“Sometimes throwing a party is the only way to fight off the darkness, and I wanted it to be an epic, boisterous, raise-your-glass-and-yell-with-me anthem,” he says. Next, ‘End of the World’ is an electrified clarion call for unity, community, and revelry in the upside-down world of today – Holcomb’s take on eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die. “Family can drive you crazy but it can also be the tie that binds.” A staple in the band’s live set for the past year, it originally had more of a front porch feel but evolved into its worldly, amped-up Paul Simon-esque version during the recording process. “My family gave me wings to be a songwriter,” Holcomb says. The result is Holcomb’s brightest and most complex album yet, a focused and cohesive affair that challenges the sonic notions of where his music can travel while still connecting directly to his listeners’ hearts.ĭragons begins with ‘Family’, an infectious, upbeat stomper about the universal yet unique nostalgia of growing up, as told through the reflective lens of fatherhood. Several were tracked live with minimal studio tweaking occurring afterwards, and others were built over time with a more fastidious approach. They shared a vision for the finished album that would give it a more modern sound than Holcomb’s previous recordings, with his songs balancing the line of large, layered anthems with nuanced singer-songwriter moments – or, as he says, “expanding the emotional architecture of the songs so that the bigger themes and emotions would have space to hit harder.” Having always allowed his band – including Rich Brinsfield on bass, Nathan Dugger on guitar, and session drummer Will Sayles – to play by its own rules, Holcomb and company again embraced that ethos and remained open-minded for the inclusion of any instrument, tweak, technique, or style as long as it served the human element and earnest feeling of each song. He also co-wrote ‘Bittersweet’ with producer and songwriter Cason Cooley (Ingrid Michaelson, American Authors), loving the process and result so much Cooley was invited to produce the entire album.Ĭooley took Holcomb and the Neighbors to the esteemed Echo Mountain studio in Asheville, North Carolina, to record in January 2019. From working with the legendary Lori McKenna on two songs and rising country songwriting star Natalie Hemby (The Highwomen) on another, to previous tour mate Sean McConnell and Zach Williams of The Lone Bellow, Holcomb learned to reap the benefits of sharing without being territorial ultimately serving his own vision for the pieces at large. Even though he was writing about his own experiences, Holcomb found the support of other trusted ears and hearts invaluable. From his position as curator and entrepreneur with various undertakings – from co-creator of the successful, diverse Moon River Music Festival to the Magnolia Record Club vinyl subscription program that he founded and curates on a monthly basis – to his role of husband for the last 14 years and father to three children, Holcomb cites the nature of his life of late as equal parts “collaborative” and “chaotic.” Having released a full-length Neighbors album Souvenir, in 2017 to much acclaim, a co-released EP with Johnnyswim, Goodbye Road in 2018, the stripped-down “You & Me” tour with his wife, singer Ellie Holcomb, in 2018 and early 2019, and opening larger shows for Willie Nelson and the Zac Brown Band with The Neighbors, Holcomb’s legend and reach continues to grow.įor Dragons, Holcomb turned to his friends and peers for collaboration – in fact, six of Dragons’s ten songs are co-writes. For the last decade, the Tennessee-based musician has established himself as one of Americana and Southern roots music’s freshest upstarts, building his following and critical appeal with every release, show, and venture. The story of Dragons is the culmination of myriad events, connections, challenges, and years of hard, determined work for Holcomb, both as a bandleader and a family man. With its contemporary production, careful sense of craft and collaboration, and rafter-reaching anthems carrying profound, intentional lyrics, the album represents Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors’ biggest moment yet, a powerful portrait stretched across a wide sonic canvas. But with his new album, ‘Dragons’, his subject material finds the singer using a finer brush and mixing more of the joys, struggles, and specific moments of his own life than ever before. Drew Holcomb’s songs have always charged his listeners’ hearts and minds while inspiring them to think, feel, dance, and love.
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