Over the course of nearly 20 years of marriage, Drew and Ellie Holcomb have somehow never managed to make an album together — even though she was part of his band Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors until they started a family in 2012.

That changed this year with last month’s release of “Memory Bank,” a set of 13 originals written together and a cover of Walk The Moon’s “Shut Up and Dance.”

“We have a long history of being each other’s biggest fans but didn’t necessarily write that much together — maybe eight songs before this,” says Drew Holcomb, 42, a Memphis native who met Ellie while both were studying at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. “We have very different approaches to writing, very different approaches to making records. Honestly, I didn’t know how to sing harmony ’til the last couple years.

“So it was never the right time and then we finally decided it was. We’ve been sort of joking it took us near 20 years of being married to write one record together.”

While Drew Holcomb had the Neighbors, Ellie, a Nashville native, maintained her own career, releasing three studio albums and winning three GMA Dove Awards. The two “decided we wanted our kids to see us together on stage,” so in 2019, they began performing shows together, which led to writing together.

“We were pleasantly surprised that we had grown up,” Drew says. “We got along great and started writing these songs, and it really felt like we were onto something good.” Some of the tracks, such as “You Drive Me Crazy” and “We Can Go Dancing,” engage in a married couple’s playful back and forth, which causes their 12-year-old daughter to “kinda roll her eyes and smile.” She and her siblings, aged 9 and 6, help sell merchandise when they’re on the road.

The Holcombs plans to be on the road quite a bit this year, and Drew is confident that their creative partnership will continue.

“I would guess this is the beginning of a whole other, not just a chapter, but another book that’s a part of our lives and careers,” he says. “Ellie’s currently working on her own solo record, and I’m writing myself, as well. It won’t’ be either/or; it’ll be more like both/and, and something we keep doing moving forward.”

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