The Womack Family Band is an Americana music quartet from Norwalk, Ohio

Norwalk, Ohio

At the 2000 census, there were 16,238 people, 6,377 households and 4,234 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,950.3 per square mile . There were 6,687 housing units at an average density of 803.1 per square mile...

. The group consists of Haley Heyman (guitar, mandolin, keyboards, vocals), Noah Heyman (guitar, mandolin, bass guitar, banjo, vocals), Tony Schaffer (piano, guitar, bass guitar, alto saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, vocals), and Cory Webb (drums).

Formation and Band Name

The members of The Womack Family Band gradually came together around multi-instrumentalist Tony Schaffer, who had previously played bass with singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Chris Castle

Chris Castle

Chris Castle is a folk/Americana singer-songwriter. Cleveland Magazine has described his writing as an "authentic connection to the world-weary soul of American roots music", while The New London Day's Rick Koster calls Castle "a visionary songwriter" and "a tunesmith of almost scary vision,...

. Schaffer and Noah Heyman started performing together as an acoustic duo in 2008, adding vocalist Haley Heyman to the line-up within six months. That same year, the trio became the featured weekly act at the Office Bar in Norwalk, Ohio

Norwalk, Ohio

At the 2000 census, there were 16,238 people, 6,377 households and 4,234 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,950.3 per square mile . There were 6,687 housing units at an average density of 803.1 per square mile...

, where they met bartender and drummer Cory Webb. Schaffer and Castle came up with the group's name during an impromptu performance in Streetsboro, Ohio

Streetsboro, Ohio

Streetsboro is a city in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It is formed from the former township of Streetsboro, which was formed from the Connecticut Western Reserve. It is nearly co-extant with the former Streetsboro Township; the village of Sugar Bush Knolls was also formed in part from a...

, with what was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek nod to fans of singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Tommy Womack

Tommy Womack

Tommy Womack is an American Singer-songwriter, musician and author.Womack has a long history as a songwriter and as a musician with many bands and recording artists/acts, both defunct and active. His recordings span multiple genres: folk, rock, country, alt-country, and indie music all being...

 who were in attendance. The name stuck, and was used as the title for the Womacks' 2010 debut.

Debut Album and The Drenched Earth Tour

Folk Alley named The Womack Family Band their featured artists of July, 2010, based upon the strength of early demos that they had uploaded to the website. The group released their self-titled debut disc on September 15 of the same year, at the Winchester Music Hall (Lakewood, OH). The CD release corresponded with the launch of the Drenched Earth Tour; a seventeen-state performance stint, co-headlined by Chris Castle

Chris Castle

Chris Castle is a folk/Americana singer-songwriter. Cleveland Magazine has described his writing as an "authentic connection to the world-weary soul of American roots music", while The New London Day's Rick Koster calls Castle "a visionary songwriter" and "a tunesmith of almost scary vision,...

and running nearly two months in length.