With piano, mandolin, guitar, bass, horns, drums and vocals, the five-piece Womack Brothers Family Band understands its instruments. A self-defined “hippie-family,” the band brings an atmosphere of comfort and familiarity
to the stage.
The Womack Brothers Family Band will be playing tonight at Donkey Coffee and Espresso, 17 ½ W. Washington St., for the second time this year. Despite the band’s name, only two members are actually related in the form of brother-sister duo Noah and Haley Heyman. The band brings a variety of instruments to the stage to accommodate its folk and Americana styles.
“(Noah is) one of my best friends,” Haley Heyman said. “It’s a blessing to express myself with someone I’m so close to. Sometimes it gets a little sticky between us, buts it’s all good.”
The band has spent a majority of the year on the road on the Drenched Earth Tour. The tour, which has reached Michigan, Florida and Maine, runs through summer and will reach a plethora of cities in Ohio.
“We haven’t hit the actual real parts of the Midwest,” said Tony Schaffer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist for the band. “But we went from Michigan, down to Florida, back up to Maine, and it was fantastic. We didn’t starve to death, so we must have done something right.”
With a recent mention in Cleveland Magazine, the Womack Brothers Family Band has made a name for itself throughout Ohio. Native to Norwalk, Ohio, the band is proud of the folk and Americana music that is becoming prevalent in the Midwest.
“I feel like it’s a great change,” Schaffer said. “I feel like the Midwest has needed to stand up and make a name for itself as far as music goes. The Americana music that’s coming out is great, and the Midwest deserves to leave its stamp on the history of music.”
The band looks forward to playing in Athens, a city that the band always has on its agenda.
“Athens is an oasis right here in Ohio,” Schaffer said. “It’s got a great scene with the culture and art, and a lot of people embrace it — not only music, but poetry, film and art. People really embrace it, and Athens is a great town for that.”
The show also will feature Kelly Latimore, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist residing in Athens.
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