Cole Spain: The Guy Who Sings Their Stories
If they had never heard of Cole Spain, they would not have been able to pick him out of the crowd. In the backyard of a Tuscaloosa townhouse, over a hundred college students gathered to hear Cole perform. Standing next to the fire in boots, blue jeans, and a striped flannel, he looked like everybody else. On his head, he wore a birch-colored flatback he found at a youth camp in Texas, which had a yellow patch on the front that read, “Teskey’s Saddlery.” When enough people were piled into the yard, he stepped up onto the stage made of recycled pallets and stained two-by-fours. With two of his friends following behind him, he walked up to the mic and introduced himself.
Then he began to sing. Like an eagle taking off from its perch in a tall tree, the initial ascent of his voice seemed somewhat hasty. But as he continued to sing, his voice became more and more smooth, like the eagle when she starts to glide. His voice was higher than they expected, but they found it carried more force than the baritone sound they are used to hearing from Alabama guitar pickers. All his words were polished; none were slurred for the sake of increasing “Southern twang.” The stories he shared through song elicited a ring of familiarity in the minds of the college students, even though most of them had never heard him sing before.
When he stepped down from the makeshift stage after an hour or so of playing songs he had written, he knew he had played well. His bandmates knew it, and so did the crowd. He knew this was what he was supposed to be doing.
When the night came to a close and the college students started to head home, a blonde-haired girl he barely knew went out of her way to give him a well-intentioned compliment: “Hey Cole, that was actually pretty good.”
“That’s the story of my life, people coming up to me and saying, ‘That was actually good,’” said Cole in an irritated tone as he sat outside Monarch Espresso Bar four months later. “It makes me so mad. Everyone who has heard my music for the first time has said that. Why do they have to say ‘actually,’ like they’re so surprised? Thanks I guess. People are being genuine, but still. I’ve been working my butt off for five years. Don’t they know this is what I’m trying to do?”
Surprising people is nothing new for Cole Spain. He has been surprising people his entire life. Whether he was singing lead in a high-school band or picking a banjo at a house concert in Tuscaloosa, he has always been able to catch people’s attention. Perhaps it is the sound of his voice, the way it resembles a blend of Koe Wetzel and Evan Honer. Or maybe it is his guitar strumming, which sometimes looks more like violence than a chord progression, yet creates a sound so beautiful the feet of the crowd cannot help but tap along.
But what makes Cole unique is not his voice or his guitar picking. Many people have a radio-worthy voice, and every city has one or two guitarists who are good enough to play in Nashville. Cole’s gift is his ability to tell a story. It may not have a clear beginning, middle, and end, but it’s a story nonetheless. Whether it’s about a gambler trying to cover for his addiction or a lonely high-school boy getting over a breakup, his stories have power because people recognize them. They know them. They know them because they are their stories—their stories sung through the lips of someone else.
Cole performing at Phi slam Phall Phestival
“I was always what my mom called a ‘good singer,’” Cole said with a smile. “Growing up, I would always sing in the shower. I knew all the words to the songs on the radio.” His mom graciously showed him Nirvana and “Grunge” music, while his introduction to the Beatles came from his father. When he would sing in front of his family, his cousins would mess with him, telling him his younger brother was more talented than him. Their comments would make his blood boil. The doubts of others served as lighter fluid to his newfound passion.
“The first time I knew I had a good voice was in middle school,” said Cole, who joined the school choir in fifth grade—a whole year before it was considered the “cool” thing to do. “The reason I sing now is because of my middle school choir director. He was a large, joyful guy, and he was the first person who had confidence in me.”
In high school, a friend named Jackson helped him learn to play the guitar. Jackson was constantly critical of his guitar playing, which ultimately served as motivation for Cole. He became driven by a desire to prove him wrong. At age sixteen, he performed live with one of his friends at an event called “Vestapalooza” in his hometown of Vestavia Hills, AL. From there, a band was formed, which they coined “Spain & Co.” after their lead singer. It was during his time with Spain & Co. that Cole began to invest deeply in songwriting. He learned pretty quickly he had a knack for it.
“The first song I wrote was called ‘Cut My Rope.’ It was about being on an emotional leash during a relationship… It was easy to write because I knew what I felt. In high school, guys don’t talk about feeling real emotion. Putting it into a song makes your feelings valid.”
“I think Cole gets an internal peace from songwriting,” said Nathan Yaeger, one of Cole’s closest friends and fellow guitar player. “He is able to express himself exactly how he wants to in song… It helps him feel his own thoughts.”
Cole graduated from Vestavia Hills High School in 2021, bringing Spain & Co. to an end. He headed off to Tuscaloosa, AL, where he began taking classes at the University. Rather than leaving music behind, he dove deeper into it. Before long he met Nathan, a fine musician in his own right, and other friends who would regularly get together to play music.
“Freshman year, Cole had a sense of arrogance about him,” remarked Nathan. “He walked in wearing a backwards hat, Chubbies, and Chacos—he was the epitome of YoungLife. He thought he already knew everything about music. He was used to the spotlight, and he didn’t fit in [with us] at first.” But Nathan and his friends stubbornly kept inviting him to play music.
“Everything changed when he broke up with his girlfriend,” remembered Nathan. “I would sit in on Cole writing songs. I realized he needed to get his words out by writing.” It became evident pretty quickly to him that Cole was not just another college guy who writes songs to pick up girls. “Honestly, he might be the most talented songwriter I’ve ever seen. He can sit down for two hours and always come out with a completed song. Lyrics come naturally to him. He has a poetic mind.”
In April of 2023, Cole released his first solo EP titled Julianna Boone. The country songs of his high school days evolved into a blend of Country, Rock, and Folk. All of the songs reflect real experiences from his life, and they were received well by his community in Tuscaloosa. For Cole, the completion of his first solo project meant he was just getting started.
Cole performing at Tuscaloosa YoungLife’s "Springfest
During his junior year, Cole accidentally enrolled in an English class where the topic of the course was “Horse Literature.” Annoyed with talking about horses for a whole semester, Cole asked if he could sing “White Horse” by Taylor Swift for his final project instead of having to write about horses.
“How about you write your own song?” the professor said back to him. Born with a competitive spirit, Cole took it as a challenge. After class, he walked to Taco Bell and penned the lines that eventually would become the song “Derby”: “I’m twenty now and soon I will be thirty / If I keep living life like I’m in the derby.”
“When I wrote [those lines], I knew immediately the song was done,” said Cole, who wrote all the lyrics to the song in ten minutes. He called Nathan, and together they completed the song in less than an hour.
“That was the first time I saw [and thought], ‘Wow, Cole is special. This is what God made him to do,’” said Nathan.
Aside from writing, most of Cole’s opportunities to perform live in college have been through gigs at restaurants. If you visit Avenue Pub often enough, you are likely to hear him play. Most of these jobs are solo gigs, but some allow him to play with a band, which he heartedly prefers. When the opportunity arises, he plays house concerts and other events, both private and public.
“I’ve gradually come to enjoy performing,” said Cole. “I get a high on stage. I’m like, ‘This is what I’m supposed to be doing.’”
Another one of Cole’s friends learned of his musical ability when Cole opened for a pop artist in the backyard of (a different) Tuscaloosa house. He sang these lyrics from his song “One Sing at a Time”:
“And just for a second, I thought that we had it all
I thought we had breath, but I guess we were glass
And the best thing I had was the person who caused me the most pain
But the best things in life are the things that don’t last
I thought I’d stay for oh so long
Was I not enough to be your only one?”
Evan Jones remembers being deeply moved by the performance: “He played, ‘One Song at a Time,’ and I had just broken up with my girlfriend. I stood there crying. I remember thinking, ‘This is what I’m going through right now.”
To a random college student, this song might have sounded like any other country song. But to Evan, it sounded like comfort—a gentle hand on the shoulder that seemed to say things were going to be okay. The song meant someone else understood, and that he was not the only one asking these questions. It takes a lot to get a young man to cry.
“If people connect to your music, that’s a successful song,” said Cole. “One of the best parts [of performing] is being able to share with people what you wrote.” Cole’s definition of success in songwriting flies in the opposite direction of a music industry filled with artists infatuated with fame, views, and “making a name for yourself.” Cole’s view of success puts people back at the center of Art.
Cole with his friends Nathan (left) and Evan (right)
Although his songs are not overtly religious, faith has played a significant role in Cole’s life and has shaped him as a musician. When he is not doing music or taking classes, he is likely spending time with high schoolers at Northridge High School, where he serves as a volunteer leader for a Christian ministry called YoungLife.
“His [YoungLife] guys have changed him so much,” said Nathan, who also is a volunteer in the same ministry. “I think he sees himself in those guys because they struggle with a lot of stuff he has struggled with… It has really taught him humility and patience. He has learned to love them.”
When reflecting on how his relationship with God affects his songwriting, Cole said, “These are songs that reflect the feelings the Lord has had. They are songs about heartbreak, joy, family, and deep love… These songs are able to connect emotionally with people because… we are made in His image.”
Cole’s music has connected with people in Tuscaloosa, and his next EP will enable him to do so even more. Its title, A Mic Is Cheaper Than Therapy, fits his philosophy of songwriting to a tee. It is releasing one song at a time, with the first song, “If I Die,” releasing in late March. It will be Cole’s second solo EP.
“[My hope] is that it blows up, and I can go on tour. But I am content with where the Lord has me… I’m not ignorant enough to believe my plan is bigger than God’s.”
“I think when he gets [the EP] out,” said Nathan, “people will respect his music.”
Although Cole’s talent is not yet widely known, it is likely his new EP will surprise many people in the coming year. But there is one place where Cole does not have to do any surprising.
On the back deck of a house located on Lake Martin, Cole’s family gathers on warm summer evenings to listen to Cole sing. His dad turns on the fan to discourage the mosquitos while his mom turns on the light to the deck so they can see his face while he sings. His parents, brother, grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins are all there. Cole grabs his guitar and tells the stories of the past year through the songs he has penned. For an hour, everyone listens, enthralled in the performance, attending intently to his lyrics.
No one is surprised, but everyone is pleased. His mom always knew he had a good voice. Even his cousins, who can hardly produce a compliment, tell him he sounds “pretty good.”
His grandmother, gleaming with pride, exclaims, “That’s just unbelievable that he can do that.” She says that every summer Cole sings for them at Lake Martin.
Cole is not famous. Not yet. But he is right where he is meant to be.
Check out Cole for yourself!
