January 2010 News
Drew Nelson wins local "Spin" of the year from the
Grand Rapids Press!
GRAND RAPIDS - For most, the road to the promised land -- sometimes called "Beulah land" in African-American spirituals -- comes with its share of potholes and detours.
As a singer-songwriter deftly chronicling the common man's everyday struggles to survive and find that paradise, Drew Nelson himself has traveled that rocky path, hence his appropriately titled 2009 album, "Dusty Road to Beulah Land."
But Nelson, 38, could just as well have referred to that small northern Michigan hamlet of Beulah, because the Grand Rapids musician's songs speak to the heart of average folks residing here and across the Midwest. It's a lesson he learned from renowned Iowa folk musician Greg Brown.
"Greg Brown once said, 'I started by writing about the Midwest and ended up writing from the Midwest,' " Nelson told me. "I've tried to model myself after that."
Consider it a job well done because Nelson has produced the Local Spin of the Year, my pick for the best local or regional album of 2009.
Now, before proceeding further, let me put one spurious notion to rest: The Local Spin of the Year is NOT the kiss of death.
Despite insinuations from a co-worker who shall go unnamed (Hint: He's a young, irreverent entertainment blogger whose first name rhymes with "joy" or "annoy," depending on one's mood), West Michigan bands and musicians have nothing to fear from my annual, much-coveted award.
While it's true the first two winners -- the fine rock bands Bless You Boys (2007) and The Mighty Narwhale (2008) -- have split up since receiving this prestigious honor, I've found no evidence that my award jinxed their future ... unless perhaps, band members wound up bickering and fighting over who got to display the dandy trophy on their fireplace mantel.
Still, I've found a way to ensure the same thing doesn't happen to 2009's honoree: I've picked a solo artist for the award. Hey, no danger of a break-up, right?
Not that this made the choice any easier, mind you. Indeed, it gets tougher every year. I ended up with more than a dozen finalists in several genres -- rock, blues, alt-country, jazz, Celtic, New Age, funk -- selected from a record 96 local CDs that appeared in Local Spins in 2009 (usually the last Sunday of every month), with albums by several deserving bands and artists barely missing the cut.
In the end, though, Nelson's album, recorded at Grand Rapids' Mackinaw Harvest Music and released in March 2009, kept rising to the top -- partly due to the finely crafted songs and musicianship, partly due to the tactful production, partly because tracks like "Waiting for the Sun" were so darned catchy.
Nelson is the first singer-songwriter to win the honor, which is saying something because Grand Rapids has produced some of the best in that genre over the past decade or so.
Call his music folk-rock, call it Americana, call it alt-country.
Actually, call it Michigan roots music, because if Nelson's songs live and breathe anything, it's his home state, whether he's singing about a laid-off factory worker with bills to pay ("Stranger") or rolling down the road with the Big Lake on one side and scrub pines on the other ("Highway 2").
Part of that comes from the inspiration of other writers, including Michigan novelist Jim Harrison, Nelson said. Part of it comes from the connections he's made with Midwest fans, many of whom have e-mailed him since the album came out to let him know how certain songs have touched them.
"That's the real deal," he conceded. "When everyday people can be affected by it, that's the reward."
For Nelson, 2010 could be as eventful as 2009. He recently recorded a song, Stephen Foster's "Hard Times Comes Again No More," that will appear on a national compilation album featuring well-known artists Guy Clark, James McMurtry, Eliza Gilkyson and others. He also plans a June trip to Ireland, where he's cultivated a solid following. In fact, he's organizing a nine-day tour of the Emerald Isle in which local fans can join him overseas as he performs with Irish musicians. (Details online at drewnelson.net.)
And he'll keep building acoustic guitars, a new passion that mirrors the kind of down-to-earth, Michigan-made approach that permeates his music.
"I play the guitar completely differently after I've built one," Nelson told me, acknowledging the rewards of seeing the product of his manual labor. "This wood has a lot to teach us."
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Drew has been nominated for 5 of WYCE 88.1 "Jammie Awards" . Please take a moment to vote for the "Peoples Choice" award.
Local Album of the Year (The BIG Jammie)
NELSON~DREW Dusty Road to Beulah Land
Best Local SONG of the Year
Drew Nelson- Waiting for the Sun
Local Male Solo Artist
NELSON~DREW Dusty Road to Beulah Land
Local VARIOUS ARTISTS Album
Standing Together Mackinaw Harvest
(Drew's song 'Stranger' is featured on Standing Together)
Peoples' Choice Awards
Check out all the nominees and learn how to vote here.
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Drew's new CD 'Dusty Road to Beulah Land" has been showing up in some great 2009 end of the year lists!
House of Mercy
Records of the Year 2009
The full top 60 will be published next week on www.houseofmercy.net.
We had over 3,000 listeners give us their top records and this
is the Top Ten:
No 1) Last Exit To Happyland - Gurf Morlix
No 2) Blood & Candle Smoke - Tom Russell
No 3) Cotton - Sam Baker
No 4) Written In Chalk - Buddy & Julie Miller
No 5) Red River Flower - Brigitte DeMeyer
No 6) Electric Dirt - Levon Helm
No 7) Dusty Road To Beluah Land - Drew Nelson
No 8) Hillbilly Goddess - Alicia Nugent
No 9) A Friend Of A Friend - Dave Rawlings Machine
No 10) Bread & Buddha - Harry Manx
Best of the Decade!
Drew Nelson heads up John Davys Noughty Hits.
Posted by John (Biscuits and Gravy) Davy:
Here's a best of the decade list; I'd like to have put both of Drew Nelson's albums in, partly because nobody seems to have picked up on him much and I reckon he's quite special. In no particular order. All of these I love everytime I hear them and some of them are definitely comfort music for me by now.
AJ Roach: Revelation
Nels Andrews: Sunday Shoes
Bruce Springsteen: Magic
Drew Nelson: Dusty Road to Beulah Land
Joe West: Human Cannonball
Wilco: Wilco(the album)
Thamusement: Silver Seed
Paul Burch & the WPA Ballclub: Blue Notes
Loomer: Songs of the Wild West Island
Willard Grant Conspiracy: Let it Roll
John Davy
John Davy - Scotland UK Top 10 Gigs of the Decade!
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TOP ALBUMS AND SONGS OF 2009
Drew's new Album 'Dusty Road to Beulah Land' is #28 in the top 50 Albums of the Folk DJ List for 2009 based on 166046 airplays from 195 different DJs.
Drew's Song 'Grandmother Moon' is # 36 out of the top 100 Songs on the Folk DJ List.
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Drew picks up Song of the year for the Cowboys Sweetheart Radio in Australia for his song Stranger!
The Cowboys Sweetheart roots and alternative country music programme can be heard 10am – noon Saturdays on BayFM 99.9 Byron Bay Australia. It can also be heard via the streaming service at www.bayfm.org.
#5 also Song Of The Year 2009 - Drew Nelson – Stranger – Dusty Road To Beulah Land
December 2009 News
Hello everyone,
I've been looking back over the year (well 12 or so years) of my life and I am extremely blessed to be able to make music my living.
I wanted to take a moment to say "thank you". Thanks to all who listen, attend shows, play my songs on the radio, write reviews of my CD's (even the bad ones!) and tell their friends. Thank you to all who have believed in my music even when it's been hard for me to. Thank you to friends old and new. Thank you to the great mystery for the songs.
May your Holiday season be full of wonder and blessing,
Drew Nelson
Hang on 2010 I'm gonna come out swinging!
November 2009 News
I've got some great news coming down the pike... (something even has to do with the likes of James McMurty, Eliza Gilkyson, Slaid Cleaves... and even Guy Clark!!) I'll let you know as soon as I can.
Last but not least: There is a new interview you can listen to from the great mornig I spent at Minnesota Public Radio.
Radio Heartland is the best! You can listen at the link below:
August 2009 News
Hi Everyone... A rainy morning here in Michigan. What a summer it has been. A great tour of England and Scotland connecting with old and new friends... (UK.. Look for me again in Sept of 2010! ) A very special thanks to Debbie Davy for the beautiful hand woven Scottish tweed for Nicole!!
I'm headed to Colorado on Monday for a little fishing and the Rocky Mountains Folks Festival. I was selected as part of the 2009 Songwriters Showcase. This year there were over 700 submissions and they choose 10 songwriters from all over the country to take part... I'm very proud to be part of such a great group. We will be opening the Festival on Friday Aug 14th.. if your in the area I would love to see you!
www.bluegrass.com/folks/contests.html
Hope to see you soon!
drew nelson
Go to IRELAND June 2010 with Drew!
Drew Nelson now offers guided tours of Ireland! Trip includes a 9 day tour of the west of Ireland, where by day Drew and his fellow travelers will visit ancient ruins, castles, small fishing villages, the Aran Islands, the horse races, etc. By night they will share music in the local pubs with Irish players. A very unique trip indeed!
More info: drewnelson.net/Ireland/index.php
A few spots left please email me drew@drewnelson.net if your interested!
July 2009 News
Dusty road to Beulah Land now available on iTunes!
International Songwriter Retreats
Drew was selected as the winning finalist for Listening Room International Songwriter Retreats listing - which entitles you to attend one of the retreat events promoted in the listing at without charge. This years Listing Room International Songwriter Retreats:
Sep 27, 2009 8:00pm
Samsø,Demark Retreat Sept. 27 - Oct. 4, 2009. Further Info: brett@brettperkinspresents.com Brundby, Sjælland
Oct 25, 2009 8:00pm
Listening Room International Songwriters Retreat, Ireland Oct. 25- Nov.1, 2009 Inisheer, Galway
Jan 10, 2010 8:00pm
California Retreat Jan. 10 - 17 Sequoia Retreat Center Further Info: brett@brettperkinspresents.com Ben Lomand
May 9, 2010 8:00pm
Gotland, Sweden Retreat May 9-16 Further Info: brett@brettperkinspresents.com Burgsvik, Gotlands län
Rocky Mountains Folks Festival - August 14, 2009
Drew has been selected as one of ten songwriter finalists to perform on the main stage at our 19th annual "summit on the song," the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, Friday, August 14th in Lyons, CO. (out of 700 submissions)
For More info bluegrass.com/folks/
Review from Netrhythms UK - April 2009
Drew Nelson - Dusty Road To Beulah Land (Waterbug)
Michigan-born Drew turns out to be another significant discovery for me in the murky world of s/s Americana, On this, his second record (and oh how I wish I’d heard his first, Immigrant Son!), Drew gets straight to the core, the nub of the real human stories of his characters, and tells them with a careful attention to detail and a soft-spoken urgency that demands, and gets, your rapt attention right away. Drew acutely and intimately observes and relays everyday midwestern life, employing an astounding clarity of focus that enables his characters’ setbacks to be turned into opportunities where the dominant sense is of hope. The resultant songs are significant creations indeed, a sequence of gorgeously close-knit experiences for which Drew’s opening poetic road-trip down Highway 2 sets the scene for what’s to follow. Waiting For The Sun is worlds away from the Doors, yet is as strangely compelling in its own bangingly squalid way. The nigh timeless dirt-roads of the midwest are evoked compellingly on tracks like True And Fine, while Grandmother Moon and Raindance show Drew’s insights into Native American culture. That timelessness crops up again on the time-stands-still aura of Hello and the eerie Molly’s Home that closes the disc. Drew’s husky, warm-toned, distinctively dust-flecked voice sounds midway between Josh Ritter and early John Martyn, you might say, and with a dash of Knopfler there too maybe, even a dustbowl Springsteen at times. His songs are couched in an ultra-sympathetic musical setting: an immaculately judged acoustic backdrop of guitars, with occasional pedal steel, dobro, mandolin, banjo, accordion, piano, organ, and a gently brushed snare brought in now and then to propel the train along the tracks. Producer Michael Crittenden lends a playing hand too, with exceptional support from Drew Howard (aka Captain Midnight) in particular, while there’s also some richly aromatic backing vocals from Rachael Davis, Claudia Schmidt and Natalia Zukerman that counterpoint Drew’s own confidential tones, displaying equally solid control of dynamics and timbre. Drew just can’t fail to engage your senses, and this really is a rather special record, a highly evocative yet admirably subtle mini-epic of modern-day Americana.
David Kidman April 2009
News April 6, 2009
Hi everyone.. I just wanted to share this good news with you... Lots of stuff going on around the 'camp' ... “Dusty Road to Beulah Land” was #3 on the Freeform Americana Roots Chart and now #2 on the Euro Americana Chart... truly humbling. I'll be in norhtern Michigan and the Kerrville Folk Festival and Singing the National Anthem at my baseball teams opening day... then off to the UK ... somplace in there I'll fit in some fishing.
Hope to play for you soon!
-drew
Euro Americana Chart April ’09 (#2!)
The Euro Americana Chart is compiled by DJs, journalists, retailers, promotors and other people who are interested in Americana music from all over Europe. Every month they send in their favourite CD top 6. These are the ingredients for the chart.
Here is the Euro Americana Chart of April 2009 :
#1 Buddy & Julie Miller
Written In Chalk
(New West)
#2 Drew Nelson
Dusty Road To Beulah Land
(Waterbug)
#3 Danny Schmidt
Instead the Forest Rose to Sing
(Red House)
See the full chart here.
Freeform Americana Roots Chart April ’09 (#3!)
#1 Buddy & Julie Miller
Written In Chalk
(New West)
#2 Justin Townes Earle
Midnight At The Movies
(Bloodshot)
#3 Drew Nelson
Dusty Road To Beulah Land
(Waterbug)
#4 The Flatlanders
Hills And Valleys
(New West)
#5 VA
Keep Your Soul; A Tribute To Doug Sahm
( Vanguard)
#6 Phil Lee
So Long, It's Been Good To Know You
(Palookaville)
#7 Gurf Morlix
Last Exit To Happyland
(Self)
#8 Neko Case
Middle Cyclone
(Anti)
#9 Eric Brace & Peter Cooper
You Don't Have To Like Them Both
(Red Beet)
#10 Danny Schmidt
Instead The Forest Rose To Sing
(Red House)
Wisperin’ and Hollerin’ UK CD Review (link)
9 of 10 Stars!
3/15/09
Can it really be pushing four years since Immigrant Son came out? That first full album from Drew Nelson is still in my top five of the last decade and, glory be, 'Beulah Land' is at least as good and establishes Drew as a Michigan Guy Clark for his generation. Teaming up with Michael Crittenden again as producer, engineer and multi-instrumentalist this collection of songs expands the sound a bit and frequently has a greater sense of urgency about it - as it should, I guess, given that these are mostly protest songs. Drew's protest is at the pace of change in our world that leaves people lost and confused, and at the relentless march of corporate capitalism that leaves no space for the quietly satisfying lives led by the old farming families of his native state. Time and again, his songs deal with the hard times of ordinary folk - to the point where you might think there's no such thing as good times in these folk's lives - but he does in fact balance this downbeat view of the world with a deeply felt appreciation of the simple joys of life.
Nowhere is this better shown than in 'Grandmother Moon', a radio-friendly song of sublime beauty; the guitar style is very much late 60's folk-pop style along the lines of 'Everybody's Talkin' At Me' with a soft urgency to it whilst the vocal, to my mind, is somehere between Van Morrison and John Martyn, circa 1970. Actually Drew's voice has got a little huskier since Immigrant Son and sounds even better for it. Innately warm and intimate in his singing, he sounds completely unforced and now even more confident in his ability to do just what he wants with his voice. On 'Hello', he seems to have all the time in the world and comes close to speaking, even whispering, the lines. On 'Molly's Home' he sings from his belly, it seems, and produces a rich sound that is all too rare in popular music.
There's a cracking band of supporting players on 'Beulah Land', every one of them sympathetic to the songs, broadening the aural landscape almost imperceptibly, never coming close to ego-tripping. I am, however, a particular fan of well-used pedal steel playing and Captain Midnight (aka Drew Howard) is absolutely impeccable here - nowhere more so than on the opening track 'Highway 2' which is a wonderful mini epic of a song building a complete picture of the world according to Drew Nelson, from the personal to the state of the nation, around a little road trip down Highway 2.
With any luck, 'Grandmother Moon' is possibly the song and 'Dusty Road to Beulah Land' is quite possibly the album that will bring Drew Nelson the really widespread acclaim he deserves. He makes me glad to be alive and in posession of a cd player and a pair of ears.
John Davy
This poster is by Grand Rapids Artist Mike Guyette, hand made and silk screened on his kitchen table. 100 of these posters will be signed and sold for $20 (they are made to be framed... All the porceeds will go directly to Kids Food Basket. KFB feeds 1600 kids suppers in my home town every day! 365 days a year.
“I'm a Little Catfish”
Waterbug Records
I am so pleased to announce that I've signed with Chicago based Waterbug records to release my new CD Dusty Road to Beulah Land. Andrew Calhoun president of Waterbug said “Drew's songs flow like a river under the ice. He writes like a man who has learned to make use of his setbacks, to become a voice of community and renewal. Waterbug is thrilled to have him on our roster.” (Other great waterbug artists indclude Cuck Brodsky, Sloan Wainwright, Chuck Pyle, Anais Mitchell and Johnathon Byrd)
Proper Distribution
I'm also so so excited to announce I've signed a distribution deal with Proper Distribution in the London that will provide distribution for Dusty Road to Beulah Land for the England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. (Europe to come—stay tuned.) Proper is the the largest independent distributor in the UK, Proper Music Distribution provides top quality distribution services to over 400 labels from around the world supplying UK retailers.