Dylan Gossett Turns Coal Into Gold At The Prince
“This game of life plays heavy on my heart
and love is tough, but loneliness is twice as hard
and I'll carry that 'bout everywhere I go
and they say pressure makes diamonds
how the hell am I still coal?”
Coal - Dylan Lee Gossett.
Texan troubadour Dylan Gossett and his energetic young quintet lifted the temperature even higher on this hot summer night to the perspiration drenched capacity crowd at the foot of Fitzroy Street in the Prince Of Wales ballroom.
It was the first of two Back Forty sold out shows where the crowd sang along as the son of a teacher mother and basketball coach father raised this bayside roof.
Gossett, just 25, is a Texas A&M graduate with a sports management degree who worked in racetrack operations and logistics for F1 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
It was there Dylan began releasing videos on Tik Tok that gained him international exposure and promoted him to choose a merry music career that brought him down under.
The crowd erupted as he ignited Stronger Than A Storm and Lone Ole Cowboy about a jilted cowboy inspired by Marty Robbins classic Big Iron.
He exuded a tender timbre when he told fans the source of Beneath Oak Trees about the locale where he married his wife Anna almost two years ago.
Dylan explained the song was about the Inspiring Oak Ranch in Wimberley, Texas, where they married in February 2023, and lived every day “as if we’re still under the oak trees on our wedding day.”
It was a romantic requiem of sorts shared with these fanatical fans.
Dylan expanded his family connections by introducing his older brother and guitarist Blake who lifted the tempo even further with searing solos.
He also lauded keyboardist Colton Hardy who reached deeper into his country roots with beatific banjo runs throughout the show.
Dylan explained another song No Better Time came about after a discussion with his wife and friends that “there’s literally no better time than now to try this music thing.”
It was a joyous journey as Gossett’s group ignited other originals To Be Free, Tree Birds, If I Had A Lover, Back 40, Flip A Coin and Song About You.
They followed another original Hanging On that segued into Folsom Prison Blues and a crowd roar.
“We have lots of Johnny Cash fans here in Australia” was Dylan’s rhetorical reprise for this enthusiastic audience.
He followed with Finally Stop Dreaming, Somewhere Between, Bitter Winds and breakthrough hit Coal.
By now it was time for the down under thirst quenching shoey.
Dylan chose a large pair of cowboy boots to entice fans and photographers to capture the moment before he urged his audience to follow him as he encored with Let’s Have A Party.
His fans rushed to his merchandise desk before continuing that party below on the cooler confines of Fitzroy Steet.
Review – Nu Country TV
Producer David Dawson