Drew and Ellie Holcomb Open up About How They Met and Fell in Love at the University of Tennessee (Exclusive)

Nearly twenty years after saying “I do,” Drew and Ellie Holcomb have forged a romance for the ages. Best recognized as two parts of Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors and their respective solo careers, the Nashville sweethearts have a meet-cute at the University of Tennessee to thank for it all. On the heels of the release of their first official full-length studio album, Memory Bank, we caught up with the husband-and-wife Americana duo, who spilled all about how their love story unfolded at UT.

“I saw this beautiful girl at a pregame barbecue, and I kind of walked near her hoping she’d say hello. And she did,” Drew recalled when asked how their love story unfolded. “She said, ‘Hey, I’m Ellie. What’s your name?’ And I said, ‘I’m Drew.’ She said, ‘What’d you do today?’ I was like, “Wow. A great first question,’ you know? I was taking flying lessons at the time, so I’d just taken my first solo flight that day, and I said, ‘Well, as a matter of fact, I went flying today.’”

Videos by PopCulture.com

That pickup line “set off an hour-long conversation,” but it wasn’t love at first sight. In fact, Drew and Ellie didn’t see each other again for another six months, when Drew says he ran into her again with a group of other people.

“She gets introduced, and I’m the last one in the circle, and she gets to me and she says, ‘Wait, we’ve met before,’” Drew said. “I was like, ‘We have,’ playing it kind of cool, and she goes, ‘Yeah, aren’t you like a pilot or something?’ And I said, ‘Yeah. Who told you that?’ She goes, ‘You did.’”

Although Drew said all of his friends “were mocking me for using my flying as a pickup line,” Ellie said “it was the beginning of a really deep friendship.” The pair went on to become “really good friends after that for a long time” before they eventually “figured out it’s pretty fun to marry your best friend sometimes.”

After Drew graduated in 2003 with a BS from the College Scholars Program and Ellie in 2005 with a BS in English – she followed it in 2006 with a master’s in secondary education – the pair went on to tie the knot in 2006. Their romance even transformed into a working relationship, the pair bringing their musical talents together as they toured together as part of Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors.

Although Ellie ultimately left The Neighbors in 2015, both have remained committed to their love of music. Drew continues to tour nationally and record with Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, the band most recently releasing 2023’s Strangers No More, while Ellie has embarked on a successful solo career, releasing her debut solo album, As Sure as the Sun, just a year prior to her exit from The Neighbors. The three-time Dove Award winner followed it in 2017 with Red Sea Road and in 2021 with Canyon.

After focusing on their respective solo careers, the duo set aside time earlier this year to write together with the purpose of crafting a full album’s worth of co-writes showcasing their distinctive voices. Memory Bank, their first official full-length studio album, dropped on Jan. 24, Ellie sharing at the time that the album was “inspired by our shared love of adventure and experiencing new things, and how we both love to say ‘YES!’ to ‘putting money in the memory bank.’” The pair are now looking ahead to reuniting on the stage as they kick off The Memory Bank Tour in early February. The tour will take the couple across the U.S. before wrapping with a show in Nashville on May 3.