Over the weekend, I saw the most wholesome band play at Tannahill’s Music Hall in the Stockyards. I have been a fan of this band since 2020, and my fandom has only grown since then. If you want to listen to uplifting and pure Americana music, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors just might be the band for you.
It all started in 2020 when my family and I went to visit my grandparents, who only live 30 minutes away. The five of us piled into the family SUV, a Chevy Suburban. As always, the Sirius XM radio station, Margaritaville, was playing to fill the car with joy. Margaritaville typically plays the same variety of feel-good beachy songs ranging from Jimmy Buffett to Bob Marley; but, little did we know that on this very day, we were about to discover a new artist that created the connection of a lifetime.
As we were driving, a new song came on the radio by an artist that we had not heard of before, catching us off guard. The song was titled “Family,” and it was sung by none other than Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. This song was the happiest, most upbeat song, and its lyrics encapsulated the true meaning of family:
“You don’t choose em, you can’t lose em
We all have a song to sing
Some are crazy, some are amazing
All got a little bit of everything”
Family by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, 2019
I will never forget the way we felt when we heard that song. My family and I are extremely close, but it is almost as if this song was sung about us. This song resonated with us so much that it became a part of us.
During the summer later that year, my family and I decided to take a road trip out West to escape our house. Since the “new normal” meant staying inside for months on end due to the pandemic, this road trip was a great opportunity to explore an area of the country that we had never seen before. Drew Holcomb’s “Family” became the theme of our trip, summing up our COVID-19 summer perfectly.
“Family, singing in the kitchen
Family, running through the yard
Family, going on vacation
Family, on the credit card”
Family by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, 2019
Fast forward a few years, I found myself at TCU where I was reintroduced to Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors once again. TCU is known for its traditions, especially the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Of course, none other than Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors performed during this ceremony, and yes, I stayed for the entire time. From singing classic Christmas songs to his older music, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors even sang some of their new songs that were being released the following year. Going into the concert, I only knew his song “Family” by heart. Leaving this concert left me with a new fandom that I knew I had to follow. Drew Holcomb and his wife, Ellie, sang a duet together called, “Feels Like Home,” which made me tear up.
“‘Cause it feels like home
Feels like home
Feels like home”
Feels Like Home by Drew Holcomb & Ellie Holcomb, 2021
These lyrics may seem simple, but I was absolutely moved. I was standing in the middle of the commons in my all-time favorite place during my first Christmas tree lighting ceremony, having this beautiful song being sung to me. Not only was I moved, but this song wholeheartedly established that my home is TCU.
After that concert, I started listening to all of Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors’ songs. I vividly remember opening Apple Music after the concert was over, scrolling through song after song, and listening to album after album. When Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors’ new album, Strangers No More, was released in June of this year, I listened to all of it straight through, taking in every instrument, beat, and lyric.
Now I am a sophomore at TCU, reflecting back on my fandom of Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. Seeing them play at Tannahill’s Music Hall was a concert that I will never forget. I got there early and scored a front-row spot in the standing room to the very left of the stage. I knew every single song and was singing my heart out the entire time. I was in a room full of strangers, and by the end of the night, everyone was singing and dancing with each other. Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors put this moment perfectly in their song, “Dance With Everybody,”:
“When you walked into this room you hardly knew anyone
Dance With Everybody by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, 2023
Sea full of strangers, crashing on the runs
When the band strikes by the end of the night, strangers no more
I wanna dance with everybody who came through that door”
During this song, Drew Holcomb himself put down his guitar and screamed, “I’M COMING IN!” as he jumped into the middle of the dancing crowd. It was the most heartwarming concert experience that I had ever been a part of. Not once have I had an artist connect with their audience in the same way that Drew Holcomb did.
At the very end of the concert, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors thanked us for being there. Drew smiled and said that without his fans, whom he referred to as his neighbors, he and his band would not be where they are today.
So, with that, I am a neighbor.