Nashville, TN
Harmonic roots
RIYL: The Decemberists, Avett Brothers, Grizzly Bear

Echo: as in reverberation, as in a repetition of a sound caused by reflection, as in a vestige of the past.

Boom: as in a sound that commands attention, as in an increase in importance, as in the generation that raised the members of the Farewell Drifters.

Echo Boom, the band’s third album, displays a growing maturity both musically and thematically, as the band considers the pressures and expectations placed on their generation by the previous one, and the ramifications of some of the vague self-actualization advice passed on by the boomers to their latchkey kids. That sentiment is expressed in “Punchline,” the lead track from Echo Boom. Britt, who wrote the song, juxtaposes earnest seriousness (“I don’t know what it is that fills my head with doubt/I just wanna shine the light that’s trying to get out”) with the idea that life for his generation often seems like some cosmic joke, and that success is akin to successfully delivering a punchline. The chorus ends with the plea to “Let me deliver, let me deliver.” Many of this generation find connection through virtual community, which leads to an increasing inability to find substance in relationship. Bevill says, “Facebook and Twitter and mediums like that have their place and they’re fun, but it’s not a place where friends can tell real truths and find real depth. You can’t find true hope and encouragement there.”

There is a certain rightness to the idea that The Farewell Drifters explore these themes through the framework of roots and folk music that is perhaps the most communal of musical genres, but being part of this “echo boom” generation, their influences are shaped, sometimes unconsciously, by music far from the roots music they’re associated with. “Someone pointed it out to us that the percussive rhythm in ‘We Go Together’ was similar to Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya.’ That wasn’t a conscious thing, but I’d be proud to list Outkast as an influence,” jokes Bevill. And even the discussion about the harmonies that adorn songs like “I’ve Had Enough” and “You Were There” create, uh, disharmony when deciding who the real influences were. Britt says, “I heard Grizzly Bear or Fleet Foxes when we were working out those parts, but Zach hears Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys.” Echo Boom finds The Farewell Drifters growing from young men into thinking men, crafting great songs, employing great musicianship and finding their considerable place in this world.

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