28 Apr An Interview: Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors

I’ve had friends and co-workers gently nudging me to listen to Nashville’s Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors for the past few years. Sometimes there’s just too much music on my plate. Sometimes I realize how wonderful an act is a little later than my friends.

This Americana rocker has been steadily stealing hearts for the past decade, with his sweet and slow folk songs. If you haven’t been shuffling through his beautiful material on Spotify, there’s a good chance you’ve heard it on your favorite show. Holcomb’s music has been featured on “How I Met Your Mother,” “Criminal Minds,” “House,” and “Justified.”

Today, Holcomb and his band will perform at SunFest. Before his debut, we had the pleasure of asking the young star about his current tour, Moon River Festival, and why it may pay off to call to the band on stage.

Hi Drew! How is your tour going so far? Welcome to South Florida!

It’s been incredible, honestly the best tour we have done in our decade as a band.

You host Moon River Festival each year. Can you share a little about what’s in store for 2016? I see Austin’s Oh Hellos and Penny and Sparrow are on the lineup. I live in Austin and love both of those acts!

We made some great changes this year. First, we moved from summer to fall, which tends to have much better weather in Memphis than the summer. And we are moving the festival from a one-day format to a multi-day event.

Austin has so much good music and we have made friends with lots of those folks. The Oh Hellos and Penny and Sparrow are not only great artists, they are great people, and that makes a festival even better.

What can SunFest fans expect to see and hear at your set this week?

We will be doing lots of songs from Medicine, our latest record, but also older favorites as well. If people in the crowd want to hear something specific, if they shout it loud enough, we might give it a shot.

What are you most proud of on your beautiful release, “Medicine?”

I’m proud of how the vision I had when I wrote the songs was bested by the recording itself. That is an incredible feeling, and I owe a lot of that to my band and how they serve the music first and foremost.

When do you do your best work?

From 10 p.m. to 1a.m., alone at my house, which hardly ever happens anymore now that I have kids!

When are you happiest?

I’m lucky enough that my work and my home life both bring me a lot of happiness, so I’d say I’m the happiest when I see my kids side-stage, singing along with us. It doesn’t happen very much, but when it does, I feel completely alive.

Do not miss this beautiful, bearded musician on Thursday, April 28, on the Ford Stage.