Along with headliners Missy Elliott, Anderson .Paak and the Free Nationals, and The Killers on the lineup for this year’s RiverBeat Music Festival will be local Memphis band Jombi. The genre-bending group consists of four members: Auden Brummer, Sam Wallace, Bry Hart, and Caleb Crouch. All native Memphians, they’ve brought their electric live performances to countless venues here, as well as Nashville, New Orleans, North Carolina, and elsewhere. Last week, I sat down with them in the Mike Curb Lodge at Rhodes College, their frequent rehearsal space.
Essentially, Jombi is a group of “lifelong friends,” Hart says. They started at School of Rock in Memphis, a nationwide music education program for young players. Hart and Brummer began at the school in 2013, playing medleys and cover shows with other students. Crouch and Wallace joined the program around 2016. Now, Hart, Brummer, and Crouch all teach at School of Rock.
But the four always had an appetite for their own project. In 2020, they started rehearsing at Hart’s house, adopting the name “The Jombi Jam Band.” The name stuck, but not without some resistance. Crouch and Hart remember questions like “That’s the name?” and “In two years, that’s what y’all are gonna be?” Not to mention the occasional mix-up with Outer Banks character John B. Now, almost 5 years later, Jombi has released an EP and two studio albums, and toured throughout Memphis and the South.
Out to Pasture was the band’s sophomore album, a project that wholly demonstrates Jombi’s multi-instrumentalist skills and collaborative songwriting. Wallace wrote the lyrics and sings on the track “Break/Melt,” a haunting and hypnotizing 5/4 tune that highlights the band’s long-established chemistry and rhythmic finesse. Brummer coined the hook for “Nothing Left to Say,” the band’s highest-streamed song on Spotify. Hart recalls why he loves that lyric: “It’s poetic but it’s simple.” Hart writes plenty of lyrics for the band as well. He even “hears Auden’s voice in [his] head” when working on his own projects. The band regards Crouch as “the musically educated” one in the group. Their widespread talents ooze out of their music. It’s no surprise they’re preparing for their biggest festival date yet.
RiverBeat came onto Jombi’s radar after a show at Overton Square a couple of months back. Post-performance, Hart met Brent Logan, the talent buyer for Mempho Presents, who organizes RiverBeat, Mempho Music Festival, Shell Daze Music Festival, and more. Logan liked their set, and the two exchanged contact information. Hart told Logan, “We just wanna throw our name in the hat” for Mempho-sponsored festivals. The band was disappointed when they didn’t see their name on the Shell Daze lineup. They thought, “[It] was our only chance. … We’re not gonna play RiverBeat.”
Just a couple months later, Logan texted Hart asking if they wanted a spot at the Tom Lee Park festival. Hart got the message in the middle of teaching a lesson, but quickly found Brummer (who was with his own student) to share his excitement. Before committing, though, the group had to make sure: “Can Sam do it?”
Wallace, besides being their lead guitarist and certified “noisemaker,” is a student at Belmont University in Nashville. Before giving Logan the green light, Hart, Brummer, and Crouch had to confirm that he was available for the festival weekend. To no one’s surprise, the answer was a resounding yes.
Being in the other music city three hours out of Memphis, Wallace says there have been challenges, but nothing that wasn’t worth overcoming. “[I] give up a piece of my college experience to be in Jombi,” he says. He says he’s gone home six weekends in a row before. But, for Wallace, a six-hour round-trip is worth it for his family, friends, and incredible gigs. “I just went home to fucking play with Futurebirds.” Wallace is referencing Jombi’s show at 1884 Lounge last fall, where they opened for the big-time touring band out of Athens, Georgia. Now, he’s going home to play on the same day as Anderson .Paak and the Free Nationals.
From their roots at School of Rock to album release shows at the Pink Palace Planetarium, Jombi has shown an equal amount of determination and talent since their formation in 2020. RiverBeat is just the beginning, too; Hart says the gig is “totally lighting a fire under our ass.” Jombi’s songwriting won’t be stopping anytime soon, and neither will their touring. They’re preparing to embark on their Spring Fling Tour, with dates in Nashville, Birmingham, and more. Keep an eye out for their next studio release and get your tickets now for RiverBeat on the weekend of May 2nd.