Bio
For singer-songwriter Drew Richcreek, music has always been a part of his life. Some of his earliest memories stayed with him because of the power of music, with easy listening bands such as Bread playing in his crib or his father patting his back in rhythm to put young Drew to sleep. Initially from Sioux City, Iowa, Drew moved as a child to Columbia, Tennessee an hour from Nashville.
Drew’s first exposure to live performance came to him when he was five years old. He attended a choir sing-a-long event put on by two churches.
“I remember the lights being dimmed, and the two choirs would alternate songs, before they decided to sing together,” he says. “Seeing different people come together as one, and making the most joyful noise I have ever heard in my life had a profound impact on me.”
As he grew older, Drew saw musicians as being guided by their heart and soul, driven by virtues like love or truth. Life in Columbia didn’t provide the right environment to pursue music, and so Drew moved to Memphis to attend The University of Memphis.
Living in Memphis meant learning about the city’s past, as well as the contemporary musicians that called Memphis home. Drew got a job working promotions for 3 separate radio stations, and got to learn about acts from Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, and Jerry Lee Lewis to North Mississippi Allstars, Big Star, and Saliva. Over this four year stint in the industry, Drew was able to network and work for major players in the music business, including a two-year period for The Recording Academy, which puts on the Grammy Awards.
Gleaning knowledge of the business from his job, Drew joined the rock band Aurora during his college years. Aurora enjoyed humble success, getting radio play and the chance to open for bands like Hoobastank, Everclear, and 30 Seconds to Mars, but the band members sadly parted ways. Drew has grown into his own as a solo artist, having had the pleasure of opening for John Corbett, and has played the Bluebird Cafe, Tootsies Orchid Lounge, The Mansion at Fontanel, and Douglas Corner.
Drew‘s music is often categorized as Americana intersecting blues, country, and jazz. While able to play electric guitar, Drew prefers to perform acoustically. His creative influences range widely, with Drew citing James Taylor, Bill Withers, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Sam Bush, Chris Thile, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, and Dave Matthews as inspiration for the kind of music he likes to make.
“In an age of digital sweetening and over-producing, I firmly believe that one’s musical talents must be showable outside of any sort of electronic masking,” Drew says. “This means showing a live audience that your sound can pleasantly fill a space without any sort of filter or augmentation.”
Drew lives in Nashville with his wife, Sarah. His current album Dreams of Freedom can be listened to or purchased on over 150+ streaming services globally.