Published by Cel Manero from Global One Media Inc.
The New Orleans artist reflects on fatherhood, his journey to sobriety and other deeply personal experiences.
Inspiration can strike at the most unexpected moments. For Revivalists singer David Shaw, the idea for the band’s latest track, “Get It Honest,” arrived while he was asleep.
Shaw recalled waking around 3 a.m. with lyrics in his head. He quickly reached for his phone and began typing them down, sensing that the words were too important to risk forgetting.
The resulting song offers an unfiltered reflection on growing older, confronting past mistakes and accepting responsibility. Its candid message also provides the title for the Revivalists’ sixth studio album, which Shaw, 43, considers the New Orleans group’s most unified creative project to date.
Shaw believes music has a unique ability to reach people at precisely the moment they need it. He hopes the new record connects with the band’s audience on a deeper level and leaves listeners with something meaningful.
The Revivalists — Shaw, Zack Feinberg, Ed Williams, Rob Ingraham, George Gekas, Andrew Campanelli, Michael Girardot and Paulet “PJ” Howard — have been making music together since 2007. The group came together after Shaw relocated from Ohio to New Orleans. One day, while Shaw was playing music on his porch, guitarist Feinberg happened to pass by on his bicycle and stopped after hearing him play.
That chance encounter eventually led to the formation of the Revivalists. The band released its first album in 2010 before reaching a much larger audience several years later. Their 2016 hit “Wish I Knew You” went triple platinum and topped the Adult Alternative chart.
Shaw wrote the song for his wife, Sam, whom he married in 2022 and describes as the love of his life. More broadly, he views songwriting as an outlet for working through his emotions and experiences, saying that putting his feelings into music can sometimes be more effective than keeping them private.
Family has also played an important role in Shaw’s recent creative work. He wrote much of Get It Honest during a significant period in his personal life surrounding the birth of his daughter, Tedi, who is now 2.
Some of the material was created shortly before Tedi arrived, while other songs emerged during the demanding early months of parenthood. Shaw said the music seemed to come naturally during that period, with a creative flow that felt unusually effortless.
Fatherhood has also influenced the dynamic within the Revivalists. Seven of the band’s eight members are dads, collectively raising 11 children. According to Shaw, becoming parents has strengthened the group’s relationships and given the musicians greater empathy and understanding toward one another.
Shaw also credits sobriety with having a positive impact on his life. He describes himself as “sober-ish” and says he has avoided alcohol and hard drugs since 2009.
His decision to change course followed a frightening incident after a night of heavy drinking and drug use. While accepting a ride home, Shaw said he came close to being sexually assaulted, an experience that ultimately became a major wake-up call for him.
