Grapevine Music Agency - representing some of the finest roots musicians from the UK and North America. Folk, Blues, Country, Americana.

A stunning talent from Michigan and a truly inspirational musician. Drew has taken audiences by storm since he first ventured to these shores in 2007. With his irresistible voice and simply brilliant songs we are pleased to welcome him back in 2012 for his fourth UK tour – and with a brand new CD.

Allow Drew to introduce the new album …“The new album is called Tilt-a-Whirl and will be out in Feb. 2012 on Red House Records.  It's a collection of character songs.  Very Americana.. think in the veins of Steve Earl/ Springsteen.. it "rocks' more than my earlier work.  All tied together by a hammond B-3 organ and a big dark tremolo guitar.”

“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, songwriter

“It’s just wonderful. He’s got such an intense and yet relaxed, intimate style. He really connects” Celtic Heartbeat - BBC Wales

"Nelson's new album "Dusty Road to Beulah Land" is a rich and thoughtful book of stories. This album finds the balance between struggle and grief and hope.” Meg Hutchinson, singer/songwriter

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

"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 

“Simply one of the finest musicians I’ve ever seen. Seeing Drew is akin to a spiritual experience!” Charlie Money, music photographer

"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, The Maverick Festival

“He's the best I've heard since James McMurtry - perfect writing, great songs and a voice that stops the pain” Barry Marshall Everitt, House of Mercy Radio

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

"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

Every generation has its poets; the writers, musicians, and lyricists who capture the spirit and longings of their time. Those who give expression to our own personal memories and dreams as though they know us.  They tell our stories, giving us the words we need to celebrate or let go. That is the soil in which singer/songwriter Drew Nelson has been toiling. 

Drew Neslon’s last album, Dusty Road to Beulah Land marked a notable growth in his standing as a songwriter and musician. Each song brought another side of Drew to the forefront, expanding beyond his folk-singer roots to embrace wider genres.

In the follow up to Nelsons' acclaimed independent release Immigrant Son, he proved he is not only a great songwriter but also a great storyteller.  Singer/songwriter Meg Hutchinson says  "it's not often that someone can so aptly give voice to other people's lives and make us believe every word." Nelson's stories are about the people we know, people we wish we knew, and who we are.

Within this collection of songs we find the displaced Detroit auto worker (Stranger), the love lost and wandering (Highway 2), the farmer watching his beloved landscape disappear before his eyes (Farmer's Lament), the dazed blue collar worker shaking his head at bailouts and greed, and the deep respect and insight of Native American life and culture (Grandmother Moon, Raindance).   Drew puts his feelings, and ours, into words and music that capture the spirit and soul of the world around us all with a common thread - hope. 

"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," says Andrew Calhoun of Waterbug Records. (Dusty Road to Beulah Land was released on Waterbug Records March 09)

"Early on every writer has to decide whether to try to get at the truth or just blather," says Signature Sounds Recording Artist, Peter Mulvey. "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."

Drew grew up in Michigan, but escaped the narrow confines of his small-town, Midwestern upbringing by joining the Navy and traveling the world. He was able to see first-hand what was really happening in the world, and come home with fresh eyes to appreciate the realities of life in America. These experiences provided insight and understanding that have found an outlet in songs filled with discovery, revelation, and optimism.