When New England Country Music talked to Waterloo Revival last, the band had just released their latest single, ‘Bad For You.’ Since then, the song has taken off, backing up their previous tune, ‘Hit The Road,’ which debuted less than a year ago. The duo is made up of Texans, George Birge on lead vocals and guitar and Cody Cooper on guitar and backup vocals, and they can’t wait to play in a city near you.
The pair released their first single on their own, prior to signing with Big Machine Label Group. After inking the deal, ‘Hit The Road’ was taken off the charts to re-release it as members of the Big Machine family and the song debuted in the top 50 on the Mediabase Charts. Written while working their previous desk jobs, it got the attention of TK Kimbrell, Toby Keith’s manager, who then flew in to Austin to watch the guys play. They inked a deal right on the spot with TKO Artist Management and had their song sent to Scott Borchetta, president of Big Machine Label Group, landing them a contract with Big Machine Records a week later.
The timing was right, as ‘Bad For You’ hit the ground running on July 30th, surrounding Waterloo Revival with a positive response to their latest ballad. The song, which is set to hit radio later this summer is setting the boys up for a radio tour nationwide. “We keep saying it’s two minutes and 30 seconds of energy,” said Cody. “It’s one of those songs where we get done playing on the stage, we’re drenched in sweat and neither of us can breathe. We leave it all out there.”
It was back in sixth grade that the guys met and “Cody took about two years to teach me how to play a few chords,” George laughed, but it wasn’t until a couple of years later that the pair began writing. Even going their own way for college couldn’t break the bond of the songwriters, as Cody left for the University of North Texas and George stayed in Austin to attend the University of Texas. “We had a big going away show; it was like our little high school music project we had together,” said Cody. “We got together throughout college and the breaks, emailing each other song ideas. Music kept us in contact throughout the college years in different cities. Luckily we had the creative compatibility to keep doing it.” Lucky is right, but after a certain point talent and persistence takes over, as it did for Waterloo Revival.
It’s personal experience and feelings that drive the music for the Texas boys. “As a songwriter, you go about your day taking in the world and trying to see what impacts you emotionally,” explained George. “Both of us keep logs on our phones, which have song title ideas from things we run into throughout the day.” The success of these every day rising stars hasn’t always been the source of income, but it was their description of putting in their two-week notices to their day jobs that got NECM laughing. “I definitely do not miss it,” chuckled Cody, who worked in the mortgage industry. “That was honestly the most rewarding experience to put in my notice and say ‘by the way, I’m doing music full time, I signed a record deal.’” George shared the same sentiments about leaving his job in commercial real estate behind. “It was amazing. It was always in the back of our heads, that we wanted to be professional musicians. People look at you crazy when you say you want to be a rock star. We tried to do the responsible thing and get a desk job. This was always the dream. It still kind of seems like a dream to us.” A dream that is reality now, highlighted by the moments of stardom, like looking over during a show and Steven Tyler and Tim McGraw were standing backstage watching them play.
It is the humble attitude mixed with talent and passion that will take this duo far. George, a die-hard golfer, and Cody, a water sport fanatic, take every chance they have to respond to their fans, called Revivers, on all forms of social media and in person. “We love interacting with our fans. We make it a point before or after to sign as many things and meet as many people as we can,” said George. 2015 has been, and will continue to treat the guys well, who will be opening for big-name acts such as Toby Keith, The Band Perry and Joe Nichols. They will also work on their new EP, which will be “like nothing we’ve put out before.” Revivers are ready and the success story will continue to grow for the men of Waterloo Revival.
This was written by Lauren Rose, contributing writer for New England Country Music. You can follow me on Twitter here.