Treaty Oak Revival is “Rock with a Country Accent”

To label Treaty Oak Revival a pure rock band wouldn’t be entirely accurate. After all, the West Texas quintet has become infamous for its very country-themed tales of working oil rigs and building gas plants, abusing various substances and courting an array of morally questionable characters.

However, to slot Treaty Oak in with the likes of country stalwarts like Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs wouldn’t be entirely fair either. For one, Treaty Oak – partially because of the subject matter, partially because of its very unique sound – will never make waves on country radio. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, the band rocks way too hard to fall straight within the country vein.

“We’re certainly not your traditional country band,” lead singer Sam Canty said on a recent phone call. “There are aspects of a lot of different genres within our music, even metal and punk rock. We’ll give you a hardcore country concert, but we’re a rock band through and through; we just happen to be from Texas. I always tell people, we’re a rock band with a country accent.”

Whatever their approach or defined sound, it seems to be working.

Treaty Oak, which emanates from Odessa, actually began as a cover band many years ago, but the group only released its first proper studio album, No Vacancy, in 2021. Have a Nice Day followed two years later, and the band is releasing its third studio album – West Texas Degenerate – on November 28.

To ring in the new year, and celebrate the new album, Canty and his Treaty Oak bandmates are playing a New Year’s Eve show on December 31 at Toyota Center. The show will sell out; not bad for a band that was opening for other headliners just last year.

“Once we put out our first record and started to take a turn (on the road), we started to realize, it was more than just our friends and family coming to the shows,” Canty said. “Actual people were there, and the shows just grew and grew. We worked on our live show and wanted it be the rowdiest, craziest country concert you’d ever see, so we kept getting more elaborate.”

To listen to a Treaty Oak record and witness the band live is an experience unto itself. For starters, Treaty Oak the band doesn’t do sacred cows. Canty sings of tumultuous relationships, substance abuse and enough late nights to make George Jones blush. The live show even dials it up a notch, given Canty and his bandmates are absolute maniacs (this is a compliment) in a live setting.

Now, one thing that’s interesting, given the subject matter that soaks through many Treaty Oak tunes – cocaine, amphetamines, whiskey, women. Hell, the band’s new album is titled West Texas Degenerate! When, in fact, Canty is happily married and has been sober for three years. He was a “pretty huge drinker” from age 18 and a “pretty severe alcoholic” for a near-decade-long stretch back in the day. To hear a Treaty Oak song – “Ode to Bourbon” and “I’m the Worst” immediately come to mind – is a testament to this way of life.

“It had gotten to the point where alcohol was affecting every outlet of my life, the band and my relationships,” Canty said. “It had always been my dream for this band to take off and play music full time. Then, I came to realize that I was the one inhibiting that from happening … I have plenty of content from those days, so I’m no stranger at all to writing a song that speaks about that.”

Taking off doesn’t even begin to describe Treaty Oak’s trajectory. The band has booked a number of festivals in recent months – Stagecoach, Warped Tour, Sand in My Boots – and is among the hottest names in the industry.

West Texas Degenerate, which expands the band’s sound to more of an arena pitch (they’d better get used to it; the days of playing country halls and local honky-tonks is long over), is basically a trip through Texas. “Port A” tells of young Spring Break shenanigans, and the title track displays an assortment of West Texas, um, “characters.”

But it’s the more poignant tracks on which Canty and Treaty Oak truly thrive. “Withdrawals” will hit with anyone coming out of a meaningful relationship, “Dosin” will hit with anyone who has used substances to cope with the end of that relationship, and “Sunflowers” (maybe the most beautiful song the band has recorded to date) will hit with anyone with a heart.

Treaty Oak Revival – the next big thing? That train may have already left the station.

“This music is our legacy, and it will be here long after we’re gone,” Canty said. “It’s our job to make it the best we can, to make people say, ‘That band was pretty badass; you should have seen them.’”

Treaty Oak Revival performs Wednesday, December 31 at Toyota Center, 1510 Polk. For more information, visit toyotacenter.com. Tickets $66-$414.

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