Album review: DREW HOLCOMB AND THE NEIGHBORS – Good Light

DREW HOLCOMB AND THE NEIGHBORS - Good Light

Magnolia Music [Release date 26.08.13]

Being something of a female vocalist ‘junkie’ I was rather hoping Drew was the blonde on the album cover. But it turns out that’s Drew’s wife and band mate Ellie. Drew’s the foot-clapping guy who looks like Alexei Sayle.

For those not in the ‘know’ (and I count myself amongst them), Drew is an Americana singer songwriter who grew up in Memphis, but who now works out of Nashville and whose first album ‘Washed In Blue’ (2005) got a considerable boost with a number of TV placements on Army Wives, United States of Tara, and The Cleaner.

He might have a Divinity Masters degree from St Andrews, Scotland, but his dissertation on ‘Springsteen and American Redemptive Imagination’ illustrates where his heart lies and since 2005 the band have established themselves in the American heartland as a popular indie act selling more than 75,000 records and playing more than 1500 dates, touring alongside the likes of The Avett Brothers, Ryan Adams and Los Lobos.

With other major TV placements on the series like House and One Tree Hill, you could argue that Drew Holcomb And The Neighbors’ profile should be higher than it is as he they release their sixth album – Good Light, recorded live at Argent Studios, Memphis.

But that middle-America mainstream singer songwriter market can be a hard nut to crack although Good Light gives it a damn good shot with a style that melds elements of Springsteen, Ryan Adams (circa Gold) and Bruce Hornsby, albeit with a slight contemporary twist.

More placements undoubtedly beckon, and with songs like ‘Another Man’s Shoes’, America could well take to Drew Holcomb with open arms. But Good Light could prove to be a tad too schmaltzy for British / European tastes. ***

Review by Pete Whalley

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