When Shawn James’ fans make the trip northward to Upper Bucks County to catch his show on August 10 The Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com), they would be well advised to get to the comfy theater early enough to hear the opening band’s set.
Performing the role of lid-lifter will be New Reveille, an Americana/alt-country band from Raleigh, North Carolina.
New Reveille — Amy Kamm (lead vocalist), Daniel Cook (banjo, guitar), George Hage (lead guitar), Kaitlin Grady (cello), and Autumn Brand (violin) — self-released its debut album, “Cannonball,” in 2013.
The band sold out its very first show at Deep South The Bar and soon was playing to standing room only audiences — crowds drawn in by the band’s powerfully crafted songs, incredible showmanship, and eclectic live shows.
New Reveille will be kicking off its current tour this weekend with shows at the Sellersville Theater on August 10 and at Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, New Hersey on August 11. It will mark the band’s first show at the highly-regarded venue. The rest of the tour will run through the South and Mid-South.
The versatile musicians are touring in support of their new album “The Keep,” which was released late last year via Loud & Proud Records. The 13-song album was released on September 2.
“The Keep” was produced by Nashville-based, Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Ben Fowler (Rascal Flatts, Ruby Amanfu, Lucy Hale, Kip Moore). New Reveille performed the songs for the first time at AMERICANAFEST in Nashville this past year.
“We recorded ‘The Keep’ in Nashville with Ben Fowler,” said Cook, during a phone interview last week from his home in Raleigh. “We cut it at Ocean Way Studio and also did some recording at Blackbird Studio.
“We did a couple stints in January and February 2018, did a little co-writing, and then came back a few weeks later to finish it up. Most of the writing on ‘The Keep’ was done by me and Autumn. Now, it’s more of a collaboration with three of us. Autumn and I write, and Amy puts her stuff on top.”
Originally, Cook was the sole driving force.
“The band got together around 2013,” said Cook. “I went to the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. It was a studio project with Amy and me. Amy had never sung before. She was a nurse, a mother and a wife. We met through a Craigslist ad.
“We recorded music at my house and our first EP was called ‘Cannonball.’ We had Autumn Brand come in as a session player. We had a music video and an album before we played a show.
“Our first show was in January 2014 at Deep South The Bar in Raleigh and it was sold out. We mostly played locally for the first year-and-a-half. Then, we took a year-and-a-half off.
“We got back together in 2017 and signed a record deal. Our music has a broad appeal – fans in their late teens and early 20s to people in their 70s.”
The good news for New Reveille fans – other than the opportunity to see the band perform live on stage – is that there is a new album on the horizon.
“We’re looking to do the next record late fall or early winter,” said Cook. “We’ll do it ourselves with crowd funding. With the recording part, we’re going to keep it in North Carolina this time.”