The night we played Bonnaroo a couple years ago, I sat with my younger brother Sam, my wife Ellie, and a few other dear friends, reclining in plastic lawn chairs in the midnight Tennessee heat outside our tour bus, drinking wine and listening to music. After a decade of touring, (over 1700 shows) and making records, it’s easy to forget the magic of music. We took turns introducing each other to new bands and artists, talking about our lives, our dreams, our failures. Music has always had a medicinal quality to me, and that’s why I started writing songs and touring in the first place. I first needed the medicine when I was seventeen. I lost a brother that summer, 1999. He was a great kid, lived life from the view of a wheelchair, and was gone without warning a few days before his 14th birthday. I took lots of medicine, from Radiohead and Bob Dylan, from Pearl Jam and Otis Redding, from Bob Marley to the Temptations, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to Rage Against the Machine. I played the guitar in my bedroom, learned songs I loved, sang along in my car alone or with a friend. A year later I went to college in Knoxville and I became an addict. I was introduced to the medicine of Patty Griffin, Whiskeytown, Springsteen, Tom Waits, the Jayhawks, Wilco, Beck and hundreds more that could fill pages. I went and saw their shows and played their records over and over and over. The honesty, the intellect, the stories, the raw emotion, the rhythm, the vulnerability; it all made me feel like I was not alone. Music was a way of saying, “me too,” a way of finding hope and meaning in the sorrow and confusion of life. Somewhere in those late college years, I started writing songs, at first feeble attempts, but it grew and grew, and I got better and better. I booked shows, I made myself vulnerable and stood onstage and sang earnest songs about love and joy, pain and tragedy. I convinced myself that making medicine was something I could take a swing at. After graduating, over a cup of coffee, I asked my dentist father what he thought about my dream, and he asked me one question, “Are you going to work hard at that?” “Yes sir.” I replied. “Well let’s go to the guitar shop and I’ll buy you the best one I can afford.” I hit the road, and I hit it hard. I found a band of agile, competent musicians whose musical library is vast and deep and demanding. Along the way, I married the girl I always wanted. She quit her teaching job and joined the band, toured with us for seven great years. We made several records, and spent the majority of the last decade on the road. You may have heard our music on TV. We’ve had our songs on dozens of shows like Nashville, Parenthood, How I Met Your Mother. We have toured with artists like the Avett Brothers, John Hiatt, Needtobreathe, and a host of other kindred souls. We have sold out our own shows in places from Chicago to Austin, LA to New York, London to Denver, on stages we never dreamed we would play, and selling over 100,000 records in the process, all while staying independent. Our music is simple and heartfelt, built to inhabit people’s day to day lives, like so many of the records I have loved over the long haul in my own life. Medicine is by far the best music we have ever made. When I played it for a respected friend, I asked, “What do you think?” The response was, “It sounds like it’s always been there.” We recorded the whole album in eight days, co-produced by the band and Joe Pisapia (Ben Folds, KD Lang, Guster, Josh Rouse) at Joe’s Middletree Studios, in East Nashville, about a mile from my house. We recorded one song at a time, until it was finished. No studio tricks, just me and a great band working together, creating, having fun, embracing the sorrow.

It’s always been about the song for us, a community of musicians surrounding that song and bringing it life, trying to make it sound like it has always been there. The twelve songs on Medicine deal with loyalty, hardship, marriage, friendship, feeling like an outsider, and wrestling with God. “You’ll Always Be My Girl” is a love song to my bride Ellie, who after eight years on the road with us, is stepping away from the band. I came up with the first line when I was playing with our daughter Emmylou before putting her to bed. I wasn’t trying to write a song, just entertaining her and I came up with the first line – ‘from the start of spring to the autumn leaves, and the summers and winters between...”

After tucking her in, I dashed off the rest of the song in 45 minutes. It was the night before we went into the studio for the last time. When Ellie got home, I played it for her. She loved it, and we cried together for a moment and celebrated what we’ve got and what we’re grateful for. The next day, I taught it to the band, and we recorded the 24-hour-old song in one take. Nathan Dugger on piano, Rich Brinsfield on upright bass and me singing, just sitting in a circle. That ethos embodies the whole experience of making this record.

“Shine Like Lightning” is a song about us being an underdog band, never embraced by the powers of radio, major labels, large corporate sponsorships, and in light of that we have a healthy chip on our shoulder. But our music making has brought us, and our fans, a lot of happiness, it seems. This is an ode to ten years of doing it our own way, on our own terms, in spite of the roadblocks of cynicism and criticism, those who would “take something beautiful and make it feel small.” It’s an anthem for our band and our fans, that we are going to “Shine Like Lightning!” critics and cynics be damned.

Breaking with my previous autobiographical songwriting bent, I wrote songs like “Heartbreak” and “Sister Brothers,” based on the experiences of friends instead. Elsewhere, “American Beauty” looks back on the nostalgia and loss of a teenage romance. The grooving, call-and-response “Here We Go” was inspired by that particular night shared with friends at Bonnaroo. Medicine closes with “When It’s All Said and Done.” It’s about questioning whether God is real and whether he cares about us or not ... and not walking away from that, but holding on to it like you’re hanging on to the side of a cliff, and that’s where I find myself at this point. More than anything else, Medicine is born out of the stories we are told.

The email from a fan who was on the verge on suicide but our song gave her glimmer of hope to keep hanging on. The story by the bus of fans who danced their first dance to another one of our songs. The mom who sings our music to her kids before they go to sleep, begging for peace and health and a happy life. The people who dance in the back of the rock club and have a moment of joy in a world of suffering. We only hope to add to the soundtrack, in the same way that all those artists and bands have done for me. Making medicine, Music, it makes you feel good, makes you feel understood like you’re not alone, not a rolling stone, you’re not the only one on the road.

Some artists are able to articulate a vision at the very beginning of their career, while others hone their craft over time, growing into their vision as they mature.

"I am definitely in the latter category," explains Drew Holcomb, a Tennessee-born, duck hunting, bourbon drinking, 1st edition book collecting, golf playing Eagle Scout with a Masters degree in Divinity from Scotland's University of St Andrews (he wrote his dissertation on "Springsteen and American Redemptive Imagination") who has spent the better part of the past decade as a professional musician – recording, writing, and touring with his band Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors.

Since releasing their first album, 2005's Washed In Blue, Drew & The Neighbors (Ellie Holcomb, Nathan Dugger, Rich Brinsfield) have established themselves as a formidable indie act, selling more than 75,000 records, playing more than 1,500 live dates, selling-out headline shows, and touring alongside such varied acts as The Avett Brothers, Ryan Adams, Los Lobos, NEEDTOBREATHE, Susan Tedeschi, North Mississippi Allstars, Marc Broussard, and more. Their songs have been used in countless television shows and commercials, most notably in TNT's Emmy Award winning 2011 Christmas Day NBA Forever spot, which paired the song Live Forever with a mesmerizing montage of past and present NBA video footage.

The hard work has paid off with the band's sixth album Good Light showcasing Drew's signature brand of singer/songwriter Americana in its finest form yet. Recorded live at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Good Light arrives shortly following Drew's 30th birthday and the birth of his first child, daughter Emmylou (named for – you guessed it – Emmylou Harris), with wife and band-mate Ellie Holcomb. I think about my daughter every time I sing the title track, how I want to sing it over her when she is old enough to start understanding the world of truth and consequence," says the Memphis native who now calls Nashville home.

"This album perfectly tells the story for a new stage in my life," explains Drew "On past albums I was searching for my voice, both literally and figuratively. I co-wrote a lot of songs, peppered the music with too many influences, and let too many other voices in my head."

With this album, Drew dedicated himself to the process of songwriting, stripping away extra layers, ridding himself of past boundaries and expectations. He wrote more than 40 songs for Good Light, mostly alone on his 1934 Gibson Archtop, eventually whittling the selections down to a final 12 tracks.

Drawing from personal experience to craft songs that speak to all of us, Drew explores the universal need to find meaning and joy in the midst of heartbreak and disappointment throughout Good Light. The last song on the album Tomorrow opens with the lyric, 'Nothing ever turns out like you thought it would.' It's a theme that permeates the album.

"I have been through really difficult things," Drew continues. "When I was 17, I lost my younger brother, and have lived through the grief of that great absence. On the other hand, I have experienced the joy of being married to the girl I always wanted, and have been loved really well by her…Everyone has all these different ingredients; our geography, our family, our interests, the places we have been and the places we long to see, the loves we have found and the loves we have lost. Each of us has a story, and it's the only one we can tell. With this album I'm telling my story, in the hope that it helps other people tell theirs."

Floco Torres, a Willingboro, New Jersey native began writing raps for and with his friends shortly after an English teacher in high school told him his dreams of being a journalist may not be the best way to go. Playing instruments like violin & trumpet as a child, music wasn't a far-fetched path but it wasn't his first (or second) on the list.

In 2008, Torres moved from Willingboro to Atlanta, Georgia for a marketing internship with a major record label. On the drive down to Atlanta, that plan fell through and this landed him in Macon, Georgia with family. Floco quickly got to work and landed an opening slot during Macon's largest music festival; Bragg Jam. In 6 years, he has released a number of projects independently which led him to winning Best Local Hip-Hop artist 4 years in a row as well Best Local album three times.

In 2011, Floco won the "Gateway Macon Music Competition" for his song "Cherry Street", an upbeat tune about his experiences throughout the city. The song went on to win 6 local ADDY awards (Advertising/Design), 1 regional & one national Telly award. In 2015, Floco released two EP's produced by DJ Shawty Slim (Grammy nominated musician B.O.B's touring DJ) and after a positive buzz from both, Torres looks to reach a larger audience on the road in 2016.

The Lonely Biscuits are an alternative rock band hailing from Nashville, Tennessee. The band is comprised of Grady Wenrich (vocals, guitar), Sam Gidley (drums), and Nick Byrd (bass). The Lonely Biscuits formed in August 2011 at Belmont University, where Grady Wenrich and Sam Gidley were roommates. Bassist Nick Byrd lived on the same floor and joined the band in January 2012.

The Lonely Biscuits first started gaining attention on college campuses around the country, while they were still students themselves. The last four years the band has been headlining small clubs across the U.S. and opening for other national touring acts. The Lonely Biscuits have played on numerous festival stages such as Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Hangout Fest, Austin City Limits, LouFest and South by Southwest. In 2013, MTVu named The Lonely Biscuits “College Artist of the Year”, and gave them the opportunity to play alongside Macklemore, Tegan and Sara, Alt-J and many more at the MTVu Woodie Awards in Austin, Texas.

After graduating in May of 2015, The Lonely Biscuits partnered with independent distribution company “InGrooves”, and Nashville producer/engineer Paul Moak to record and release their new material. The Lonely Biscuits’ “Come Around” EP is scheduled to come out later this year, and their anticipated debut full-length is to be released in 2016. The “Come Around” EP has a more mature and honest sound, while still staying true to their playful and lighthearted personalities. The band has plans to tour extensively around the release of the EP, and will return to the studio in the winter to record their debut album.