Music Will Save The World: Jamestown Revival

 

SOMETIMES the names of American towns are just too perfect to be true. I mean “Magnolia, Texas”? Wouldn’t you just love to be able to tell people you were born in a town called “Magnolia”? Well the two founding members of Jamestown Revival (think, Jamestown, early North American settlement, and then think, Credence Clearwater …) both had the good fortune to be born in the very real Magnolia, Texas. (Population: 1,393)

 

Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance started writing and singing songs together at the age of 15. The harmonies they happened on in the course of their on-stage collaboration proved to be more rewarding than anything they’d dug out of solo performances – and so Jamestown Revival was born.

 

The duo’s songs are crafted out of the raw experiences of being young and Texan. Their musical ear has always been more attuned to what sounds right to them, rather than anything that might sell. Even so, it’s clear that their music fits pretty comfortably under the heading of Americana.

 

Listening to these guys brings back memories of youth hostels and folk clubs: places where young American tourists would lift a Gibson out of its case and just blow everyone away with their astounding musicianship and vocal power. They all seemed to come from places with names like “Magnolia, Texas” too!

 

Jonathan and Zach, self-released their highly acclaimed first album, Utah, in 2014, after which they were picked up by Republic Records. The duo are now based in California – hence the featured track  “California (Cast Iron Soul)” - full of bitter-sweet nostalgia for their old home town. The act's been expanded recently by the addition of Ed Benrock on drums and Nick Bearden on bass.

 

If you like the sound of Magnolia, Texas (by way of California) Jamestown Revival will be performing in Auckland in October as part of the Tuning Fork venue’s “Americana” festival.

 

Video courtesy of YouTube

 

This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road.