Small-town atmosphere key to sounds of Drew Holcomb
Drew Holcomb is a neighborly sort of guy, so he decided — naturally — to name his band the Neighbors. Picture a group of friends, making music on someone’s back porch, mixing elements of folk, country rock and singer-songwriter rock, gradually deciding to take the fun out on the road.
“Back then we all lived pretty close to each other, so it made a lot of sense,” he says. “And we still have a sort of small-town atmosphere in the part of town where we live. A lot of the Americana crowd lives out here, including Todd Snider and Will Hoge. It’s an area with a real feel for community and family.”
Holcomb grew up in Memphis and attended college at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, getting a master’s degree in history in 2003. When he got married, he and his wife, Ellie Bannister Holcomb, settled in her home area, Nashville, specifically East Nashville, known as the “artier” part of the famed music city.
“My wife was a middle-school English teacher for a while, until I talked her into joining me in the band,” Holcomb says. “Plus we have a daughter, Emmylou, who had her first birthday on Nov. 7. She’s a real road warrior, out on the road with us, learning the ropes early.”
Holcomb sings and plays guitar and harmonica. In addition to Ellie (vocals and guitar), the other band members are guitarist/keyboardist Nathan Dugger and bassist Rich Brinsfield. The group’s drumming needs are supplied by what Holcomb calls “a rotating cast of different folks.”
Holcomb started his musical career with a solo album, Washed in Blue, which came out in 2005, and two years later the band put out Live in Memphis in September, following that in December with A Neighborly Christmas. In 2008, Passenger Seat was released, followed by A Million Miles Away in 2009, Chasing Someday in 2011, Through the Night: Live in the Studio in 2012 and the band’s latest, Good Light, recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis and released Feb. 26.
“Ellie joined me more than seven years ago and will go to part-time status after this tour,” Holcomb says, citing their young child and her solo recording as part of her decision-making process.
“But the band is not breaking up,” he adds. “She will still do some touring.”
Holcomb and the Neighbors have opened shows for Robert Earl Keen, Ryan Adams, Susan Tedeschi, Los Lobos, The North Mississippi Allstars and The Avett Brothers. The band’s music has been used in the TV shows How I Met Your Mother, Criminal Minds, Parenthood and Nashville.