It honestly seems as though New Orleans births bands with the same frequency and volume as the New York subway system accrues passengers.
In the case of The Revivalists, the group didn’t coalesce under the banner of an irrefutable desire to make music as much as an act of pure serendipity. In 2007, guitarist Zack Feinberg took a different route home on his bike and chanced upon vocalist/guitarist David Shaw jamming solo on his front porch, just two weeks after relocating to New Orleans from Ohio. Feinberg stopped, introduced himself and returned later that day to join Shaw’s one-man jam session.
The duo quickly grew to band size with five additional members. The Revivalists settled on their name when they nailed down a gig at Tipitina’s, perhaps the most renowned club in the Crescent City. Over the past seven years, the band has rotated personnel, but Shaw and Feinberg have remained the constants in The Revivalists. I
Blurring the genre lines between Indie Rock, Reggae, Folk, Jazz and Pop, and giving it all a healthy dash of New Orleans Soul, the band’s three releases (an eponymous 2008 EP, 2010’s full-length debut Vital Signs and 2012’s rollicking City of Sound) have all been overwhelmingly well received; the EP was a CDBaby Editor’s Pick in two genres and the band was named Best Emerging Band in 2011 and nominated for Best Rock Band in 2012 at Gambit Magazine’s Big Easy Awards.
The Revivalists recently signed to Wind-Up Records, which reissued City of Sound with a bonus disc of live performances culled from their many sold out dates. Want to go to church without going to church? Get yourself under The Revivalists’ all inclusive tent and dance your sins away … or back to life. Your choice, really.
THE REVIVALISTS play at 20th Century Theater Monday, Nov. 10. Find tickets/more info here .