Despite titling a hit song Bad State of Mind, Treaty Oak Revival are in a good place.
The Odessa, Texas, quintet’s vibrant, genre-blurring sound – vocalist and acoustic strummer Sam Canty describes them as a “rock band with a country accent” – has put them in front of massive crowds at punk fests like the Warped Tour, C&W-curated blowouts like Stagecoach and at their own sold-out shows.
They’ve gotten their music on Paramount Plus’ Landman and racked up platinum-streaming singles since 2020. Their third album, West Texas Degenerate, debuted at the top of the Rock and Americana/Folk charts at the end of 2025. Another smash hit from the fall didn’t go over as well.
“Sam got hit in the face with a beer, that was memorable,” lead guitarist Jeremiah Vanley says of an especially rowdy outdoor performance in Easley, South Carolina. The can of brew bloodied up their frontman, but “Sam ate it and kept going,” says rhythm guitarist Lance Vanley – Jeremiah’s nephew.
Of the frothing frenzy the quintet instills in their fandom, he adds, “We're all a little mad when we get pelted; I don't understand why they throw cans at us.”
Treaty Oak toss plenty of style into West Texas Degenerate, a reflection of Jeremiah and Lance’s youths spent studying Metallica and Switchfoot, respectively, and playing in various cover bands and church groups before launching their Revival. Boot-stompin’ grit merges with pop-punk hooks on Port A.
The watery bass chorus on Shit Hill briefly gives grunge. The album’s opening Intro finds guest guitarist Edgar Viveros of Ben Quad delivering layers of emo texturalism beneath a real-deal recording of a fan comparing Treaty Oak’s guitar wizardry to Neal Schon and Michael Schenker.
“All I can think of is a casserole,” Lance says with a laugh of the worlds-swirling aesthetic. While purists might think it odd to bring wrist-grindingly metallic judding to a country song – as on Naders – Treaty Oak Revival may be the ones to finally bring spin kicks and mosh moves to the Grand Ole Opry. “That's my favorite song on the record, probably because of that breakdown,” Jeremiah adds.
Though happy to deliver those djents, Jeremiah also scorches his way through a number of solos, from the mesquite-broiled arpeggiation of Blue Star to the Bad Horsie-riding finale of Bad State of Mind, a rare effects-laden ripper.
“Because I'm a pretty Plain Jane player, I don't use a lot of effects, but when I do, it's a phaser or a wah pedal,” he says. “It's just something I've always been a fan of, growing up listening to a lot of Kirk Hammett, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. I wanted to incorporate that wah into my playing.”
- West Texas Degenerate is out now via TOR Records.
- This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.
