Ghost Hound’s SAVNT Talks About the Band and Performing Two Children’s Hospitals Benefits

The Ghost Hounds are a national country rock band that also infuses a bit of soul into their sound. They will be performing at the Byham Theater Saturday, February 7. And  a portion of the concert proceeds will benefit UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. (The group is also performing a benefit concert on February 5 in Erie for UPMC Children’s Hospital at UPMC Hamot). The Rolling Stones had the Ghost Hounds as their opening act when they played Acrisure Stadium in October of 2021. They’ve also supported in concert other big names like ZZ Top, Garth Brooks, Guns N’ Roses, and Bob Seger. 

Fronted by lead singer SAVNT, who made it through several rounds on the 13th season of NBC’s “The Voice,” the Ghost Hounds have recently released their fifth studio album, Almost Home. It features guest appearances by Lainey Wilson and Patty Griffin among their own top-notch talents. Ghost Hounds have several strong local connections. Thomas Tull, who formed the band, is a Sewickley entrepreneur and renaissance man. Tull is a guitarist, lead songwriter, and producer for Ghost Hounds. Joe Munroe is the other Pittsburgh native and plays piano and keyboards. Other members include guitarist Tyler Chiarelli, violinist and fiddler Kristin Weber, bassist Bennett Miller, and drummer Sydney Driver. 

SAVNT spoke with Entertainment Central in advance of their Western Pennsylvania concerts. When asked about his exposure to country and rock music growing up in Englewood, New Jersey, he said that his parents were West Indians from South America and weren’t tied down to one type of music. He said his dad exposed him to country artists such as Charlie Pride, Willie Nelson and the Mandrell Sisters, while his younger brother drove his interest in rock ‘n’ roll music. SAVNT said, “Living in New Jersey I was exposed to a lot of different kinds of music. When I first started talking to the band [the Ghost  Hounds] they said ‘It feels like you’re coming home.’ As a solo artist, so many people try and push you in one particular direction and when you’re trying to figure yourself out as an artist you don’t like to be confined and this band does that for me. I don’t have to choose anything, I can be all of it.”

I was curious about how he joined Ghost Hounds. “Greatest story of all time, at least for me. Like what happened to the artists of old. Basically, I was leaving New York. I now live in Denver. I just wanted a change from the New York/New Jersey scene. So I was like, I’ll do one more show…It was the worst conditions, it was raining and I only had one rehearsal for the show with my guitarist. So, I got up and did my thing and it just so happened that the previous lead [singer,  Tré Nation] for the band [Ghost Hounds] was in the crowd. So, we met up after the show and he was like, ‘You’re awesome!’ and I said thanks bro. It wasn’t anything crazy for me and it wasn’t until the following week, until I landed in Denver and got a call that said, ‘Tré [Nation], essentially alley-ooped you and said you’re the guy.’ It was crazy and that’s why I am grateful to Tré, because he’s the one who put me here.”

When asked about the writing and recording process with Ghost Hounds, SAVNT said, “We record everything in Pittsburgh. We love it here. We have our own home studio, Maple House, and we record everything. What’s been really cool is Thomas [Tull] is an incredible writer in general. He does the same thing that each of us as artists do, sits with a song by himself for a while. The type of writer he is though is he kinda writes a script. Like he knows exactly what this person had for breakfast. He’s creating a story. I’ll sit with him after that and we’ll go through it and I ask what is this supposed to feel like? That’s also when we bring in Tyler the lead guitarist, then we sit with it together. Then we cut the demo and introduce it to  the rest of the band. And then the band, kinda like improv acting, where each thing is going to inform the next decision. As an artist Thomas is very much like, um, ‘lift that, give me a little more bass, let’s put a fiddle solo here. But we’re all able to play and really form the song. That’s what it’s like.”

When asked what it’s like working with the two Pittsburghers in the band (Tull and Munroe), SAVNT said, “Joe was actually the first person I met when I came in January 1, 2024, so he’s kind of like an uncle to me at this point. He will pull me aside and say, ‘so this is how we massage this area right here.’ We do a lot of exercises together in regards to this music thing. With Thomas he’s just a true Pittsburgh-ian, he loves Pittsburgh. It’s just cool to explore this town that both of them know and love. And Joe takes us everywhere, too. He’s always taking Sidney and Bennett to different golf places because they all love golf. I have to get into it at some point.”

SAVNT and the Ghost Hounds worked with two legendary performers on their latest album: Lainey Wilson and Patty Griffin. SAVNT recalled about working with them, “What was really cool about Lainey was that we specifically reached out to her about ‘Before You Leave’ and nobody knew if she was even going to say yes. Then when she did, that was a mind blow of itself. Then when she did she said, ‘Yeah, I know about you guys, I actually heard your name before.’ I was like what, you care about us? So that was really cool. Lainey actually had a show here in Pittsburgh. I was able to go to the show and actually spend some time with her. The next day she came to the studio and that’s when we cut that version of the song. That was really fun. She is, what you see is what you get, she is one of the kindest people ever. We were like two kids in a candy shop, we were just like what if you do this, and I try that part. A really cool person to collaborate with.

“As we all know, Patty is a legend. My first show with the Ghost Hounds was at the Roxian in 2024 and we did that song ‘Long Ride Home.’ We saw the crowd’s reaction to it and we said we have to do this justice. So we cut our own version of it and it was very much like with Lainey, we didn’t know if she would say yes or not. We just sent it to her and we were like we’ll see. And she was like, ‘Oh yeah, I have to help on this, this is great.’ Again it’s just getting validation from the greats that we’re actually doing something great.”

SAVNT said that he and the Ghost Hounds are really looking forward to the UPMC Children’s Hospitals benefit concerts; that performing for Children’s is near and dear to his heart and that he had a little cousin who died of brain cancer a couple of years ago. He mentioned that he’d performed at a Boston Hospital as part of the Ryan Seacrest Foundation. “That as an artist you should always be giving back to your community and it doesn’t feel like service when you do it from a place of love.”

In addition to the concerts in Erie and Pittsburgh the Ghost Hounds will be playing dates in Kansas City, Texas, and Chicago. SAVNT mentioned that they were also working on a few other music projects.  
Also on the bill  is former Eagles member Don Felder, a very talented guitarist, who will perform Eagles hits and songs from his own catalog. He is best known for co-writing the hit “Hotel California” and for his intricate guitar work on it and other Eagles songs. 7:30 p.m. Byham Theater, 101 6th St., Cultural District.

Rick Handler is the executive producer of Entertainment Central.

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