The Revivalists Artistfacts

2007-
David ShawVocals2007-
Zack FeinbergGuitar2007-
Rob IngrahamSaxophone2007-
George GekasBass2007-
Andrew CampanelliDrums2007-
Ed WilliamsPedal steel guitar, guitar 2007-
Michael GirardotKeyboards, trumpet2007-
The genesis of The Revivalists dates back to 2007, when frontman David Shaw moved to New Orleans in pursuit of forming a band. He was working on a song called "Purple Heart" on his front porch when Zack Feinberg (now the group's guitarist) stopped by and helped Shaw complete the tune.

Subsequent jam sessions led to Rob Ingraham (saxophone), George Gekas (bass guitar), Andrew Campanelli (drums, percussion), Ed Williams (pedal steel guitar) and Michael Girardot (keyboards, trumpet) joining the band.
The earliest version of the band played their first show in 2007 at Checkpoint Charlie's on New Orleans' Esplanade Avenue after passing an open mic audition at the dive bar/laundromat. The band appeared as "The Revivalists" for the first time when they got a chance to play at Tipitina's a week later.
The band's name was inspired by the state of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Feinberg told Billboard that the reasoning behind their moniker was to "invoke life" back into the Big Easy:

"When we formed, the city was getting back on its feet again," he explained. "We're coming from that time and place in New Orleans and we're playing music that's a bunch of guys in a room playing instruments… It's part of what the band was founded on, just playing real music and believing what we're doing."
Shaw lived the wild life as a rock star for a couple years until an incident after a night of hard partying in 2009 set him straight. The singer accepted a ride home from a man while he was still drugged up and inebriated and was nearly sexually assaulted. He sings about his sobriety on "Get It Honest," the title track of the band's 2026 album.
The Revivalists achieved their breakthrough with their third studio album, Men Amongst Mountains, in 2015, largely thanks to the hit single "Wish I Knew You." Shaw, who sings about being so in love that he wishes he'd met his partner earlier in life, kept quiet about its inspiration for a while but revealed it was about his then-girlfriend Sam, whom he ended up marrying in 2022.
In 2021, Revivalists frontman David Shaw released a self-titled solo album after writing a handful of mellow, stripped-down songs that didn't quite fit in with his band's alt-rock oeuvre. He released a second solo album, Take A Look Inside, in 2024, around the time he started working on the Revivalists' Get It Honest album.
The Revivalists were saddened when David Bowie died of cancer in 2016, but instead of covering one of his songs like many other grieving bands did, they decided to write one in his honor. Rob Ingraham is their resident Bowie fanatic, so he was brought in as a writer to "bring an interesting perspective and realness to the song and story," says Shaw. The result was "Bowie," which debuted two months after the singer's death and features a verse sung by Ingraham.
The Revivalists have the distinction of being a New Orleans band where none of the members are actually from New Orleans. The eight members' roots stretch across the country from from New York, Ohio, and Connecticut, to Tennessee, Texas, and California. The band converged on the Big Easy because of its musical reputation.

"One of the reasons a lot of us were attracted to New Orleans is that we knew there was this nurturing environment for live music," guitarist Zack Feinberg, a New York native, told Rolling Stone in 2021. "There are tons of music venues, and it’s not hard to get up and play if you want to."
Shaw became a father for the first time when his daughter, Tedi, was born in 2024. Most of the other guys in the band were already dads when Shaw joined their ranks, and the singer noticed their connection deepened. "I just feel like we have a higher level of compassion for one another," he told People in 2026. "It's helped us be better humans all around."

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