Make Like A Shovel | The Revivalists & Strongsender

Words by: Donovan Farley

We’ve been working with JamBase contributor Donovan Farley for about six months now and noticed he has a great eye/ear for up-and-coming acts. As such, we’ve enlisted Donovan to pen a column for the site dubbed “Make Like A Shovel” in which he’ll profile act(s) we think you’ll dig.

For the first installment of my monthly column where I share some of my favorite up and coming bands on the scene, I thought I’d pick two very different acts. The first are The Revivalists, a joy-filled New Orleans explosion of a band who you’ve no doubt at least heard of if you attended a summer festival this year. The second is Strongsender, a rather mysterious and brand spanking new project featuring the wonderfully complex and collaborative work of three very talented producers. These are two very different projects that are both worthy of additional attention.

The Revivalists are a band that is not easily satisfied. Appreciative? Of course. Enjoying the hell out of the ride? Sure. But despite having concurred countless festival stages (Hangout, Wanee, Jazzfest, Governor’s Ball, Bonnaroo, High Sierra, Snowmass, All Good, Gathering of the Vibes, Jam Cruise, Mountain Jam, Lockn’, Allman Brothers’ Peach Festival, Jazz Aspen, the list never stops), winning praise from none other than Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke and selling out venues in every corner of the country, this is a band that knows there is still more. And it’s that impressive drive that makes up the core of The Revivalists.

One only needs to take a look at the band’s relentless touring schedule to see they remain as hungry as they were when they formed by chance in New Orleans in 2007. That anecdote, like much of The Revivalist story, is the kind of gumbo of music and magic that only a place like New Orleans can produce. The band began completely by chance one afternoon when guitarist Zach Feinberg happened to take a different bike route home than usual. Feinberg had been looking for a vocalist when he chanced upon vocalist/guitarist David Shaw singing and strumming a guitar on his porch. Impressed, he introduced himself to Shaw, and the rest, as they say, is history. Once the lineup was rounded out with Ed Williams (Pedal Steel Guitar), Rob Ingraham (Saxophone), George Gekas (Bass), Andrew Campanelli (Drums), and Michael Girardot (Keys/Trumpet), The Revivalists were born.

“It’s everything man”, bassist George Gekas told me of what New Orleans has meant to the band when I spoke with him on the phone yesterday, “we love this place, people live and breathe the music here.” The Revivalists’ adept fusion of sounds certainly reflects their home city’s wide-ranging taste, as well as its “laissez bon temps roule” attitude.

A Revivalists show is many things; but above all it is a celebration of life and music. It’s a place where the sexiest girl you swear you’ve ever seen shoots her best “come hither” stare at you from across a sweaty, humid dance floor. It’s the kind of place where you hug a stranger at 2 a.m. in the morning and swear that you’ll stay in touch forever, knowing full well that this night’s joyous occasion is all you’ll ever share, and that that’s enough. It’s an experience. A happening. The septet’s ability to convey this night after night, city after city is the reason for much of their impressively DIY success.

Still, the band remains hungry and ever ready for the next chapter. When I ask Gekas about the fact that many (most) jamband-associated acts’ studio albums seem to be an afterthought, he adamantly states that that’s something The Revivalists are seeking to avoid with their next record (which is tentatively due mid-2015). “An album is a photograph of where we are currently, and the challenge is finding the best way to share that photo with all of our fans,” he said, “We want to show them a new facet, something different, while still staying true to who we are as a band. I feel like that’s the hardest thing for a band to do: to have great live shows, but also make great records. That’s what separates good bands from great bands, great bands can do both. Just as we try to improve our live show every time out, we want to do the same with our records.”

The universe has seen fit to reward that sort of drive and determination, as even when things go bad for The Revivalists, the scales seem to end up tipping in their favor. Gekas told me about a night while on tour earlier this year when the band ran smack into a deer doing about 85 near Rensselaer, Indiana of all places. Not only was no one hurt, the band ended up getting their normal tour wheels replaced by an enormous bus and finished the tour out in style. Now if that ain’t some N’awlins voodoo, I don’t know what is y’all.

What’s also refreshing (and quite rare) is the humility the band is still showing in the face of all their recent success. In fact, in speaking with Gekas and asking if the band had a particular ethos, he told me that each member would probably say something different, but that in the end it comes down to two very New Orleans things: hard work and being nice to people.

The band’s ability to break outside of their home turf has been as impressive as anything they’ve done at home. From selling out the Brooklyn Bowl, to being asked to open Umphrey’s McGee’s 2,000^th show and go on a west coast jaunt with the band next spring, the strength of the Revivalists’ wave is at this point pretty undeniable. The band will celebrate the end of their triumphant year with a New Year’s Eve show at the legendary and beautifully rebuilt Georgia Theatre, an honor the band isn’t taking lightly. Gekas summed up the historic room and festive occasion nicely by saying, “The Georgia Theatre is really a magical room, a beautiful old war horse. Before our success was even in the stratosphere of a dream, I’d listen to tapes from the Theatre and be blown away at home many bands brought their A Game there, which is something we obviously plan on doing as well.”

Gekas also told me the band would get together after the holidays and plan something special for the engagement, but told me he couldn’t divulge any secrets just yet. Considering the band, the date and the room, I’m willing to wager it’ll be a magical evening, just like the rest of The Revivalists’ story.

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Strongsender is a bit of an enigma. The trio of producers create a fascinating instrumental mélange of sounds utilizing both electronics and what they’ve termed “future-jazz” (which is apt) that for me recalled Flying Lotus, some of Thom Yorke’s solo work and Beats Antique. I’ve listened to the group’s jaw-dropping debut Fiction now at least a dozen times all the way through and I still only have about half of the sounds figured out. The tantalizing affair is honestly rather mind-blowing, and I can only imagine the rest of the world will be with me in digging the absolute hell out of this.

Although Flying Lotus is a good reference point for Strongsender, whereas FlyLo’s latest effort was a bit lacking in its directness, Fiction makes no bones about announcing itself; with impressive beats layered over so much textural musical goodness of every stripe it’s impossible not to get taken along for the psychedelic ride. The ominous lurching of songs like “Vital,” “Alvita” and “Vial” feature soundscapes that are akin to a trap DJ on absinthe playing with Medeski, Martin & Wood or perhaps J Dilla on acid conducting a jazz band that’s playing the score to a Sci-Fi horror film. This is how beguilingly far-out these tunes are.

Fiction’s face-melting story plays out like the soundtrack to a film whose major plot points include the future, a strong sense of overall foreboding and some sort of sexy murder. Even listening now as I write this I’m taken aback at the ability of the trio to pull off this heady concoction of sounds. Head over to the band’s website post haste and get lost in this incredibly impressive debut. Yowzers.

That’s it for the first edition of Make Like A Shovel, I certainly hope I’ve inspired you to give these acts a closer look, as they are absolutely worth your time. I also hope you’ll check back in monthly for more goodness from this column.