The Coffee Mill, Radford (Dec. 20 & 21)
202 Market, Roanoke (Dec. 27)

When The Gregory Brothers sing “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” they mean it. The Radford natives will be home for the holidays, taking a few days away from their home in Brooklyn, N.Y., to spread some musical cheer in Southwest Virginia.

Evan, 28, Andrew, 25, and Michael, 23, have performed holiday shows at The Coffee Mill in Radford the past two years. The first year’s show was so packed that the following year the brothers played two dates. That tradition continues in 2007. The Coffee Mill shows will feature almost exclusively holiday tunes. “We’re going to play some traditional Christmas music,” Andrew said, “and we’ll also play some Christmas music that we’ve written.” Included in the latter is a piece that Andrew wrote and says is one of the best things he’s ever written.

Andrew says that over about a 25-minute period, attendees of the show will hear the tale of O’Henry’s “Gift of the Magi” told through song and dialogue. Andrew compares it to a radio play that you may have heard in the 1920s or ’30s.

The band is also excited about its show on Dec. 27 at 202 Market in Roanoke. “We played there at the beginning of our tour in August and then again at the end of our tour in November,” Andrew said. “The guy that runs the sound there, Gary (Jackson), does a great job, so the sound is fantastic and we have a lot of fun. A lot of our friends who will be back in the area for Christmas will hopefully get to come out to see us.” The 202 Market show will be a more typical set for The Gregory Brothers.

Although while Evan, Andrew, and Michael will be the only performers for the Radford shows, the brothers will add Sarah Fullen to the Roanoke show. She’s played many dates on the recent tour with The Gregory Brothers and gives the band the tag line of “75 percent brothers, 25 percent babe.” Fullen met Evan and Andrew a couple years ago in Brooklyn. The brothers admired her singing and songwriting and then, according to Andrew, “Evan and Sarah have been dating a little over a year.”

So before The Gregory Brothers began their summer and autumn tour, Andrew said “it was the most natural thing in the world to learn each other’s tunes and start playing them together, so Fullen went on the road with them to as many shows as possible.

Interestingly, while growing up in a musical household with each brother playing at least a couple of instruments, the three never played together in a band until this most recent tour. The age differences at 18, 15, and 13 seemed a lot bigger than the age differences now,” Andrew said. “We had our own friends and our own bands back then.”

Andrew and Evan had been playing some together in New York as The Gregory Brothers but the full lineup that will be seen in Roanoke didn’t come about until early 2007. The multi-talented brothers generally share lead vocals over the course of the night, along with Fullen on dates in which she joins them. Andrew plays guitar and bass, as does Fullen. Evan and Michael each play keyboards and drums. In catching a show you’ll see various instruments being swapped and turns taken on the lead microphone.

The brothers bring varied influences to the band to create a sound that Andrew says is like Otis Redding wailing on John Prine songs. Andrew lists influences such as Prine, Simon & Garfunkel, and Willie Nelson and said Evan has always been into old-school soul music while Michael brings R&B, hip-hop, and gospel influences to the group.

Andrew released an album this year called The Lost Year, a recording on which Evan and Michael played. Fullen released an EP this year, so all the stars seemed to align to get all three Gregory brothers playing together along with Fullen.

Tim W. Jackson loves holiday music. His holiday playlist in iTunes has, well, lots of holiday songs. Look for some of his holiday tune suggestions on www.newrivervoice.com.