Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond Drew Holcomb (Live from NYC's Cherry Lane Theatre)
Nov 25, 2025
Drew Holcomb, a Memphis-born singer-songwriter and frontman of Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, shares insights from his two-decade journey in Americana and folk-rock. He discusses how his strict Christian upbringing and a crisis of faith after his brother’s death shaped his music career. The conversation dives into his cultural contrast between Memphis and Nashville, alongside his love for storytelling in songwriting, particularly influenced by Bruce Springsteen. Highlights include live performances and his debut of a song inspired by Cormac McCarthy.
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Strict Christian Upbringing Shaped Music Taste
- Drew Holcomb describes growing up in a strict Christian household that limited secular music and led to dramatic parental record purges.
- He recalls his dad breaking his Pearl Jam CD for lyrical content and how allowed music (Amy Grant, Motown, Dylan) shaped him.
Americana As A Spacious Musical Home
- Drew frames his music as 'Americana' because it gave artists without a clear commercial home a flexible identity.
- He values the genre for allowing diverse song structures and honest, people-made records.
Grandfather's Tall Tales Inspired 'Dragons'
- Drew tells vivid family stories about his grandfather, a surgeon with larger-than-life tales, who inspired the song 'Dragons.'
- He recounts a story about the grandfather meeting the Queen and receiving a letter from her secretary after his death.