Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors’ ‘Tennessee’ Named An Official State Song

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Drew Holcomb. Photo: Tabitha Gould

Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors’ song “Tennessee” has been designated as an official Tennessee State Song.

The song received the designation following unanimous passage through both the Tennessee House and Senate and was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee. Drew Holcomb performed the song live on the House Floor at the Tennessee State Capitol on Monday (April 6.)

Holcomb’s Tennessee roots run deep. Born and raised in Memphis, he studied in Knoxville before planting roots in Nashville, and brought his beloved Moon River Music Festival from Memphis to Chattanooga, where it continued to draw fans from across the country. Holcomb and his wife Ellie have also been featured in a Tennessee tourism campaign, making the “Tennessee” designation a natural extension of a story already deeply woven into the state’s identity.

“I am beyond humbled that the state of Tennessee has chosen my song as an official state song,” says Holcomb. “It is an honor I could not have imagined as a young kid learning to play the guitar in Memphis, or as a college student in Knoxville playing my first concerts, or even now, years into my career in Nashville as a traveling singer/songwriter. This song was written when we were still a young band touring the country in a conversion van, playing shows all over the country, often homesick, thinking of getting back to this place we love. Everywhere we go, people ask for this song, regardless of where they are from. At the end of the day, it’s a song about home, and my beloved home is here in Tennessee.”

With his band, The Neighbors, Holcomb has released ten albums over the past two decades, including Strangers No More Volume Two (2024) and Strangers No More (2023), amassing more than 400,000 albums sold and over 500 million global streams. Known for making each show a celebration of community, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors create a powerful sense of togetherness, exemplified by their No. 1 Americana single “Find Your People.”

Lorie Hollabaugh
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