Westbound Revival

THEIR STORY

Hailing all the way from Bald Knob, Arkansas, Walter Franklin and Hunter West decided to start Westbound Revival after the break up of their older band SilverTounge. The band split due to members leaving and the change of direction the band wanted to take. We were moving forward and some of the other members weren’t able to do the same because of life obligations, but most people knew/know us by SilverTounge. Good things started to happen to us when we were in that band. A couple of big shows and then boom… we were in with a whole other crowd and scene that we had never been in before. That’s where our buddy Blake Allison from Egypt Central and Devour the Day comes in. Blake came to the bar we were playing at in Little Rock and heard us, all by random chance btw, and he really liked it. He approached Hunter and more or less told him he dug it and asked if we wanted to open up for his band at the Metroplex. That was the point when we knew we had to push this a little harder. After we played the first show we got asked to come back again and opened up for Red Sun Rising. These shows built the proper relationships needed to make us bring the band to life. Once the other members had left, we gathered ourselves. It took almost a year to realize we needed to change the name. Hunter and Walter weren’t gigging at the time so they looked for a new bass player. Where we come from it’s hard to find a good one, and if you do he’s usually just strictly a cover band bass player, so it took some time to find the right one.

WHAT INSPIRED THEM?

Well including all of the musical interests that each of us have, we also have other interests. To be a musician you have to find inspiration. You yearn for it! Each of us is somebody to someone else.
Walter is a loving Father of two boys. Those are two of the biggest inspirations for him because he wants the best life possible for them.
Hunter is married and gets inspiration from writing. Looking back on old memories is inspiring when creating something. Reflection is key. You can definitely hear and feel it in the music. You can also tell when it’s not there in any genre.
Caleb is the youngest cat in the bunch. He is a loving son and loyal to his family. You can definitely tell how this inspires him if you know him personally. It seems as if he’s playing for a better life for him and his family or simply because it makes life better when playing, and that is inspiring in itself. A life of less stress an more play is the key to a long lasting one. That’s what inspires us folks!
We want to make life a little bit better and a little more fun for you guys by serving up hot an fresh Rock N Roll!! Who needs anymore inspiration than that!

WHAT ARE THEIR INFLUENCES?

Each of us in Westbound Revival come from a different musical background. Caleb Knight, the bass player, loves anything from Funk to Metal to Alt Rock/Grunge and Rap. He’s been known to even play some Punk every once in a while. Walter is similar in the way that he likes most of the same bands Caleb does, which is great to have in a 3 piece. A bass player and drummer that vibe great together can really take up a lot of musical space in a song if arranged that way. This is one of the reasons our sound is the way it is. They definitely have a chemistry that comes from loving some of the same bands. Hunter on the other hand is more of an “old School” type, which Walter and Caleb like all the classics too. You have to love them if you wanna Rock N Roll! But they are more diverse in their influences. They like a lot of newer bands that Hunter doesn’t listen to. Hunter comes from more of a “Classic Rock” type of background. His influences include AC/DC, Neil Young, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, CCR, Nirvana, Al Green, Muddy Waters, and of course Led Zeppelin. Every Rock drummer is influenced by Zeppelin. What’s Walter’s favorite drummer?… you guessed it John Bonham.
Westbound Revival’s influences definitely show in the music, and the “Balls to the Wall” Rock N Roll show we put on helps out a little too. This is just a short version. Still not the full story, but you guys can find that out later.