The Brummies

The Brummies hail not from the English city of Birmingham but a town of the same name in Alabama. These southern origins may suggest that the trio play roots music — as does the fact that Jacob Bryant and John Davidson, two of the key Brummies, earned success as country songwriters, penning the Band Perry’s 2013 hit “Done” — but the group’s 2018 debut, Eternal Reach, is a lush pop record, steeped in classic rock, AOR, and yacht rock traditions in equal measure. Jacob Bryant and John Davidson first began their creative collaboration as songwriters. Their first notable success was “Done,” a song the Band Perry took to number one on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart in 2013. Shortly afterward, they began performing as a duo called John & Jacob, releasing an independent eponymous album in 2014 and placing the single “Be My Girl” on the Nashville TV series. John & Jacob’s big breakthrough came when they landed an opening spot on Kacey Musgraves’s Same Trailer Different Park tour in 2014. While on the road with Musgraves, the duo began collaborating with Trevor Davis. Once the Same Trailer tour wrapped in 2015, the band officially hired Davis and rechristened themselves the Brummies, taking their name from slang for natives of Birmingham, England. Signing with Sandbox, the music management team behind Musgraves and Little Big Town, the band began working on a debut, while also maintaining a steady touring schedule. Eternal Reach, which featured a cameo from Kacey Musgraves on the single “Drive Away,” reached stores in April 2018. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine