INTERVIEW: Joe Mansman & The Midnight Revival Band detail new single, upcoming tour
“When we began writing [“Down Like a Dog”], we were just back in a headspace of wanting to pen crushing riffs and big choruses.”
In the course of almost a decade together, Joe Mansman & The Midnight Revival Band have been one of the few rock-and-roll bands to truly break out of the area, landing coveted slots opening for nationally touring acts and scoring placements on video game soundtracks like NASCAR Heat 3.
The band has also managed to be subtly prolific, recently releasing their fourth single this year after putting out a pair of EPs and a couple standalone singles in the three years prior. All in all, they’ve amassed quite an enviable catalog of music.
“We always think we aren’t big enough to warrant anyone caring about an album,” Joe tells me. “We’ve wanted to do one and have made many attempts, but in the end we just keep coming back to EPs. We’re never short on material because we write all the time, but we think maybe the shorter the better in the end because it causes us to pump out stuff a lot quicker and rebrand and play shows.”
Their latest single, “Down Like a Dog,” begins with a twangy acoustic guitar quickly giving way to a gritty southern-rock riff that grooves straight into a chorus which stretches Joe’s voice to the top of its range. It’s a sound that conjures up their earliest works, and something they also tapped into with preceding singles “In Love With the Trip” and “Killing Season”.
“Over the past two years, we released a lot of pop-heavy stuff (“Strange Ways,” “Take It Easy”) just because that’s where our heads were. When we began writing this one, we were just back in a headspace of wanting to pen crushing riffs and big choruses.”
“Earlier this year we pondered coming up on our ten year anniversary as a band so that too maybe played a part subconsciously because this song does kind of harken back to our outlaw rebel rock roots.”
“Down Like a Dog” will undoubtedly become a live favorite at upcoming shows, the environment where the band thrives best. The band are unarguably performers through and through, leaving everything on the stage with Joe being one of the most charismatic frontmen in the scene. They are unabashedly rowdy, naturally giving off major ‘bad boys of rock-and-roll’ energy. This reputation has landed them opening slots for bands like Quiet Riot, Dokken and Jackyl, not to mention tours with heavy metal band Texas Hippie Coalition.
“We got on a tour with them in 2022 when we signed with Pavement Entertainment,” Joe recalls. “Before long, we just kept getting more and more offers with them.”
In fact, the two bands are reuniting again for seven shows in 11 days. The tour kicks off today in Pennsylvania, and will take the guys from Glens Falls to a variety of venues in new cities, delivering them just a taste of what the 518 has to offer.
“We have a surprising amount of fans in the south and midwest that connect with us all the time about coming back. I’m looking forward to giving them a hell of a show again!”
Joe Mansman & The Midnight Revival Band’s new single is available on all major streaming services.
Pick your poison right here.
The full dates for the band’s Fall tour with Texas Hippie Coalition are as follows:
10/10 Mechanicsburgh PA, Lovedrafts Brewing Co.
10/11 Fenchtown NJ, Arties
10/13 Rochester NY, Montage Music Hall
10/17 Pittsburgh PA, The Crafthouse
10/18 Marietta OH, Adelphia Music Hall
10/19 Flint MI, The Machine Shop
10/20 Lakewood OH, The Winchester Tavern
