Lance Vanley in 2019 returned to his West Texas home after studying music in college.
His uncle, Jeremiah Vanley, approached him knowing he plays guitar.
“What are you doing on Monday nights?” Vanley said he asked him, realizing many of his friends had left the Permian Basin, America’s highest-producing oil basin. “I said, ‘Nothing.’ “
So many Monday nights Lance would spend playing in the back of a vacuum shop with the band his uncle asked him to join. The band, which became the Treaty Oak Revival based in Odessa, rolls into Hertz Arena in Estero for a concert at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22.
Becoming a band
“At that time, it was truly a kind of jam band,” said Lance Vanley, who plays rhythm guitar and provides background vocals. “We were just hanging out the first month or two.”
Then band members began writing parts of songs and creating sounds that they patched together for a first album, No Vacancy, in 2021.
“It went from maybe we want to be a bar band and play cover songs or maybe we want to be a real band,” he said.
In addition to Vanley, Uncle Jeremiah plays lead electric guitar, Sam Canty is lead vocalist and plays acoustic guitar and Cody Holloway is the drummer.
Music influences ― Van Halen to Eminem
Lance Vanley said he grew up listening to music his dad played, including Van Halen and Kansas. Vanley said he enjoyed Blink 182, while
Other band members grew up enjoying 1980s hair metal bands, Credence Clearwater Revival and Eminem, he said.
With such a diverse range of musical taste, it’s no wonder Treaty Oak Revival packs a unique sound that some have described as a rock band with a country accent.
A fan once told Vanley that Treaty Oak Revival reminded him of old or original Lynyrd Skynyrd, to which he replied: “I said, ‘Heck yeah, I’ll take that compliment any day.”
Some also call Treaty Oak Revival a renewal of the Southern rock sound, of which Lynyrd Skynyrd were among the pioneers.
The band recently returned from Australia, where they performed soldout shows in the Land Down Under.
“It was wonderful. Honestly, it felt like we were playing back in the states,” Vanley said.
“Australians know how to have fun at a show. The energy was crazy. We can’t wait to go back.”
They’ve been promoting their latest album, West Texas Degenerate, that drops Nov. 28.
“This album is about growth, coming of age, overcoming adversity, and the concept that even though your hometown may not define you, it will always be a part of you, wherever you may land,” Canty said in a news release. “We want this record to bring Treaty Oak and small town West Texas living to the world.”
West Tex roots keep everyone grounded
Band members remain grounded despite the fast road to stardom, Vanley said. Treaty Oak Revival recorded a few albums and grew especially on music platforms like Spotify.
Vanley said they all were still holding down full-time oil industry jobs while they began practicing, performing and recording music.
“Being from Permian Basin, we grew up out there and it’s about hard work, dedication and basically showing up when you don’t want to,” he said.
“And a lot of that has translated into this music career. When I was 5 I was learning how to drive a truck out in the (oil) patch. That was my Saturdays growing up.”
And for first-timers attending a Treaty Oak Revival show, Vanley said crowds can expect high energy. He and his bandmates move around the stage throughout, delivering loud country-rock guitar riffs beneath flashing lights
“We love to go to basically go up there,” he said, “and turn it up to 10 or 11 and run it from there for the rest of the show.”
Know before you go
When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22
Where: Hertz Arena, 11000 Everblades Parkway, Estero
Tickets: From $67; parking cashless, $30 plus fees and tax
Information: hertzarena.com or treatyoakrevival.com
Dave Osborn is the regional features editor of the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. Contact him at dosborn@gannett.com and follow him on Instagram @lacrossewriter.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Oil field to rock stage: Texas band Treaty Oak Revival brings the energy
Reporting by Dave Osborn, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
