t be a perfectionist. We’re all human and embrace that imperfection and just create. You’re at your best today, you’re better than you were yesterday, so just keep pushing through. Keep practicing, keep creating, it’s only going to get better and better. Unless you’re prodigy, you’re not going to make a masterpiece on your first piece of music. But with practice and experience, you’ll get there.
Make sure to check our recorded live session on our account Clapper Sounds and in our reels on Instagram. Enjoy the Clapper Sounds Live Session with Bobby Gossett!