The acclaimed West Michigan singer-songwriter performs with Hwy-2 tonight at SpeakEZ Lounge for the Local Spins Wednesdays series. Local Spins catches up with Nelson ahead of the show.
Back on Stage Tonight: Drew Nelson and Hwy-2 will fire up SpeakEZ Lounge. (Photo/Anna Sink)
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Growing up north of Grand Rapids, Drew Nelson began writing songs as a teenager and continued his guitar-playing and storytelling after joining the U.S. Navy, eventually releasing his debut EP in 2001.
A quarter-century later, Nelson still gets a thrill out of performing live and he’s still writing songs — even if he hasn’t been in the spotlight as much as he was in 2012 after signing with Red House Records and releasing the critically acclaimed album, “Tilt-A-Whirl.”
“It’s always special when I get to be on stage with my best friends,” Nelson said of performing with members of the band Hwy-2. “There’s just a flow that happens with those guys. It’s just a wonderful experience for me and I hope it’s a wonderful experience with the audience.”
That experience unfolds at Grand Rapids’ SpeakEZ Lounge at 7:30 p.m. tonight when Nelson and the all-star Hwy-2 (multi-instrumentalist Mark Schrock, lead guitarist Michael Robertson, bassist Andrew Schrock and drummer Brian Morrill) make their Local Spins Wednesdays debut. Details here.
“I think when I get on stage, I just remember: I really know how to do this and it feels like home.”
While he hasn’t released new music in more than a decade, Nelson said he’s written some new songs and “we’re talking about doing a Hwy-2 record. There’s so much talent and it’d be really fun to do a collaborative album versus just all my stuff. That excites me the most right now.”
To say it’s been an arduous ride for Nelson since 2012 — which he described as “a crazy year” — might be an understatement.
Drew Nelson, ‘Tilt-A-Whirl’
The emerging Americana singer-songwriter had landed a long-sought-after record deal with the national Red House Records label, performed a jam-packed album-release show for “Tilt-A-Whirl” with an all-star band in Grand Rapids (an album that eventually won ‘album of the year’ honors at the WYCE Jammie Awards), toured the United States, United Kingdom and The Netherlands, and was one of the year’s featured artists at Local Spins, with headlines splashed across stories about his performances and notoriety.
He even was listed in Goldmine as one of “Five folk acts you need to hear,” along with the likes of Mumford & Sons, The Civil Wars and Sarah Jarosz.
After that, however, things took an unexpected turn.
“During this time, I was newly sober, going through a divorce, and very sick. I was sick for almost three years, having a hard time swallowing, and was losing so much weight. Finally, doctors diagnosed me with a rare, incurable disorder called Achalasia. I had surgery to help me manage symptoms. So, 2012 was the best year of my career and the most challenging year for me personally.”
Since then, Nelson — now in his mid-50s — has gone through a host of career and family transitions.
“So much has happened. I have a wonderful life with my wife, Jen, and our big blended family — five kids betwen us,” he says.
He still has fond recollections of that whirlwind 2012, when he was touring the globe and rubbing elbows with other well-known musicians.
“I got to do a gig with Gregory Alan Isakov,” he says. “We did a Springsteen cover that’s still on YouTube. That’s a really good memory.”
VIDEO: Drew Nelson at Wealthy Theatre
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