THE REVELATOR HILL STORY

Revelator Hill started back in 2016, when a few guys in a van were traveling up and down the East Coast, playing shows and supporting an artist’s live album. Somewhere along the way, we figured we needed a band name, since, well, we were a band now. We were always listening to old blues and soul records in the van, and that day it was Son House, rolling down the highway through the Virginia countryside. Somehow, Revelator Hill just made sense, and it stuck.

We kept going, writing songs, playing shows, and getting into the studio. Eventually, we needed a name for the record. After one too many long drives north, including a particularly memorable detour somewhere up in Vermont, Atlantic Detour seemed like the right name. There was always another road, another show, another song to finish. We kept moving, and somewhere along the way, we ended up back home in Virginia, playing a show by the creek that became Live By the Creek. That's pretty much how it happened. A group of guys, a lot of miles, some old blues records, and a bunch of songs.

So, we had two albums under our belt, and the writing, recording, and road dates kept coming. But after a while, all those miles started wearing us down. We never officially broke up. We just needed a little time to catch our breath. Some of the guys moved on to other projects, some of the songs found their way onto other records under different names, and then the pandemic came along and pretty much put everything on hold.

Around 2022, another version of Revelator Hill came together. We played, worked on music, and kept things going for almost a year before that lineup went its separate ways, too. That's just how bands go sometimes. People change, life happens, and the music finds its own way. But the songs never really went away, and neither did Revelator Hill. Now we're back, not so much as a traditional band with a fixed lineup, but as a collective of musicians, friends, and collaborators, picking up where we left off and seeing where the music takes us next.

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Since 2025, some of the members of Revelator Hill have been playing in various musical collectives, an approach that seems to work pretty well in the current music scene around Virginia and Washington, DC. A lot of these groups pay tribute to classic rock bands, and there's certainly a place for that, but Revelator Hill is a little different. The focus here is on original music. Some groups are strictly blues bands, rock bands, jazz trios, or folk groups, while Revelator Hill is a little bit of all those things, with some alt-country thrown in for good measure. There's no great concern about putting a label on it. Anything goes, really, as long as there's some continuity, a shared musical direction, and a consistent level of dedication to the music.

The first album, Atlantic Detour, was pretty heavy on the blues, with plenty of guitar-driven rock and roots music mixed in. By the time Live By the Creek was recorded, things had opened up quite a bit. That record was more about capturing the band onstage, stretching out the songs, improvising, and getting into jam-band territory. It's still the blues, just taking a few more turns along the way. Detours, naturally.

One foot is firmly planted in tradition, and the other is always looking for something new. Blues, rock, folk, country, and the music that came before are all part of the foundation, and those influences aren't going anywhere. But there's also something exciting about stretching a song out, changing an arrangement, bringing in different musicians, or taking the music somewhere unexpected. Sometimes it's loud and electric, sometimes it's stripped down and acoustic, and sometimes it lands somewhere in between. That's part of the fun of it. The songs provide a starting point, but there's always room to experiment, take a few chances, and let the music develop a life of its own.

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Tuesday, October 20, 2026

The Continuing Story of ‘Wish You Well’ and ‘Hillside’… Back in the Studio: Revisiting Old Songs

I used to be a little afraid, maybe even timid, about sharing songs online while they were still in draft form. Why would anyone want to hear the first inclination of a new song, before it's finished or even fully figured out?

But over time, with encouragement from friends and the community of people who have supported the music, I've started to think differently about it. At this stage in my career, after all these albums and releases, why not share a little more of the process? So, here goes…

The first Revelator Hill studio sessions of late 2026 are about revisiting and revitalizing two songs that originally appeared on the 2021 album Old Home. Those recordings were essentially Revelator Hill lineups, but looking back, the songs never felt completely realized. There was more to say, musically, and maybe the timing just wasn't right.

Now there's a chance to go back, pick up where things left off, and tell the whole story through the music. Not necessarily to change the songs, but to give them the room they needed in the first place.

And since this is about sharing the process, here's a little piece of what has been going around in my head lately. A few lines, still finding their way into a song…

This is the end of the time
The golden love we could find
Sweet sounds gone by the wind
Paper trail in a garbage bin

She's moving all over town
While I'm here, standing still
A child of a new tribe

The revision process also includes a couple of other songs. “Never Satisfied” goes way back to the Mud Rey Lusi days, while “Dance With Me” was performed by the interim Revelator Hill lineup in 2022–2023, although it was originally demoed back in 2018 at a small mountain studio near Harrisonburg, Virginia. Both songs have been around for a while, taking different shapes along the way, and now they're getting some fresh treatments, too.