Drew Kennedy

Drew Kennedy plays the Saxon Pub on Wednesday, November 18, as part of The Red River Songwriters series. He's a New Braunfels singer-songwriter known for character-driven storytelling and a voice that often needs little more than a Gibson Hummingbird to carry a room.

Much of the set will likely draw from his eighth album, At Home in the Big Lonesome, produced by Dave Brainard. It pushed him into his most complex territory yet: lush piano pop with strings and dramatic percussion that leaned closer to the Wrecking Crew than to Texas playboys. The record grew out of a personal crisis: while recording at Sony Tree in Nashville, his wife Holly went into labor with their second son, Oliver, who was born fighting for his life back in Texas. Kennedy returned to the studio and called the resulting album even more personal. It includes a cover of Walt Wilkins' "Walnut Street" and the song "Miles to Go," written for his sons.

Kennedy's work has always lived in the storytelling tradition, and At Home in the Big Lonesome is where that songwriting met a bigger, more cinematic sound. The piano pop and strings mark a shift from the stripped-down arrangements he's known for, and the songs that came out of that period carry the weight of what he was going through while making them.

The show is on Wednesday, November 18, at 8 PM CST at the Saxon Pub, 1320 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704.