The Red Clay Strays Surprise Brent Cobb On Stage With Gold Record For “Black Creek”

The Red Clay Strays took a moment out of their show to shine a light on their good pal, Brent Cobb.

During the Red Clay Strays last couple of shows of 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada, they brought their opener and longtime friend and mentor back out on stage to perform the Lynyrd Skynyrd song “Swamp Music” with them. The performance itself was a whole lot of fun for those in attendance, but it’s actual purpose was just to get Brent Cobb back out on stage so the Red Clay Strays could surprise him.

It was a special moment for everyone involved because the Red Clay Strays and Brent Cobb have a history together. You might not know that Cobb helped play a role in helping Brandon Coleman and the rest of his band make it big. When Cobb sat down with us on the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast, he told us that their friendship was birthed from a simple direct message through Instagram:

“I originally met them when they were damn near fresh out of high school. Maybe they were up here (in Nashville) for something, I don’t know. They had hit me up on Instagram, and this was 2017 or 2018. They had just been listening to my music for a long time.

They are really aware of the writers. They knew I had written ‘Bar, Guitar and a Honky Tonk Crowd.’ They reached out, happened to be in town and we hung out. They wanted to write. We’ve just kind of buddies.”

Fast forward years later, and the Red Clay Strays are one of the biggest acts in all of country music.

That being said, they haven’t forgotten about the people that helped them get to where they are today. They have a deep appreciation for the Grammy-nominated Brent Cobb and his work, which is why they carved out time in their last shows of the year to surprise Brent Cobb with the presentation of his first ever gold record.

Following the Lynyrd Skynyrd cover, frontman Brandon Coleman spoke to the crowd and Cobb while someone backstage brought out the framed gold record:

“Don’t go anywhere Brent. We’ve got a present for ya. Brent, you have a song named ‘Black Creek.’ You may not know this, but ‘Black Creek’ recently went gold. We want to bring this out for you and present it to ya. Look at that buddy… you deserve it.”

What a moment.

Cobb’s “Black Creek” went certified gold by the RIAA (sold 500,000 units) back in August, and the Red Clay Strays gave him, the song and the accomplishment the proper recognition at their Las Vegas show. You could tell that Brent Cobb appreciated the gesture very much.

It’s only right that the Red Clay Strays pay back Cobb in any way that they can. He was the one that told the band not to sign any contracts too early as they began to rise in fame:

“I remember the year that they kind of popped off was 2022 or whatever. The top of that year, Drew called me and he was like, ‘Man, we’re starting to get some label interest and we’re getting booking agent interest. What do you think we should do?’ It was right before they did the Elle King tour and then they had those few shows with Eric Church.

I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know much, but I’d say don’t sign anything yet. Do those tours and look at your numbers right now… people can’t come to your all’s show and see you and not be blown away. Just wait until the end of those tours and compare your numbers.’ I know I’m not the only person that told them that, but they did that, and by the end of those tours, they were superstars.”

@whiskeyriff “They are really students of, the same way I am, of songwriting.” @Brent Cobb @The Red Clay Strays ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff

Without a doubt some great advice for the band from Mobile, Alabama. Cool to see that now, after really taking off, the Red Clay Strays are doing what they can to return the favor.

And like Coleman said, Brent Cobb deserves the gold record… “Black Creek” is an absolute banger:

The post The Red Clay Strays Surprise Brent Cobb On Stage With Gold Record For “Black Creek” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.