Drew Nelson

Our Rating: 8 out of 10 Stars.


Drew Nelson: Immigrant Son (Mackinaw Harvest Music MHM021)

This is a cracker of a debut album from Drew Nelson, so accomplished it speaks of years of work building to this point of getting himself recorded. A lot of the credit must go to Michael Crittenden who produces and plays guitar and piano (amongst other things). The production is fantastic: warm, intimate and clear. The songs come through and speak for themselves but there's lots of background detail that rewards repeated listening. Drew is firmly in the singer/songwriter mould, and his acoustic guitar playing is excellent - sometimes coming over jazzy enough to be reminiscent of John Martyn in the early 70's. His singing is pleasingly gruff, very warm and sincere; when he rocks out a bit on "Wal-Mart V2.0", a kind of protest song about changes for the worse in his neighbourhood, his singing is harder and more assertive but he knows better than to try too hard; he doesn't need to batter his audience into submission, he's got subtler tricks to his trade than that.

Drew's songs cover a wide area, from social commentary to celebration of the simple pleasure of being alive in the world; he's serious and thoughtful, and definitely cliche free, which is always welcome. Clearly all these songs would come over strongly with just the man and his guitar, but for the benefit of the album each song is drawn out to a distinct musical character - so that the sublime "Summer Rain" has a mellow, jazzy feel, even with a pedal steel in the arrangement, and it captures the feel of a hot, sticky day quite magically. "Immigrant Son", on the other hand, a meditation on the immigrant state of mind that continues to play its part in American society, is coloured by fiddle, tin whistle and bodhran to evoke the Celtic heritage of so many of those immigrants.

I hope this guy has some more songs in his locker, and that he gets to work with Michael Crittenden again. They're a good team and this is a richly rewarding album.


John Davy
- Wisperin' and Hollerin

Drew Nelson

Transcending place

I was sitting in a downtown coffee shop, coasting merrily along as Drew Nelson sang "Lovely Day" — his paean to the simple joys of spring, love, friendship, and impending fishing — when it struck me: this guy reminds me of Greg Brown. And then, almost in response, came the lyric "Greg Brown singing on the radio . . ." and I thought, well, that's a fine influence to have.


But Nelson's very much his own influence. He catches uncomplicated stories from his own life, universal stuff that makes pretty much everyone smile in recognition, and releases them into the rippled pond of his facile Everyman language, smart percussive guitar, and gruff/sweet voice. The night I saw him, he sang a lot of songs off his new CD, Immigrant Son, which sparkles under the creative baton of producer Michael Crittenden. Nelson was born in Grand Rapids and raised in a religious conservative family from which he rebelled by secretly drenching himself in rock 'n' roll. After a stint in the navy — during which he got to see the world — he moved back to the area, and his songs are tied strongly to images of rural Michigan ("Summer Rain"), cities ("Wealthy St."), and sprawl (the wacky, infectious "Wall-Mart V2.0"), somehow without becoming simply "Michigan songs." It takes a certain skill to find the universal core in place-inspired songs, and Nelson has it. These views, these portraits, they could be of anywhere, and this is probably a big reason he's getting such wide acclaim.


Nelson's been a Kerrville Music Festival New Folk finalist and won honorable mention at this year's Telluride Troubadour Competition — out of 600 applicants. He's also developing a devoted fan base in Europe, where, it seems, people pay more attention to American roots and folk music than they do here. He comes to the Ark for a free show on Tuesday, June 27. Here's your chance to hear him play without the hiss of the cappuccino machine in the background.


—Whit Hill


[Review published June 2006]
- Arborweb.com

"Drew Nelson is one of my favorite new artists.
He is an excellent guitarist as well as an accomplished
songwriter. His songs sound like the rest of us feel.
After so many years at the mercy of the high and mighty
his characters are anything but defeated. They are dazed,
angry, amazed and climbing."

- John Gorka
Red House Records recording artist

"Early on every writer has to decide whether to try to get at the truth or just blather. As you encounter the
characters on this record, it becomes clear that Drew Nelson has dedicated and re-dedicated himself to getting at
real human stories. Some of these characters are him, and some are people he knows, and all their stories let us
know that Drew is standing in the Midwestern cold, seeing and telling as clearly as he can."
-Peter Mulvey
Signature Sounds Recording Artist

Drew Nelson's songs move like the 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. -Andew Calhoun
Waterbug Records

Drew's songs, stories and voice stand far above the pack.
-John Bommarito, WQKL Ann Arbor, MI & WHFR, Dearborn, MI.

" Drew is definitely among the best of the best because he has that extra special gift of connecting with the audience. His live performances bring his music
to life. It is a special night to have him perform at our theatre,
and I look forward to having him back for years to come."
-Bill Keith
Trinity House Theatre - Two Hearted Music

"Drew Nelson is one of my favorite new artists. He is an excellent guitarist as well as an accomplished songwriter. His songs sound like the rest of us feel. After so many years at the mercy of the high and mighty his characters are anything but defeated. They are dazed, angry, amazed and climbing." - John Gorka


"Intense but yet relaxed intimate style, he really connects, Ive fallen in love with Grand Mother Moon"
- Frank Hennessy , BBC Radio Wales (Celtic Heart Beat)

"Move over Bob Seger, Michigan has a new voice, and it’s a little bit deeper. So is the material."
- Fran Snyder , Concerts in your home

"Drew is a Michigan Guy Clark for his generation".
- John (Biscuits and Gravy) Davy , Flyin Shoes Review UK

"‘The Dusty Road…’ is enjoyable & evocative of a timeless America, but with very modern concerns."
- Ian Fildes, Americana-uk (Mar 18, 2009)

"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 , Net Rythms (Apr 01, 2009)


"What a fantastic album this is! I was expecting something enjoyable after Immigrant Son, but I was really blown away by the consistent strength of this record. "
- Shaun Whitehouse, Gilded Palace Radio Show (UK) (Apr 20, 2009)

"I am such a fan of Drew he's the best I've heard since James McMurtry, perfect writing, great songs and a voice thats stops the pain "
- Barry Marshall-Everitt, House Of Mercy (May 05, 2009)

"it doesn't happen often that I put in a cd the first day I receive it, much less that I absolutely love it on first listen. This cd will be a regular in the upcoming Acoustic Harmony playlists for the foreseeable future"
- Mark Michaelis Host; Acoustic Harmony, WGDR Folk Music Director (May 05, 2009)

"If Americana was a person, it would probably look and sound like Nelson"
- Leith Folk Club - Scotland

"Drew Nelson powerfully evokes the ghosts of America's recent and distant past ... his lyrical story telling and virtuoso guitar picking keeps the audience under his spell 'til long after the show has ended...."
- Paul Spencer/Promoter, The Maverick Festival, UK

" Dusty Road is easily the best folk/Americana/country to cross my desk in ages"
- CALVIN DANIELS, Yorkton This Week (May 13, 2009)

"Power and Poetic Storytelling" - "Highly Recommended!"
- sing out magazine (Jan 01, 2010)

"Drew's songs have a dusty eloquence and a rural blue collar sensibility"
- Americana UK

"Serious and thoughtful, and definitely cliche free"
-Wisperin' and Hollerin' UK

"When you hear Drew Nelson sing
and play you are hearing a real live
son of Michigan, sandy soil,
tough winters, good fishing, no BS."
-Peter Mulvey
(Singer/Songwriter)

"Every song bristles with sincerity, spirituality, and a keen insight about real life and real people that makes this the best acoustic singer-songwriter CD you'll probably hear this year"
-John Sinkevics
The Grand Rapids Press

"Drew's music just sends me... He's got the edge adn the insight that work!"
- Dalis Allen (Producer: Kerrville Folk Festival)

"Nelson... follows the path of songwriters both classic (Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell) and contemporary (Sarah McLachlan, Shawn Mullins). - *** Three Stars!- John Serba (The Grand Rapids Press)

"stands out !... original” "
- Real Roots Cafe
Netherlands

"One of the best of the newer performers I've seen... a natural as they say."
-Claudia Schmidt (Recording Artist) - drewnelson.net

Going With The Grain
DREW NELSON AND FRIENDS GET DOWN TO THE BARE BONES OF ORIGINAL FOLK MUSIC WITH 'IMMIGRANT SON.' CURT WOZNIAK


Singer/songwriter Drew Nelson doesn't have a press secretary. Even if he did, he could not have orchestrated a better backdrop for a discussion of his latest CD, "Immigrant Son," than Gaia Cafe'.
The cozy vegetarian restaurant on Grand Rapids' southeast side swirls with savory scents: garlic and ginger sautéing, fresh coffee brewing. A general lack of pretense unifies the decor of mismatched tables and chairs and walls hung with outsider art. Here, with a cup of tea and a breakfast skillet in front of him, Nelson is right at home.
"Immigrant Son" has the warm, welcoming feeling of a favorite booth in a favorite restaurant. The honesty of its songs is nourishing.
Nelson recorded "Immigrant Son" at Mackinaw Harvest Studios in Belmont with producer and longtime pal Michael Crittenden at the control board. Guest artists include local music veterans Bruce Ling from the Hawks and Owls string band and Jack leaver. Colorado-based singer/songwriter John McVey (no, not John McVie of Fleetwod Mac.)
recorded the electric guitar and bass on Nelson's song "wealthy Street" the day after McVey's June 2005 performance at One Trick Pony in Grand Rapids.
Even with eight guest artists appearing on the record, "immigrant Son" maintains bare-bones instrumentation.
"We looked at each song like we were refinishing a piece of furniture, where you start stripping away layers of lacquer and layers of stain to try and find the grain," Nelson said. "That's what we were trying to do - to find the grain of the songs."
Through concrete imagery and stripped-down orchestration, the 12 Nelson penned compositions - Plus a Richard Shindell cover: "The Next Best Western" - Tell the slice-of-life tales of a mature songwriter. Five years have lapsed since Nelson, now 34 released his debut EP, the six track "Recovering Angels." The man represented by these new songs has grown more than time alone might measure.
"Songwriting to me is in those little details, those little moments," Nelson explained between forkfuls of scrambled eggs and black beans. "In the past, I have been more of an ethereal writer:
"The first thing that had to go for me was the idea that songwriting was this mystical process, that the music flies around and hits you in the head every once and a while and you come up with something brilliant. I guess that's how I approached it for a long time.
"It's a craft. And it's just like anything: The more you do it, the better you get at it."
In 2004, Nelson's aptitude at his craft was recognized by a trip to Texas and the finals of the Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk Contest for Emerging Songwriters. More recognition may follow. "Immigrant Son" is nominated for best Local Folk CD in this month's Jammie Awards, sponsored by Grand Rapids community radio station WYCE (88.1-FM). -GR Feb. 2006


Update: Drew won the Jammie for Regional Folk Album of the Year! - Grand Rapids magazine

 It takes genius to attain simplicity, these songs cut right to the center of life 5 STARS!

Reviewer: M. Hutchinson
Pete Seeger said, “Any damn fool can get complicated. It takes genius to attain simplicity.” Like a meditation, these songs reveal the ordinary in an extraordinary way. Every word and note are weight bearing, solid, real. This is not to say the ideas are simple, only that the writing and production cut right to the center. This record is bright mornings knee deep in a trout stream, despair in the Wal Mart parking lot, slowing down while everyone else is hurrying up, Ireland. What a fine record.

 
Reviewer: M Winkle 5 STARS!
I first saw Drew at Meijer Gardens in 2005, playing many of these songs, and his voice and music stuck with me. This is a fine folk album, with tight writting and fairly simple but pleasing arrangements. I love it!

 WoW Really touches home.. I'm from Greenville! 5 STARS!
Reviewer: Pen
Drew This is awsome... I am from Greenville and worked at Lectro Lux..( Gibsons ) for years as did my Grand Father, Grand Mother, Father, Sister, Uncle and many friends. It really touched home and I love the CD very much. Every song is great! Thanks so much! Penny p.s. I first heard you on my Favorite radio station.. WYCE 88.1 ... I'll be at the jammies to see you and all the other great local talents. xo

 Something that you can listen to over and over again and never get tired of it. 5 STARS!
Reviewer: B. Bennett
It's well worth the money! This is probably my most favorite album that I have ever purchased. The lyrical depth that Drew achieves in his music is unbelivable and something worth exploring.

 The best local CD I've ever heard 5 STARS!
Reviewer:
Immigrant Son is fantastic! Track 12 is the best song to start a road trip with I've ever heard.

 Poetry in song! Drew finds the poetry in life. 5 STARS!
Reviewer: A Johnson
This CD has a little for everyone. From a heartfelt ballad to a rough and rugged rock, it is all here. It soothes the soul when the world gets you down!

 Really Moving Lyrics 5 STARS!
Reviewer: Doug Scott
Drew really hit a home run with this cd. His lyrics put you back in your seat. His song writing on this cd is just such a breath of fresh air. It is so refreshing to see someone who tells a story in his music and if you close your eyes while you listen you can imagine the whole thing.
- From CD Baby

I am an immigrant son.

With little more than the clothes on their backs, my Latvian parents arrived in the United States after World War II to forge a new life, start a new family and adopt a new country. Henriks and Antonija stepped off a ship in New York after enduring enough hardship, terror, pain and strife in a decade to last several lifetimes. Despite an uncertain future, these refugees just rolled up their sleeves and went to work.

I marvel at their fortitude, their honesty, their unbridled joy in experiencing the simplest pleasures of a modest existence. It has forever shaped who I am and forever reminds me that true riches lie in the fabric of family and heritage.

Maybe that's why local singer-songwriter Drew Nelson's heartfelt rendition of "Immigrant Son," the title track from his new album, struck such a nerve last weekend.
It came during a preview party at downtown's Black Rose Irish Pub, where he unveiled the CD's songs for friends, relatives and fellow musicians. "Never forget where you come from, you'll never know where you're going," he sang in a resonant, earnest voice while strumming an acoustic guitar along with a talented band behind him. "These roots run deep, and you are the immigrant son."

It's clear Nelson, 34, who's haunted West Michigan's singer-songwriter scene since the mid-1990s, has captured something special on his second album with the aid of producer-musician Michael Crittenden and some solid session players.

The music is part Lyle Lovett, part Richard Shindell (whose song "Next Best Western" also appears on "Immigrant Son") and a whole lot of just plain Drew Nelson.
Every song bristles with sincerity, spirituality and a keen insight about real life and real people that makes this the best acoustic singer-songwriter CD you'll probably hear this year. And of all these, "Immigrant Son," co-written with local musician Josh Rose, captures the essence of what it is to be an American, to embark on an adventure without ever neglecting your past.

"We're all immigrants of the country of the heart. We're all having this first-time experience," says Nelson, who is of Scottish and Irish descent. "It's the roots thing. These roots run deep. There's something about lineage that's very important, that gives people a sense of identity."

Nelson's search for musical identity began as a youngster near Kent City, singing gospel songs and sitting on the porch listening to musician friends. A self-described troublemaker in grade school, Nelson started turning things around with theater in the eighth grade, then heard his first Bob Dylan record "and there was no going back."

After high school and a three-year stint in the U.S. Navy, he returned to West Michigan and played music at a "storefront church" for migrants. It wasn't until Michael Crittenden urged him put out his first album, "Recovering Angels," that he got serious about his songs. He credits fellow musicians -- Crittenden, Ralston Bowles, Lauran and J. Oscar Bittinger, among others -- for steadfastly encouraging him to ply his trade, and his wife, Nicole, for providing inspiration.

"I feel like I've found my place," says Nelson, who sold lawn mowers at Sears over the summer, but now will pursue music full-time starting at 7 tonight, backed by a full band at a CD-release party at the Ladies Literary Club.

Although he briefly considered another album title, Nelson settled on the immigrant theme with a striking CD cover photo of a Montana settler's cabin taken by friend Lance Wynn, a Press photographer. It just seemed right, reflecting the rootsy, Midwestern melting pot from which Nelson sprang and the new territory he is exploring as an artist.

"I wanted to really embrace that experience," he explains. "It felt like we were starting a whole new journey with this record. This is like the beginning of the next part of what I'm doing. It felt really good to call it 'Immigrant Son.'"

- The Grand Rapids press