Wish I Knew You - The Revivalists
We head to a sultry New Orleans to met our next LCM featured artists the award winning indie rock band The Revivalists. Our LCM #SongOfTheDay is their game-changing big hit “Wish I Knew You,” a great song from their third album, "Men Amongst Mountains". Guided by dynamic percussion and punchy horns, the single features a contagious hook and feel-good chorus that has resonated with fans across all different genres.
Though the album was released in July of 2015 (debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard Alternative Albums chart), the band's break out single "Wish I Knew You" has a rare and undeniable staying power. The song steadily picked up steam in 2016 spending over 40 weeks on the Billboard Adult Alternative Chart where it peaked at #1 and maintained for multiple weeks. By 2017, the song crossed to Alternative radio rising quickly to #1 and breaking the Billboard chart record for most single-week spins ever at Alternative radio. “Wish I Knew You” then peaked inside the Top 15 at Adult Pop Radio and ultimately spent 9 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100.
The meaning behind “Wish I Knew You” is up for debate and the band could not be happier about it. “Some of the best songs are the ones that don’t have just one meaning,” says vocalist David Shaw. “We love hearing all the different interpretations our fans have. Of course the song talks about the idea of wishing for more time together earlier in life, but we’ve heard all different takes on who that someone is, what the message means, and even what point of view the lyrics are coming from. We hope that people make our songs their own and ‘Wish I Knew You’ is like a canvas that our fans have filled with their imaginations and personal experiences. That is what we want our music to do.”
The success of “Wish I Knew You” has opened many doors for the band, earning them praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Buzzfeed, Flaunt, Paste and Interview, nabbing them a nod as a ‘YouTube Artist on the Rise,’ and landing them performances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (the host called the song his “summer jam”), Conan, The Today Show, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where Shaw shared a rare and impromptu mid-performance dance with the star. "That was a surreal moment for us," he marvels. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be dancing with Ellen DeGeneres!”
Comprised of acclaimed musicians David Shaw [lead vocals/guitar], Zack Feinberg [guitar], Andrew Campanelli [drums], George Gekas [bass], Ed Williams [pedal steel guitar], Rob Ingraham [saxophone], Michael Girardot [keyboard & trumpet], The Revivalists are recognized as an extraordinary live band. And while “Wish I Knew You” has had a seismic effect on their career, The Revivalists’ relentless touring over the past several years has played a major part in getting them to this point.
The band has sold-out headlining tours in 2015, 2016, and 2017, and performed sets at such marquee festivals as Bonnaroo, Governor’s Ball, Outside Lands, and Austin City Limits. This past year they were invited to perform on the main stage at New Orleans’ Jazz Fest (after six years playing the second stage) for 40,000 people, attracted 5,000 fans to their show at Central Park’s SummerStage in New York City, and visited cities like Toronto for the first time playing to packed houses.
Watch out too for their latest single 'It Was A Sin'.