“With a notebook and a pen/You know I can’t pretend” -Verona
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Take one look at his tousled locks, wire-rim glasses and lanky build, and 20-year-old, Nashville-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Drew Pulliam appears to be a cross between an angelic choirboy and pop icon Buddy Holly. Listen to the music on his remarkable debut album, Back of My Mind, on producer Steve Azar’s Delta Mississippi-based Ride Records, and you will understand the prescient title of his first EP, “16 Going on 60,” released in 2023.
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Filled with bittersweet observations on adolescent angst, romance found and lost, and the vagaries of love, Pulliam is truly an old soul in a young body. It’s a tribute to those influences that range from his favorite songwriter Leonard Cohen to the rhythmic drive of the Lumineers, the Americana roots of Ray LaMontagne, the Avett Brothers, Shakey Graves, Fleet Foxes, Dan Auerbach and Caamp to the epic orchestral flourish of Leonard Bernstein, the Beatles and another idiosyncratic personal pick, America.
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Born in Jonesboro, Arkansas and home-schooled until high school in a church-going Christian household, Drew traces his musical roots to performing piano and guitar on a home stage under the guidance of his mother, head of the local community theatre.
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Pulliam began performing at local bars, weddings and other events, before heading off to study audio engineering at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. There, he took advantage of the opportunity to record and release his songs with noted performer/producer Steve Azar, including this debut album, not far from the mythic birthplace of the blues where Robert Johnson made his deal with the devil at the crossroads.
Azar, who has been mentoring and working with the young artist since 2022, said, “Drew is way ahead of his years – musically, lyrically and soulfully. He’s a tremendous player and has a pure melodic voice that will grab a hold of you with every line.”
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Pulliam’s piercing falsetto – evoking a love of vintage Michael Jackson – gives the opening title track and first single/video a layer of heartache (including the Kris Kristofferson lyrical nod, “If freedom’s got nothing to lose/Why am I still chasing you”?), while the gentle acoustic picking which opens “Samson’s Song,” a biblical tale reflecting the war of the sexes, is reminiscent of Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird,” with Pulliam also acknowledging the influence of Jeff Buckley’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” “Toe Tappin’” sonically and lyrically reflects the communal stomp-clap of “Ho Hey,” with its thrill at the honeymoon phase of meeting someone new, while “Pristine Girl” paints a vivid canvas of love at first sight (“Angel eyes and merlot hair/Swear to god she’d steal the air”).
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“I wrote that when I was 17,” he said of “Pristine Girl.” “It’s about not feeling worthy in a relationship, trying to sort all that out while you’re still in high school.”
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His delta blues roots come out in the hand claps, slide guitar and gurgling B3 organ of “Kickback Kind,” while his lone cover, the Seven Hollows’ “Lucy,” offers a lyrical homage to John Lennon’s lysergic vision (“She’s got diamonds in the sky/And kaleidoscope eyes”). On “Verona,” Drew’s plinking piano sounds its regrets for the one that got away while a haunting Neil Young feel hovers over the plaintive, vulnerable closer, “Too Many.”
“Most of the songs on this album are based on relationships, and the thoughts people have when going through them, that stay in the back of your mind,” explains Drew about the record’s inspiration. “The title track is about the sense of loneliness that washes over you after something’s over, but you don’t necessarily want people to see. So, you put up a brave front, and that’s what that song is about. Writing is a little like therapy for me. I get to work out my feelings in the songs, and they serve as snapshots of where I was in my life at that point in time.”
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Drew played virtually all the instruments on Back of My Mind, from acoustic guitar and piano to mandolin and drums. “There’s such a pocket of culture centered around the Cleveland, Mississippi area, including music and food,” he explains. “This album has some bluesy elements, but it’s really a folk record at heart. It was hard finding the right musicians in the area, so I had to just learn to play a bunch of instruments. I went to Memphis to buy a mandolin and taught myself how to play it. Now, it's one of my favorite instruments.”
Less than a year ago, Pulliam relocated to Nashville, where he has joined several local rock and blues bands as either a guitarist or keyboard player, participating in songwriter rounds all over town. “Best thing I’ve ever done,” he admits about moving to his new home.
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With a debut for the ages in Back of My Mind, Drew Pulliam is about to make his mark on the music scene as a triple threat – singer, songwriter, instrumentalist. With one foot planted in the mud of the fertile Delta below and the other in the limitless possibilities of the pop sky above, this promising newcomer should be in front of everyone’s mind before too long.
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“I’ve noticed a lot of growth in the writing and just the way I produce with Steve,” acknowledges Drew, who cites Southern novelists like Flannery O’Connor, William Faulkner and Harry Crews as touchstones. “Some of these songs I did on my own and then sent to him for suggestions. I feel like this album is finally approaching what I hear as my sound. I just hope I’m on the right path because it’s the only one I know.”