Treaty Oak Revival - Have a Nice Day (2023)

Treaty Oak Revival didn’t really have a choice but to be a country band. They grew up in West Texas, a market that practically demands bands play country, and, well, it’s also hard to escape your roots.

“I have an accent,” said Sam Canty, the band’s lead vocalist, in an interview with BandWagon – and for the record, he sure as heck does.

Even so, all that Texas red dirt country the band seemed destined to play couldn’t bury their love of rock and roll, especially in a world of modern crossovers. Canty is unafraid to proclaim his love of big punk acts such as Sum 41 and Blink 182, and so, like Chelsea Grin’s mix of metal and rock or Dropkick Murphys’ blend of heavy-leaning Irish folk, Treaty Oak Revival finds themselves with their feet in more than one arena.

But the band loves its roots. So much, in fact that it stuck the fictional jackalope on its merchandise. The animal, and local residents’ joy in tricking others that they exist, is a big thing in Midland, Texas, where the band got together in 2019. Musically, they pay homage to their roots too, especially on their first album, a traditional, country-sounding record. Canty writes most of the songs, though they all have a part in the process, and he based many of the tunes off his own life and observations of his hometown.

“Most of us spent our lives in ‘Oilfield,’ West Texas,” Canty said. “What you do is go home, drink and get in a fight with your significant other. That in itself is a lot of country songs.”