Cole Gerdes' journey leads to release of first country album

Many songs and music albums come from the soul of writers and performers who have gone through many of life's experiences. Pontiac native Cole Gerdes has released an album of country music that reflects his experiences.

Gerdes has just released “Barley Pops Ridin' Shotgun” on the various download platforms.

Gerdes is from Pontiac but now lives in Pasadena, Calif. His journey westward began in the Chief City and included stops to cities south and east. Along the way, the 2005 PTHS graduate has experienced a lot of what life can offer.

His parents are Kathy (Bill) Abry of Pontiac and Terry (Beth) Gerdes of Chenoa.

The country music album is a nine-song collection that includes reflections of his life. In it are songs he wrote based on his wife, children and hometown.

Although the experiences started in Pontiac, it was when he went to college that he really started seeing life outside the comforts of home.

Gerdes attended Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., to study the business portion of the music industry.

“It was a lot of the back end of the music industry; a lot of publishing and recording rights and things like that,” Gerdes said in a phone interview with the Daily Leader recently. “I was playing music while I was there and studying, basically, how to sell the music.”

He breezed through his studies and graduated in 2008, and he was in the right town for getting into the music industry, especially for his love — country. Gerdes noted that while a student, he was a drummer for different bands and did some studio work. It wasn't his plan to be a performer. He was looking to get into the business part.

A victim of an economic collapse soon after graduation, Gerdes said he traveled to New York for a year and then came back to Nashville. He was getting into acting and headed west, to Los Angeles.

“It seems my attention span is very short with careers so I bounced around a little bit,” Gerdes said. “I did a lot of acting but I also still tried to figure out how to do some stuff with music.

“Starting in Los Angeles, I just had to figure how to act and start going to classes and training. I did that for a long time and it was fortunate that I got small roles in quite a few things and kept building it up.”

Gerdes was getting some work acting while still playing music. Among his acting jobs was a music video with country star Reba McEntire.

“I was in Reba McEntire's video 'Consider Me Gone.' I was lead in that music video, which was definitely the most face time I had in a video to that point,” Gerdes said. “She was so fun, so nice to work with.”

The video can be seen on YouTube.

The thing about his journey is that Gerdes said he has realized the importance of growing up in Pontiac and how many connections to his hometown there are all over. One of the Pontiac natives he has yet to meet in Los Angeles is Moira Harris, wife of Gary Sinise. But he has come across others.

“It's so crazy to think of how many people have come out here from Pontiac,” Gerdes said. “For such a small town, there's so many people who have stayed out here, who have come out here for a while, they've been here and New York.

“I definitely credit Pontiac for some of that creative aspect. For a small town, I think we've done an incredible job of making sure the arts are important. I'm very grateful to have grown up in a town that prioritized that.”

Gerdes has been quite complimentary of the opportunities Pontiac has provided over the years, even if he didn't personally partake. He noted the plays and music that are available to area residents. He was also quite thankful for the music education he received while growing up, offering his thanks and kudos to Laura Ramseyer, Keith Schmink and Scott Schickel.

These experiences are now a part of history with the release of “Barley Pops Ridin' Shotgun.”

“In terms of creation of the album, I had a little bit of downtime where I wasn't having as much creative outlet,” Gerdes said. “I think it started, like most things, with lockdowns from COVID — not being able to go out, not having auditions anymore and just wanting to be creative. I learned how to play guitar and played some covers and stuff like that. I really started writing during that down time.”

Gerdes said he took a songwriting course that was taught by a professor who had taught at Belmont. It was a course of where assignments were writing about this or in this style.

“I really started putting pen to paper a lot and wrote quite a few songs. The nine that ended up on the album, seven of them came out of that course,” Gerdes said. “The other two I wrote afterward when I was still engaged with songwriting.”

Three of the songs were reflections of family life. These were songs inspired by his wife, Tristen, son Wyatt and daughter Della.

There is also a mix of styles.He noted that there are a couple of ballads, as well as some with a faster tempo and with a mid-tempo.

“I definitely let the lyrics lead the way in the terms of the feel of the album,” he said.

“Forgot About Love” is his work inspired by his wife soon after their son was born.

“This is kind of an apology letter to my wife; I forgot to focus on us,” Gerdes said. “That song is very meaningful to me and means a lot to our family.”

“Big Things Happen In a Small Town” is his song that has references to Pontiac. He's wanting to bring the Midwest to the West Coast. He added that this is one of his favorites.

“I seemed inspired to have that creative outlet,” Gerdes said. “I think an inspiration was that I was feeling creative. I've been a musician, I've been an actor. In marketing I get to be very creative. I just didn't have the outlet I was seeking. This was the perfect way to get some of those feelings that I had out.”

He hopes to be able to complete another project. Gerdes noted that he has other songs in the works. He is also hoping that others will record his music and would like to see bigger things done with his work than maybe what he is able to accomplish.

Although the album is downloadable, Gerdes said he has printed some compact discs that he was sending home to his parents and is hoping maybe they will be available at some stores in Pontiac.

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Cole Gerdes' journey leads to release of first country album