Tag: drew holcomb

Drew & Ellie Holcomb Take Us Through Their ‘Memory Bank’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Husband-and-wife indie-folk duo Drew & Ellie Holcomb have been making music together for 20 years. Ellie was a member of Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors when they first collaborated on a record in 2005 (now out of print). That was followed by 2007’s A Million Miles Away, which was then succeeded by something like their breakout, Passenger Seat, in 2008.

Over the years since, they’ve built up the Neighbors – and their cohort of friends, neighbors, fans, and listeners – into a more than tidy little paradise of a musical cul-de-sac, with more than a dozen releases (together and separately) and amassing more than a hundred million streams.

This year, the pair put out their first full-length duo album together, as equal fronting artists with the Neighbors behind them. Memory Bank, released on January 24, looks forward while looking back – a hallmark and through line of the duo, their group, and their creative output across their two-decade career. So many of the songs on Memory Bank seem to speak to the longevity they have – “Rain or Shine,” “Shut Up and Dance,” “Never Gonna Let You Go,” “Bones” – there’s a wisdom and perspective in this album that speaks to the distance they’ve traveled together. As well as denoting the upcoming miles they have yet to cover as partners, parents, and musical collaborators.

With the release of Memory Bank, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to stroll down memory lane with Drew & Ellie Holcomb, to contrast their latest project and the artists they have become now with their early projects and the artists they were then, in our most recent edition of First & Latest.

 I wonder, as you put together this Memory Bank, what memories from 2008 and that first album came up for you? How did that nearly 20-year history of making music filter into this project and its songs?

Drew Holcomb: Honestly, Passenger Seat was not even the first project. There was a record in 2005 called Washed in Blue that Ellie sang on that has been scrubbed from the internet. We put on an album called A Million Miles Away in 2007, which had a bunch of songs like “I Like to Be with Me When I’m With You” and “Hung the Moon” and others. I think the younger version of us was much less confident, in a way. We were flying blind. We hadn’t made a lot of records yet and you don’t know what you’re doing in the studio. We didn’t know what we were doing as songwriters. Ellie was just a member of the band at the time.

Ellie Holcomb: I was a neighbor with benefits. The starkest difference for me between Passenger Seat in 2008 and Memory Bank in 2025 is an open-handedness and a freedom that comes with the death of ego and also with a general posture of curiosity and gratitude.

You are both prolific creators – together and separately – how have you balanced your individual musical identities with your collective work over that time period? Do you find it to be an easy balance or a tricky one?

EH: One of my favorite things about us doing music both together and separately is that there’s a massive amount of respect for each other. The reason it took us 20 years to write and record an album together is because we’ve always honored that artistic and creative space with each other. We write really differently, we create really differently. I think that mutual respect and space that we’ve given each other made space for us to make what we we’ve released into the world now – and I love it.

DH: My only addition is a short answer: No, it’s not an easy balance. It’s very tricky, but it’s worth it.

I think our relationship definitely manifests itself through the music. I think on the one hand, there’s like the aspiration – love songs are often about the love that you hope that you have. So, when you’re young and you’re speaking about when you get older, you’re making a promise to yourself and to each other about the kind of love you hope for. There’s also a bit of the truths of your own personalities make it into songs.

There’s clearly a mission and a message in your music, and I think that’s part of your staying power as artists and part of why over so many releases in so many iterations – as a couple, with the Neighbors, as solo artists, as collaborators on outside projects – your songs continue to resonate with audiences in such an authentic and down to earth way. I wonder how much of that encouragement folks get from your music that you get, yourselves? I can see that being a big part of how you’ve gotten this far and are still moving forward.

EH: I’d say we talk to our kids a lot about what a stage is for and we always tell them that a stage is to bring joy. It’s a shared space where our stories mingle together. Music is a bridge builder. Our mission, if you will, with music is that it would help people connect to their own story and that it would help people connect to everybody else and feel a little less alone. There’s this beautiful quote that says we decorate space with art and we use music to decorate time. We feel so deeply grateful that people have used our songs to decorate like the time and the seasons of their lives, sorrow, joy, road trips, family gatherings, etc.

What will you take with you in your “memory bank” as you move forward, as you stare down the next 17 years of making music together? What do you see as your touchstones – or, alternatively, what do you hope you’ll look back and recall if we were to have this conversation again in 20 more years?

DH: Our memory bank as we move forward in the next 17 years of making music together, we are always trying to keep growing. I didn’t know how to sing harmony until this record. I learned how to sing harmony, not with the intention of making a record, but because I wanted to learn. Ellie’s learning piano with similar intentions. There are always new songs to find.

When you were making and releasing Passenger Seat, where did you see yourself now, all these years later? Was this always the goal? Did it seem like a pipe dream that you’d still be doing this together? Or was it inevitable?

DH: Music was definitely not inevitable. When I started making music, Ellie was a school teacher with no intention of being a professional musician. So we have just taken it a year at a time.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the artists.

33 Must-See Roots Artists at This Year’s Bourbon & Beyond

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Since 2017, Bourbon & Beyond has become one of the BGS Team’s favorite annual events. The music, spirits and food festival held at the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville, Kentucky, always boasts a roots-forward lineup – on and off the BGS Stage.

In anticipation of Bourbon & Beyond kicking off Thursday, September 14, and running through Sunday, September 17, let’s preview all of the artists gracing our stage throughout the weekend – and we’ll throw in a few we’re excited to catch on the main stages as well. 

Limited tickets are still available! Join us this weekend at Bourbon & Beyond in Kentucky. Scroll to see the full schedule for the BGS Stage. 

The Arcadian Wild – BGS Stage

We’ve been a fan of this bluegrass-infused Nashville string/Americana band for more than a few years now. In 2021 we invited the Arcadian Wild to perform a Yamaha Artist Session, for which they performed two songs, “Hey Runner” and “Finch In the Pantry.” They hit the BGS Stage at B&B on Sunday.

Armchair Boogie – BGS Stage

We recently caught this jammy Wisconsin outfit, Armchair Boogie, at Earl Scruggs Music Festival, where they burnt down their late-night set. You have two opportunities to see them on the BGS Stage, as they’ll kick us off both Friday and Saturday.

The Avett Brothers – Main Stage

These Saturday headliners need no introduction to our BGS readers and followers, as the Avett Brothers have been a staple of our community for nearly our entire lifespan. Looking at the Bourbon & Beyond lineup poster, it’s hard to believe we didn’t book this entire event! 

Jon Batiste – Main Stage

Fresh off the release of a brand new album, World Music Radio, in August, don’t miss Americana renaissance man Jon Batiste when he hits the B&B main stage on Sunday. We can certainly appreciate this Louisianan’s love for blurring genre lines – a perfect fit for Bourbon & Beyond.

Brandi Carlile – Main Stage

Let’s return to MerleFest 2019, the last time we had a stage at a festival Brandi Carlile headlined – and she brought her pals the Avetts out to sing “Murder In the City.” A BGS classic! We’ll be running from the BGS Stage to see Brandi on Thursday evening for sure.

Brandy Clark – Main Stage

Appropriate that Brandi and Brandy would end up as list neighbors and both on the Bourbon & Beyond main stage lineup, as the former produced the latter’s stunning new self-titled album. Clark has been a Music Row mainstay as an artist and songwriter for decades, but with her new record and her hit Broadway show, Shucked (penned with Shane McAnally), she’s finally getting her well-deserved flowers. 

Clay Street Unit – BGS Stage

We crossed paths with Denver, Colorado, country-folk-grass group Clay Street Unit earlier this year at WinterWonderGrass, so we’re more than pleased to have them on the BGS Stage on Thursday afternoon. 

Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper – BGS Stage

Fiddlin’ phenom Michael Cleveland has performed for BGS at Bourbon & Beyond before, but with his new critically-acclaimed album, Lovin’ of the Game, and his recent selection as our March 2023 Artist of the Month, it’s the perfect time to get him back to Louisville. It’s basically home turf for Cleveland, and his set Thursday evening is not to be missed.

The Cleverlys – BGS Stage

Bluegrass’s preeminent song-interpreters – or song skewer-ers, depending on how you look at it – are a humorous hoot, bolstered by fantastic picking and on-stage personas pulled straight out of a caricature book. If you’ve never seen the Cleverlys live and in person, now’s your chance to catch covers like this waltz version of Radiohead’s “Creep” like you’ve never heard them before. 

Della Mae – BGS Stage

Our old pals Della Mae brought an outsized energy and charisma with them to their sets at Earl Scruggs Music Festival a couple of weeks ago, wowing the crowds in North Carolina. Now the groundbreaking bluegrass foursome set their sites on the BGS Stage at Bourbon & Beyond. There’s a reason why this group of all women remains a stalwart in bluegrass, old-time and Americana.

Myron Elkins – BGS Stage

If you’re not familiar with guitarist and Americana alt-rocker Myron Elkins, you’re about to be! His debut album, Factories, Farms & Amphetamines, was produced by superstar musician-engineer-producer Dave Cobb and released on Elektra. Catch him as he ascends on the BGS Stage on Thursday, kicking off the entire weekend for us at 12:30 p.m.

Fantastic Negrito – Main Stage

Fantastic Negrito is a one-of-a-kind performer. An expert in blues – and a purveyor of post-blues, neo-blues, and the tastiest of fringe Americana – Fantastic Negrito occupies a stage like no other. He’s a Bourbon & Beyond veteran as well, and his past performances are seared into our memories of this amazing event. Do not miss!

First Aid Kit – Main Stage

Indie folk duo First Aid Kit, made up of Swedish sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg, are a favorite of BGS readers – the kind of readers who equally love Bill Monroe, Nickel Creek and boygenius. Get a taste at their Saturday main stage set or check out our 2018 feature on the group.

Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors – Main Stage

Don’t you just wish Drew and Ellie Holcomb and the Neighbors were your neighbors? (Sigh…) It just seems like it would be lovely. At any rate, you can catch up with these fine folks from next door on the main stage at B&B on Thursday. 

Brittany Howard – Main Stage

A god of rock and roll incarnate, Brittany Howard’s particular brand of roots rock is enormous and will fill the Bourbon & Beyond main stage and then some. If you haven’t caught the Alabama Shakes front person recently, now is your chance. Howard hits the main stage on Friday.

The Lil’ Smokies – BGS Stage

Formed in Montana, the Lil’ Smokies combine so many contemporary bluegrass influences into a Western-influenced, jam-forward sound. We enjoy every chance we have to cross paths with this group – if you miss their set at Bourbon & Beyond, catch the Lil’ Smokies at AmericanaFest in Nashville very soon.

Lindsay Lou – BGS Stage

Roots singer-songwriter Lindsay Lou is entering yet another new era of her career, with her signing to Kill Rock Stars and upcoming album, Queen of Time, due out later this month. At Bourbon & Beyond you’ll have two chances to hear current and past sounds from Lindsay Lou – on both Saturday and Sunday on the BGS Stage.

The Lone Bellow – Main Stage

One of our all-time favorite rootsy, folky, string band trios. It’s been too long since we’ve reconnected with our friends The Lone Bellow and we’re grateful B&B will give us that opportunity when they play the main stage on Thursday.

Lola Kirke – BGS Stage

Lola Kirke, who you can see on Friday on the BGS Stage at B&B, is an accomplished actress whose dream is to be a country singer – dream, achieved! She makes joyous, lyrical, story-rich music that pulls as much from country’s grit as its glitz. (And an appearance from lineup-mates First Aid Kit on “All My Exes Live in L.A.” is the cherry on top.)

Joy Oladokun – Main Stage

Intricate and involved indie folk is Joy Oladokun’s medium, her songs dripping with pop sensibilities and led by an agnostic approach to genre that builds on work by predecessors like Aimee Mann, Ani DiFranco, Tracy Chapman, k.d. lang, and many more. Oladokun continues to rise through the music-industry ranks, her latest album Proof of Life building more momentum off the ex-evangelical’s heart-forward, earnest, stoner indie pop.

Old Crow Medicine Show – Main Stage

Old Crow Medicine Show bring the Jubilee to Bourbon & Beyond! Don’t miss the party as the world’s most renowned and rollicking string band celebrates their just-released album on the B&B main stage on Saturday. And keep an eye out for a BGS feature on the new record coming soon to the site.

Pixie & The Partygrass Boys – BGS Stage

Another of our WinterWonderGrass pals headed to Bourbon & Beyond! Catch Pixie & the Partygrass Boys on the BGS Stage kicking off our final day of music on Sunday. You’ll certainly enjoy the party – unless you’re a fascist, in which case, avoid our stage altogether or you might get eaten by some chickens.

Darrell Scott Band – Main Stage

Darrell Scott is a musical shapeshifter, effortlessly moving from Music Row country to dyed-in-the-wool bluegrass to rocking and rolling. At his Bourbon & Beyond main stage set on Friday, you’re sure to hear new tracks from his recent album, Old Cane Back Rocker, made with the Darrell Scott String Band, as well as original hits like “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive” and some tasty covers, too. We never get enough of Darrell Scott! (Watch for an interview with Scott coming to BGS soon.)

Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen – BGS Stage

If this is the kitchen dirty, let’s never clean it up! Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen are a shredding bluegrass jam band certainly worth sticking around for on Sunday evening. You’ll hear music from their most recent Compass Records album, Hold On, which recently turned one year old, and plenty of mind-(and string-)bending solos.

Mavis Staples – Main Stage

Put the legendary Mavis Staples’ main stage set (Friday, 3:50 p.m., Oak Stage) on your calendar and circle it. And underline it. And set a push notification. We are grateful every single time we get to occupy the same space and air as Mavis, and this time will be no different. It’s a privilege to walk the earth at the same time as this civil rights leader and musical oracle! 

Billy Strings – Main Stage

Not so long ago our old friend Billy Strings would have been playing our BGS Stage, but not anymore, this flatpickin’ global sensation has decidedly hit the big time! We’ve so enjoyed watching Billy move up and up and up in the world and we can’t wait to see his main stage set at Bourbon & Beyond Thursday night. With such a stacked lineup, the special guest opportunities are exciting and limitless. 

Town Mountain – BGS Stage 

Western North Carolina string band Town Mountain have built up their sound over the past few years to where they feel and sound something like Ricky Skaggs in his country days — bluegrass bones, but fleshed out country. Their songs still go by you like a rousing honky tonk dance band, bluegrass or no, but with spit and polish and thousands of miles under their belts. Worth an add to your B&B to-do list!

Twisted Pine – BGS Stage

Another group that blew us away at Earl Scruggs Music Festival, Twisted Pine turns the jamgrass model on its ear, building their vibey, virtuosic songs and tunes with as much jazz interwoven as bluegrass, old-time, and country. They’re like Lake Street Dive and Crooked Still, mashed up together and lingering a bit longer in string band traditions – from across the Americana continuum – before taking off. Plus, bluegrass just needs more flute, right? See them Friday on the BGS Stage.

Two Runner – BGS Stage

We’re glad to be bringing some California sounds to Kentucky with Two Runner, old-time and Americana duo of Paige Anderson and Emilie Rose coming to B&B. They bring to mind duos like Hazel & Alice and Anna & Elizabeth, combining country harmonies and old-time instrumentation – all dragged through the coastal evergreen woods of Northern California. Hear them Thursday on the BGS Stage.

Dan Tyminski – BGS Stage

Dan Tyminski headlining a BGS Stage is simply a dream come true! This multi-hyphenate, lifelong bluegrasser has been a member of so many seminal and groundbreaking bluegrass groups and projects. He’s had a full career within and outside of bluegrass, but lately has returned to the genre that made him with a new band, a new album, God Fearing Heathen, excellent songs, and that voice – fit for George Clooney. 

Kelsey Waldon – BGS Stage

Kelsey Waldon on her home turf! Though she hails from West Kentucky, the entire state is certainly this country singer-songwriter’s domain. We’ve collaborated quite a bit with Waldon across her career, and are looking forward to her headline set closing out our first day of Bourbon & Beyond on the BGS Stage. She may be country, but her bluegrass roots run deep – and will be on full display at B&B for sure. 

Sunny War – BGS Stage

 One of our favorite guitarists of the last several years has released one of our favorite albums of 2023, Anarchist Gospel. If you’re unfamiliar with her work, you won’t want to miss Sunny War perform on the BGS Stage on Saturday. Her right hand is confounding and inspiring, an often textural and tone-setting device in her bigger sounding recent songs that combine punk, blues, indie and more. Not to be missed! 

Hailey Whitters – Main Stage

It’s no secret BGS loves some good country. Hailey Whitters is certainly some of the best to come out of Music Row in recent memory, releasing radio-ready bops that are fun and exuberant, yes, but also have a rich and subversive well of influences, content and production styles. That Whitters is connected with all the best pickers and singers in Nashville and has a penchant for bluegrass are nice little details to remember about this TikTok phenom. Worth a mosey to the main stage on Sunday, certainly!

 

The Bluegrass Situation Stage – Daily Schedule

Thursday, September 14

5:45 p.m. – Kelsey Waldon
4:15 p.m. – Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
3 p.m. – Two Runner
1:45 p.m. – Clay Street Unit
12:30 p.m. – Myron Elkins

Friday, September 15

5:45 p.m. – The Lil’ Smokies
4:15 p.m. – The Cleverlys
3 p.m. – Twisted Pine
1:45 p.m. – Lola Kirke
12:30 p.m. – Armchair Boogie

Saturday, September 16

5:45 p.m. – Town Mountain
4:15 p.m. – Della Mae
3 p.m. – Lindsay Lou
1:45 p.m. – Sunny War
12:30 p.m. – Armchair Boogie

Sunday, September 17

5:45 p.m. – Dan Tyminski
4:15 p.m. – Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
3 p.m. – The Arcadian Wild
1:45 p.m.- Lindsay Lou
12:30 p.m. – Pixie & The Partygrass Boys

Purchase your Bourbon & Beyond tickets here.

 

WATCH: Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, “All the Money in the World”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “All the Money in the World”
Album: Strangers No More
Release Date: June 7, 2023
Label: Magnolia Music/Tone Tree Music

In Their Words: “People often ask me about the songwriting process, how to make a record etc., and I will forever tell the story of ‘All the Money in the World’ to these questions. I wrote this song in 2019 with my friend Dave Barnes. We were just having fun trying to write a classic R&B slow jam. It was written WAY slower than it is on the record. We were exploring parts of my voice I don’t usually put to use. I also grew up in Memphis, but had never really stretched towards any of the classic soul songwriting. We wrote this song, I liked it, but I thought it didn’t really fit the other things I was working on, so I shelved it. In preparation for this album, the band came over monthly to play through songs…I made a list of songs like this one that I had shelved, and showed them to the band just in case they saw a diamond in the rough. I played this for them, then they started playing along and sped it way up, and helped arrange the post chorus gang vocals of ‘all the money’ and the song immediately changed from a random B-side to a front-runner for the record. When we finally recorded it, the room became electric, especially with dual keys parts, Ian on organ and Nate on the Wurlitzer. I had as much fun singing this song as any I have ever recorded. It’s always a joy to find a part of yourself creatively that you didn’t know existed.” — Drew Holcomb

Photo Credit: Ashtin Paige

LISTEN: Drew & Ellie Holcomb, “Bones”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Drew & Ellie Holcomb
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Bones”
Release Date: January 18, 2023
Label: Magnolia Records/Tone Tree Music

In Their Words: “We are not just the sum of our genes or the simple organization of atoms, we are the stories we have been told and keep telling, our love stories are songs and metaphors, ways of making sense of beating our isolation by cheating time and cheating death with the one we love. ‘Bones’ is a back-and-forth conversation between two lovers, sharing the way the stories they tell about each other are the ties that bind them together. This song is so many things to me. It’s love and play and truth and dare and gratitude that found a melody for the breath that’s in our lungs and for the life that we get to make together. Drew has been known to say that marriage is about beating death. I think he’s right. Love has a way of making meaning out of the time we have here, even in the midst of all the tragedies we experience. I hope this song reminds all who hear it that we really don’t have to do it alone.” — Drew & Ellie Holcomb

Photo Credit: Ashtin Paige

LISTEN: Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, “Gratitude”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Drew Holcomb
Hometown: Memphis, Tennessee
Song: “Gratitude”
Release Date: November 18, 2022

In Their Words: “I wrote this song a few days before Thanksgiving last year with my friend Ketch Secor. We were talking about all that was wrong with the world, the troubles everyone is facing, the political division, the unrest, all the post-pandemic blues, and yet in the midst of it, how much there is to be grateful for. I remember asking my grandfather many years ago near the end of his life, what was the best gift he had been given. Without hesitating, he said, ‘Well, life itself.’ That has stuck with me for all these years, despite the troubles and sorrows we all face, we have breath in our lungs, old memories to reflect on and new memories to make, people that we love and people that have loved us, smells and sounds that bring us peace, old friends, changing seasons, and so many other things to give us light in times of darkness. Seeing life through this lens is sometimes an act of courage, and one we needed to remind ourselves of on that day when we wrote this song.” — Drew Holcomb

Photo Credit: Ashtin Page

Finding Inspiration in Creation, Ellie Holcomb Moves Forward in Love

Posted on by Editor

As a consequence of growing up in the music industry and singing background vocals on albums since she was 8, Ellie Holcomb opted not to seek a future as a professional singer.

“I actually decided that I didn’t want to be a part of it at an early age, which is hilarious,” says Holcomb, who today has a thriving career as a Christian music singer and also records and performs with her husband, Drew Holcomb. It amounts to two separate careers, with her solo music tending towards inspirational anthems and the duo producing a more intimate Americana sound. Ellie’s powerful voice is equally adept at belting out a dramatic ballad or giving a more tender, reserved performance.

Ellie’s father is producer Brown Bannister, who produced albums by Amy Grant and many other Christian singers. He now runs the music school at Lipscomb University in Nashville.

“I was around a lot of people who did this for their work,” she says. “I’m so grateful because I saw from a really young age the power of music to encourage, to bring hope and to help people feel less alone. But I also saw the cost of doing music, like you have to leave. It’s often really hard on families.”

For our Artist of the Month interview, Ellie fielded questions from BGS as she and Drew drove to Chattanooga for a performance. (Read our Artist of the Month interview with Drew.)

BGS: You’ve got a powerful voice. When did you first realize that?

Oh, thank you. I guess from a pretty young age. I was singing in studios with my dad. When the budget ran out, I would come and be the background singer on whatever project he was working on.

What a great way to get experience.

I’ve kind of learned from the best in terms of how to become a singer. But I think even on this last record (Canyon, 2021), there were parts of my voice that I didn’t really know were there. As I’ve gotten older, there’s been this other realm that I’ve tapped into. It feels like painting with more colors. That’s been really fun, to realize I have this whole other set of tones and colors and textures that I didn’t realize in my voice.

Who are some of the artists you worked with as a child?

I sang on (Amy Grant’s) Home for Christmas as a little 8-year-old girl. It’s kind of hard to imagine artists in the Christian world that I haven’t sung with. I’ve done Sandi Patty back in the day, Steven Curtis Chapman, Matthew West, Charlie Peacock, Mercy Me, Bart Millard. It’s hilarious because there will be songs I’m hearing and I’m like, “Oh, it’s me. I forgot I sang on that.”

How do you and Drew differ in your music tastes?

It’s interesting. We have a lot of overlap in what we love. He grew up listening to Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. When I grew up, my dad was making records with Amy Grant. I love Sara Groves. Then we both love Carole King. He leans a little more into the rock land, and I lean more singer-songwriter.

You have young children (Emmylou, 9; Huck, 6; and Rivers, 3). Is touring difficult for you and Drew because of that?

I feel like we found a really beautiful way to kind of blend all that together. We bring the kids on the road a lot and we tour together and apart. So we kind of have a crazy schedule. But thankfully, Drew is a logistical ninja. He’s really good at keeping tabs on where everybody is and childcare. We’ve got a village of people that have come around us. We just keep getting family members and nannies (to help). It just feels like when they have to move on, we have another aunt in the arsenal. So we have been very blessed to have family and friends and incredible nannies come alongside of us as we do this crazy music life.

You quit your husband’s band (Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors) after seven years in 2012, and then pursued a solo career. What brought that about?

I’d actually quit Drew’s band to be a stay-at-home mom. Our daughter was in a car seat for over eight hours a day. By the time she was six months, she’d been to 32 states and Canada. And I’m like, “I don’t think I can keep her in a car seat for seven hours a day, poor thing.” So I quit to do the mom thing.

How did that morph into launching a solo career?

It was hilarious. I kept trying to write songs for his band. But often when I would sit down to write a song, I would say, “Drew, I’m so sorry, I accidentally wrote another song about God.” I didn’t mean to, but I’m just a spiritual person. I don’t fully understand everything, and I feel really comfortable in a lot of the mystery, but that is something that my heart has always been drawn to. And so I loved what Drew’s response was. He was like, “Hey, write what’s in you. Let those songs out.”

When he said that, it lit a fire within me. I don’t know that I needed permission from him, but all of a sudden I just felt this freedom to sing what was in my heart. That’s usually me saying, “I believe, but help my unbelief.” I’m usually wrestling my faith to the ground. I’m working my faith out through song. I guess the songs were helping me find some semblance of peace and comfort and solace. So I thought, “Man, maybe they’d help somebody else. That’d be cool.”

Does the divisiveness going on now in the U.S. tempt you to write political songs?

I don’t know that it does. I feel called to move forward in love, and I guess sometimes that will intersect, politically speaking, in terms of using your voice to speak up on behalf of those who maybe don’t have a voice. That can look political at times. But I think for me, I’m less motivated by politics and more motivated by love and peacemaking. But sometimes to make peace, you’ve got to tell the truth.

Many of your solo videos are filmed with spectacular nature backgrounds. Why do you return to that approach so often?

It’s very intentional because creation itself is one of the ways that I experience God most. I feel like the story of love beating death is written all over creation. When the (coronavirus) numbers were low, we did a trip where we went down into the Grand Canyon, rafted the Colorado River, spent the night on the riverbanks and then rafted out. While we were down there, a guide was telling us that in the Grand Canyon, the walls really tell a story. It’s actually a story of disaster upon disaster: landslide, mudslide, volcano, earthquake, flood, drought. Then there’s this great divide split wide open by a river, and I thought, this just looks like a picture of literally all of our hearts, especially after the last two years. There is a current of love that runs deeper than our deepest ache, pain or longing that will carry us back to a place where we can know that we’re beloved, no matter how broken we are. I’m like, “All right, let’s get in a place where I’m reminded of that. Maybe it’ll remind other people of that.”

You’ve spoken on stage about seeking help for depression and anxiety. Why did you decide to do that?

I want everybody to know how precious they are. I want to remember it myself and I want kids to know that. So it’s been a joy to speak openly about depression and anxiety and worry and fear and division and to say, these are all real things in a broken world. But we’re invited to be hope-people and bridge-building people and people who are about reconciliation and love. I really love getting to come stumbling and tripping and broken and full of doubt and fear sometimes into the presence of love. And I will happily hobble my way into that presence over and over again and invite others to come along with me.

Photo Credit: Ashtin Paige

Drew Holcomb, Bandleader and Bourbon Collector, Taps Into a New Golden Age

Posted on by Editor

Drew Holcomb writes and sings often about the comforts of home and family life, but don’t assume he’s setting his family and himself as role models.

The leader of roots-rockers Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, Drew (who is the BGS Artist of the Month for January along with wife Ellie Holcomb) is quick to point out that the couple is “not trying to portray any sort of ideal.”

“We just write about our life,” says the singer-songwriter, whose most recent projects are a tour and compilation album with Ellie. “That’s sort of the season that we’re in. It would be disingenuous for me to try to write anything different than what I see and experience, the lens that I have.” Drew says he does have some narrative songs in his catalogue that are less personal, “but it’s not tended to be where I’m drawn to as a songwriter.”

Of nine songs on the new collection Coming Home: A Collection of Songs, the couple harmonize twice about the comforts of home, four times about their love for each other, once about their love for their “wild man” 3-year-old son Rivers and once about the need to “Love Anyway.” The collection concludes with a cover of Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again,” which is appropriate given their You and Me Tour, which launches February 4 in Jacksonville, Florida.

BGS called the couple for companion interviews; enjoy Ellie’s Q&A here.

BGS: Your band, Ellie’s solo work, and the duo each have a separate, unique sound. Do you purposely work to give each a different style?

Drew Holcomb: Part of that’s personality. When I’m recording with the Neighbors, it’s always the same players, who I’ve been playing together with for years. And then Ellie has worked with different producers and different musicians than me, and she has her own stylistic creative impulses and decisions. So those two roles are clearly differentiated, and then we get together. We decided to let each song sort of dictate itself. There’s some good variety in there, but it lends itself toward more of a singer-songwriter vibe with a little more atmospheric, sonic landscape kind of creativity.

After Ellie left the band (Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors), she eventually started a successful career in Christian music. Where did the idea of also working as a duet come from?

She was in the band and took seven years off from that, and is still not in the band, but we do this (You and Me) tour together every year. We thought we should write some new music. We had not written together in almost a decade. We just put them up on Spotify and stuff like that, and they actually performed really well. The music sort of became its own sort of separate entity from my work with the Neighbors and her solo work.

Your take on Sting’s “Fields of Gold” pares back the production for a comparatively sparse interpretation. You and Ellie also do that on your Kitchen Covers series. Why that approach?

I primarily see myself as a songwriter, maybe secondarily as a singer. And thirdly, as a performer, entertainer. The genius of a song can get lost in some of the ornate production and people just think about it as a pop song, right? They don’t hear the great songwriting at the bare bones of it. I’m not a theatrical, big singer. So I kind of quiet things down, take the dynamic down on an “Islands In the Stream.” It’s just an interesting approach.

You’ve mentioned Van Morrison and Bob Seger as influences in the past. Who else are your musical heroes?

I love Tom Petty for a lot of reasons. I love how he played with the same guys for the majority of his career, working with different producers, made different styles of records but always with the same sort of North Star. Springsteen. There’s so many. Carole King, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson. There’s like 100 persons.

Americana is increasingly the category of singer-songwriters in popular music, where in the past comparable artists like Jim Croce and James Taylor had big hits on the mainstream pop charts. Is that frustrating for you?

Yes, certainly it is, to some degree. But if I was starting out in 1971, I don’t think I was good enough to have gotten a label deal, the only way to get records released in that era. The era I was born in gave me that long runway to hone my craft. Yes, there’s not as much opportunity commercially for what artists like myself do. But if it ever is frustrating, it’s something I move on from pretty quickly, just because you can’t change when you were born. I do think it’s actually a really wonderful time to put out music because there’s a lot of space for a lot of artists. While there may be less of us on a large commercially successful level, there’s probably more of us doing it in general, at the “pay your bills and keep moving forward” level. There’s so many good artists making great records that it’s a different type of a golden age.

Can you be immodest for a moment and tell me which of your songs might have staying power and be covered years from now?

I don’t know. I’ll let posterity decide if that happens. We get videos all the time where people are out and they’re hearing some person in a restaurant playing our songs. It’s really cool to see other artists and songwriters giving it a go. I definitely have been surprised by “What Would I Do Without You,” from the Good Light album. It seems to have that sort of staying power. I hear from people that their grandparents love the song, and then their kids love the song. If I could get kids who grew up on my music that came out before they were born and they still like it, that would be a good barometer of the staying power of the songs themselves. I’m starting to see that a little bit, and I hope that continues.

Are you still in the whiskey business?

I am. Just a very small partner on a thing called Sweetens Cove Tennessee Bourbon. It’s been a fun endeavor for sure. My manager and I both are collectors of bourbons and various whiskeys. When I was living in Scotland in college, I started drinking scotch. I was a history major, so I always fall in love with the backstory of whatever thing I’m consuming. Whiskey is great for that because every brand’s got a good mythology story, a good origin story or creation story. It’s a fun thing to be a part of.

You’ve done some scattered dates since the coronavirus hit, but the February–March You and Me tour with Ellie is your first full-fledged tour since then. How do you feel about it?

It’s great. You don’t realize how much you love something until it’s taken away from you. We’re definitely going to play some new songs on the tour. We’ve been writing. I like to test new stuff out, tease it out a little bit.

Did you write a lot of songs while you couldn’t do many shows?

Maybe 40 and growing. I’m not proud of all of them. Half of them are worth taking into the studio to see what happens.

So you’ll throw out 20 songs?

Usually, I cannibalize them. I take the stuff I like out of them and start something new.

Do you have any particular ambitions for your music going forward? Is there somewhere you want to go that’s different than what you’re doing now?

I’m writing more than I’ve written in a long time. COVID’s been good for my writing in the last eight months at least. I’d like to probably increase the pace at which I release music, but maybe decrease the pace at which I tour. I’d love to get to that point where instead of every tour having to be connected to a new record, you just tour on and off all the time and put out music whenever it’s ready.

You’ve done collaborations with The Lone Bellow, Lori McKenna and Natalie Hemby. Do you see more of this cross-pollination in the future?

I did this thing with Johnnyswim. We did a collaborative EP (Goodbye Road). I have aspirations of doing more and more of that with other artists. I’ve been doing lots of co-writing. The older I get, the more freedom I feel to collaborate and hold my own creative rudder less tightly and see what happens. I think there’s some of that on the horizon as well. That’s also what’s been fun about working with Ellie, to do things differently, try to stretch different muscles creatively and challenge yourself in different ways and share the spotlight. That’s been a big thing for me.

Photo Credit: Ashtin Paige

Artist of the Month: Drew & Ellie Holcomb

Posted on by Editor

Drew & Ellie Holcomb are about to hit the highways to promote Coming Home: A Collection of Songs, a new compilation album that represents their life together as a couple. Alongside a batch of familiar songs from their catalog that reflect their life as a couple, the Holcombs also put their own spin on Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” and even update one of their best-known works, “Hung the Moon.”

Upon releasing the new version of that crowd favorite, Ellie explained, “I wrote ‘Hung the Moon’ after a long season of listening to a lot of Lucinda Williams. It’s always been a song that’s felt like home to me. Drew was playing these chords around the kitchen one day, and I promptly stole them and wrote a love song about him. It’s been an honor to see ‘Hung the Moon’ be included in so many people’s weddings over the years and I LOVE this new take on an older song of ours. I hope y’all enjoy it as much as we enjoyed re-recording it!”

Drew and Ellie met as students at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and they married in 2006, a year after Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors began carving out a spot among the independent music landscape. Ellie ventured into solo territory in 2012, making significant inroads in Christian music. Meanwhile, Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors have forged on, with Drew tacking a couple of side projects like a vinyl subscription service, a top-draw music festival, and premium Tennessee whiskey. Next month, Drew & Ellie Holcomb will launch the You & Me Tour in Florida, with dates running coast to coast through March.

To celebrate our first Artist of the Month of 2022, look for individual exclusive interviews with Drew & Ellie Holcomb later this month, and enjoy a sampler of their career so far with our BGS Essentials Playlist.

Photo Credit: Ashtin Paige

The BGS Radio Hour – Episode 202

Posted on by Amy Reitnouer

Welcome to the BGS Radio Hour! Since 2017, the Radio Hour has been our weekly recap of all the great music, new and old, featured on the pages of BGS. This week we’ve got music by Charley Crockett, Danny Barnes, Rhiannon Giddens, and more! Remember to check back every week for a new episode of the BGS Radio Hour.

APPLE PODCASTS, SPOTIFY

Charley Crockett – “Lesson in Depression”
After Charley Crockett’s 2020 release, Welcome to Hard Times, we didn’t expect another great record so soon – but here we are! Crockett’s latest, Lil’ G.L. Presents: 10 For Slim Charley Crockett Sings James Hand, is a tribute to his hero, Texas’ James “Slim” Hand, who passed away in 2020.

Reid Jenkins – “Strange Lover”

New York City’s Reid Jenkins brings us a new single from his upcoming project, A Beautiful Start, due in April on Nettwerk. “Strange Lover” explores the tension between avoiding the unknown and being drawn in by the thrill of beauty and discovery.

The Golden Roses – “When I’m Gone”

John Mutchler of the Golden Roses wrote this song after visiting his grandfather’s neglected grave – but it’s more like the song was sent to him. “When I’m Gone” asks the question (while we’re still alive) of whether or not anyone will come and visit us when we’re gone.

Valerie June – “Fallin'”

This west-Tennessee born and Brooklyn-based artist is our March Artist of the Month here at BGS!

Israel Nash – “Canyonheart”

From Dripping Springs, Texas, Israel Nash joins us on a 5+5 this week – that is 5 questions, 5 songs. We talked with “Izz” about everything from nature to songwriting to the larger purpose of his career: to be inspired, create, and inspire others to create.

Andy Leftwich – “Through the East Gate”

The bluegrass world hasn’t heard much from Andy Leftwich since he left Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder several years back. The fiddler (and overall multi-instrumentalist) just signed a deal with Mountain Home Music Company, and this first single is an excellent sign of what’s still to come from Leftwich!

Danny Barnes – “Awful Strange”

It’s been just over a week since the Grammy Awards, where so many deserving roots artists (and friends of BGS) were recognized for their work with multiple nominations. One who sticks out is Danny Barnes, formerly of the Bad Livers, whose 2020 album Man on Fire garnered a nomination for Best Bluegrass Album. BGS caught up with Barnes from his Northwestern home to talk about the record, his creative methods, and how he’s remained busy during the pandemic.

Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors – “I Need to Go Somewhere”

Drew Holcomb shares a sentiment that is familiar to us all – we need to go somewhere, just anywhere. As the world’s cabin fever continues to grow, the promises of warmer weather, vaccines, and brighter days are ahead. Continue to stay safe, until we can all join Holcomb on that journey.

Greg Loiacono and Jamie Drake – “Bound to Fall”

From Southern California, Loiacono and Drake bring us a song in the spirit of the old heartbreak numbers by artists like Patti Page and the Everly Brothers. Their first duet, “San Felipe,” provided a platform for the writing and recording of “Bound to Fall.” It definitely seems they’re natural collaborators, here’s hoping they keep at it!

Jackson Scribner – “County Rd 497”

Jackson Scribner wrote this song in the front of his grandparents’ house that sits on County Rd 497. It’s about the things we have in our young life that feel like they’ll never go away – but as we get older, life changes, people and places come and go, and there’s never certainty of what comes next.

Williamson Branch – “Which Train”

From their new album Heritage & Hope, family band Williamson Branch brings us a video this week for “Which Train,” a haunting tune about eternal decisions. The all-female harmonies drive that train feel, just like the lonesome whistle.

Rhiannon Giddens and Francisco Turrisi – “Waterbound”

This spring brings about a second collaborative record from Rhiannon Giddens and Francisco Turrisi! The second single, “Waterbound,” is originally from the 1920s, but its lyrics are especially true for Giddens in this day and age, who has spent the pandemic in Ireland, looking across the Atlantic toward her North Carolina home.

Samantha Crain – “Bloomsday”

An Indigenous singer-songwriter from Shawnee, OK, Samantha Crain brings us a song of her upcoming I Guess I Live Here Now EP. “That old traditional gospel song ‘This Little Light of Mine,’ it feels so childlike and so ancient and wise at the same time and it has such a calming effect on me,” Crain told BGS. “I wanted to incorporate that feeling of hope and lightness in with my lyrical explorations of mindfulness and fortitude in my own life.”

Abigail Dowd – “Beautiful Day”

To end this week’s BGS Radio Hour, Abigail Dowd brings us a new single, written while living at various friends’ homes after a flood, while waiting on the city to buy and demolish her own home. Though those days sound bleak, in Dowd’s memory they are gifts of time, as she gives us a reminder to enjoy the moment, and have faith that a brighter day is always coming. There’s a mantra for your Tuesday!

Photos: (L to R) Valerie June by Renata Raksha; Rhiannon Giddens by Ebru Yildiz; Charley Crockett by Ryan Vestil

WATCH: Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, “I Need to Go Somewhere”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Single: “I Need to Go Somewhere”
Release Date: March 5, 2021
Label: Magnolia Music/ToneTree

In Their Words: “‘I Need To Go Somewhere’ is a song about the cabin fever we have all been experiencing in this pandemic, a song about needing to go somewhere, anywhere, I just need to go. I was writing with my producer Cason Cooley and he had a bunch of brochures on the coffee table, RV brochures. He was telling me he was planning on taking his three kids on a big cross-country trip. I leaned back and said, ‘I need to go somewhere…’ And started make joke lines about ‘put me on a plane, I don’t care where it’s going,’ and he stopped me and said, ‘That’s the song we are writing today.'” — Drew Holcomb

Photo credit: Ashtin Page