When
the Farewell Drifters formed, the idea was to graft bluegrass instrumentation and energy to
Beach Boys-styled studio pop, or at least aim in that direction, and the band has pretty much done that, putting them in the
Fleet Foxes/
Mumford & Sons/
Avett Brothers neo-folk-rock corner of the block, albeit with that bluegrass element still in there. The group had its beginning when lead singer
Zach Bevill and mandolinist
Joshua Britt discovered a mutual love of '60s pop and began writing and performing together, bringing in
Clayton Britt,
Joshua's brother, along with violinist
Christian Sedelmyer and bassist Dean Marold to round things out after a move to Nashville. The
Farewell Drifters developed a sound that definitely wouldn't get them kicked off a bluegrass stage, but with songs that were melodically and lyrically structured more like classic pop. The group released
Yellow Tag Mondays in 2010 and followed it with
Echo Boom in 2011, both on Heart Squeeze Records, before signing with Compass Records and releasing
Tomorrow Forever in 2014. ~ Steve Leggett