When The Revivalists released their breakthrough album, Men Amongst Mountains in 2015, they had already been road dogs for years, establishing a reputation for fantastic live shows that keep people coming back for more. And that’s before the mainstream success of “Wish I Knew You,” which topped the Alternative charts and set an airplay record in May of 2017.
The New Orleans-based group are currently on tour celebrating the 10th anniversary of Men Amongst Mountains, including an upcoming Charleston show at The Refinery on Tuesday, November 4th, joined by Lamont Landers.
“It’s been super fun,” says guitarist and founding member Zack Feinberg. “It feels fresh in a lot of ways because in addition to the big hits, Wish I Knew You, and It Was A Sin, we’ve dusted off a few that we don’t play all the time so it feels fun to play those songs.”
Their recent setlists have included deep cuts that didn’t make the original pressing, such as “Piece of Me”, “Bitter End”, and more. Plus, exciting covers like Rage Against The Machine’s “Bulls on Parade”.
Starting The Revivalists in New Orleans
Zack, who grew up in Pleasantville, NY, a suburb of New York City, moved to New Orleans when he was 18 to attend Tulane University.
“I met David our singer when I was 20,” he recalls. “He had just moved to New Orleans and I was a junior in college at the time and he was just singing his ass off on his front porch. Nobody was around.”
He continues, “I was riding my bike and I just stopped. I was like, Wow, this dude’s great. And he stopped singing. I said, Man, don’t stop on account of me. Keep playing.“
David finished the song, and they got to talking about music, and hung out jamming for the rest of the day.
“It was the beginning of our friendship and musical relationship and we were off to the races after that,” Zack says. Not long after, they started out on the road, recruited the rest of the band, and in 2008 released their self-titled EP.
Road Dogs to Men Amongst Mountains
The road took them all over, including many shows in Charleston at venues like the Charleston Pour House, Music Farm, a 2013 show with Government Mule at the Performing Arts Center, and even some frat parties. They also played a special late night set at Bonnaroo’s Cafe Where in 2013.
“We played at Bonnaroo in 2013, it was in a tent at night,” Zack recalls. “We had no crew, it was just a band. We rolled in, got set up within 15 minutes, found the house sound guy and we just ripped it. All these people just poured into the tent and it was just amazing. It was really cool energy.”
It was shows like these where The Revivalists built a name for themselves. They were already selling out some fairly large venues by the time “Wish I Knew You” hit the mainstream airwaves.
“The mainstream success of Wish I Knew You really kicked it up another notch,” Zack recalls. “When it was happening, I don’t think we understood the significance of how big it was and how rare that is.”
Zack says that while the success of the song and subsequent media tour brought lots of new people on board, the main way to reach fans, and how The Revivalists have always done it, is to interact with them on a personal level.
“They see you out at a party live, or stumble across you opening for somebody and it knocks them out, or at a festival,” Zack continues. “There’s no way to beat just seeing it in person.”
According to Zack, The Revivalists’ live show is better than ever, with the 8-piece live band firing on all cylinders, and creativity flowing freely among them. They’re also working on a new studio album, which we will hear more about in the coming months.
Get tickets to The Revivalists with Lamont Landers at The Refinery here.
PS – This show is very likely to sell out.
Zack Feinberg Solo Album: Call It A Miracle
In between his busy schedule with The Revivalists, Zack Feinberg released his debut solo album, Call It A Miracle earlier this year. For Zack, this means stepping out of his comfort zone, and getting back to his small venue roots.
“This is the first time I’ve been out there singing lead,” Zack says. “It’s taken me all these years to get comfortable and confident enough doing that. It’s really nice to have an avenue for some of the songs that I’ve written over the years that are meaningful to me.”
With this project, Zack gets to play rooms that The Revivalists could never play in, both due to their popularity and the size of the production. His next solo show a hometown gig at Chickie Wah Wah in New Orleans on November 20th.
“I sort of characterize myself as a guitarist-songwriter as opposed to a singer-songwriter because I would place the guitar as more of my identity and strong suit,” Zack closes. “So It’s been cool.”
Stream Zack’s new solo album, Call It A Miracle, here.
