BC’s Allen Dobb relays the hardships of being on the road in “Here and Now”

After more than a decade-long retreat from recording and performing, singer/songwriter Allen Dobb is returning with a new album scheduled for release February 9, 2024. Alone Together is a collection of ten new original songs drawn from characters, stories, and landscapes that are part of Dobb‘s experience working as a range management specialist in the interior of British Columbia.

The continual motion of being on the road can be addictive and the feelings that come with being away from home and family are hard to reconcile in a relationship. The backstory for “Here and Now” is elusive…it could be about the life of a rodeo cowboy or a touring musician. Either one works, because there are lots of similarities between those two lifestyles. The characters in this song have been through a lot, and who knows if they are going to be able to make up the difference.

Alone Together was produced and mixed by Allen’s brother and close collaborator Cameron Dobb, with much of the recording being done during the pandemic at their respective studios. The result is impressive. The ten-song recording has a warmth and authenticity that harkens back to some of the classic country sounds of the 1970s. At the same time, it has its own currency. Steeped in their own rural roots growing up on a farm in northwestern Alberta near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the brothers bring depth and maturity to the songs and the production.