Bobby Coe — 22 July 2020 on Rocket Shop Radio Hour

Bobby Coe joined guest host Mollie Allen on ‘Rocket Shop‘, Big Heavy World’s weekly local Vermont music radio hour on 105.9FM The Radiator. Keep up with her at facebook.com/bobbycoe.music

Fresh from the woods, Bobby Coe stopped by the Rocket Shop studio on Wednesday, July 22. With her she brought a guitar, an amp, and an array of new songs to share with stand-in host Mollie Allen. And by “the woods,” I mean the woods.

A permaculture major, she spends a lot of her time working among verdant verdure and quiet forests. An excellent place to find the solitude necessary to write, I’d wager. Her notebook blends between poetic, heartfelt, soulful lyrics and notes on agroforestry and hügelkultur. And yes, I did just pull both of those terms from the permaculture Wiki.

According to Bobby, permaculture is “the combination of ecology and biology and botany and farming and honoring the indigenous people who came up with plan.” It’s a design practice, but for farming.

I mention this to preface Bobby Coe’s contemplative, natural, and speculative approach to things, evident in her music. Her first song of the night, “Pray Tell,” highlights these points. Her dreamy, reverberating guitar ebbed and flowed with ethereal arpeggios. Bobbing up and down on toes, she sand with lyrics that questioned softly: asking—but not pleading—for answers from a lover. 

This song comes from her new album, releasing later this year. October 1 is the expected and hoped for release date, although COVID’s already thrown a few wrenches into things, and there’s always a chance of it throwing another (so we ask, for the sake of Bobby Coe and the rest of us, please wear a mask). Regardless of delays, the album will come out as soon as it’s ready.

“It’s my baby, my gem, everything I’ve been working on for the past year,” she said.

When asked how she would describe her music, Bobby Coe responded with feigned irreverence:

“Wooaaaah, how could you put my music in a box?” she asked, before answering the question with “casually contemplative.”

To which Mollie responded, “That’s a solid box.”

I’d second that. Bobby’s music, though introspective with a spiritual weight, avoids over aggrandizing itself. It’s personal, yet relatable. Like your stoned-out friend drawing conclusions about Marxism from the delivery fee on your pizza order…but with more professionalism and gravitas.

Her music has a wide range of influences, from indie folk artists like Gregory Alan Isakov to rappers like Kendrick Lamar. For those not great with these comparisons, the nearest artist I can relate her to is Cat Clyde, but with more electricity. It’s indie folk but with more synth, looping, and spacey, nebular vibes.

Of course her music was not always this good. She’s been singing and playing guitar and “messing around” with music since she was 11, and music’s been a part of her life ever since her rockstar Dad started singing “Baby Beluga.” She wrote music as a child, before she had found her gravitas, as I’ve decided to put it.

In those days her music delved into fantasy, being young and lacking her own experiences to draw from. She wrote about not wanting to be a trophy wife, speculating on her own future. She even wanted an agent for herself. She seemed slightly hesitant to share all the details on air, likely indicating a preciousness to some of these songs; they are so doggerel, outlandish, or downright awful that they deserve to be a protected as a testament to her own humanity. Or maybe she just found them embarrassing.

The shift from childhood dreams to professional artist began with a shifting of her own perspective. She needed to respect herself as an artist—accept that music was a real passion and more than a hobby or personality trait that one puts on dating apps. This change came during her time at college, when many young adults find the time and inspiration to reevaluate their direction in life.

At the moment, her particular direction is still unsettled. Split between the farm-focused life of a permaculture specialist, and her music, Bobby Coe’s future is an unwritten book. A self-titled “white girl in Burlington, Vermont who’s only just waking up to systemic problems,” she’s guiding a lot of her work in both departments towards social justice. Permaculture often involves practices used by indigenous cultures, and Bobby Coe’s music is an outlet and platform for “energy and anger and passion.” Both fields therefore offer an opportunity to create meaningful change—something Bobby Coe hopes to accomplish. (I recommend tuning into the episode to hear an energetic and angry and passionate message to any and all bookers for local music venues).

These days, Bobby’s spending a lot of time in the studio, finalizing her album, but normally you’d find her on stage at live gigs. When life does return to normal, you can find out where she’s playing on her Facebook Page. Until then, she’ll keep recording and producing, and keep watching educational YouTube videos about mixing (that’s right, this album is self-produced!). One day, this strange alternate reality will end, and hopefully we’ll have a new Bobby Coe album by then!

Text by Luke Vidic.

Photo by James Lockridge.