Alpha Rev
The Greatest Thing I’ve Ever Learned
Austin, Texas
Photographer: Cambria Harkey
Casey McPherson: (Guitar, Keys, Lead Vocals), Tommy Roalson: (Drums), Brian Batch: (Backing Vocals, Violin), Alex Dunlap: (Backing Vocals, Bass), Derek Morris: (Keys, Vocals), Dave Wiley: (Backing Vocals, Cello)
Above all else, Alpha Rev is a journey into the depths of the human experience.
Frontman Casey McPherson’s gripping, emotional songwriting dares others to search out hope in the bleakest of circumstances and the unique instrumentation pays homage to the classical music that gave him his love for the art. While McPherson’s songwriting and rock-inspired vocals form the core of Alpha Rev’s music, he is supported by a unique cast of musicians that fill Alpha Rev’s songs with as much classical beauty as American rock. In addition to the typical guitar, keyboard, bass, and drums, Alpha Rev boasts a violin and cello that add brilliantly to the band’s sound. Together, Alpha Rev offers up layered, orchestral, melody-driven masterpieces able to turn strangers to super fans in a single listen.Home schooled in small town Texas, frontman Casey McPherson studied classical piano for 12 years and learned to play guitar left handed after figuring out it only worked when he played it upside down. The first band he started, Endochine, performed with Staind, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pete Yorn and many others. During this time, McPherson lost his father and only brother to suicide. Although Endochine was succeeding on many levels, touring took its toll, eventually leading to the band’s demise. Faced with unimaginable tragedy and the dissolution of his band of five years, Casey began to realize that his music, and his life, needed to take a turn in a more positive direction.
The result was Alpha Rev and its distinctive brand of soulful American rock, full of achingly beautiful melodies, haunting lyrics, and classical beauty. Welling up through all the rich, sonic splendor is a message of hope spun by McPherson and his penchant for perseverance. As Austin’s famous landmark club Antone’s raved on their website “witness [McPherson] in action and you know God made this man to play music.”
"With sweeping, grandiose melodies backed by a violin, a cello, and lusty background vocals, McPherson’s achingly sweet voice has finally found a musical context that does him justice, and the result is both exhilarating and sobering. Simply, undeniably, and overwhelmingly beautiful."
"You need to hear the music made by this six-member ensemble...We’ve just listened to their first album and bought it on the spot. It sports a dreamy electrified cello backing many songs; a piano-and-vocal combination that rivals, if not bests,Coldplay; in-your-face percussion; and truly creative production."
"Alpha Rev is the kind of band with a big radio swagger, a grandiose, swelling sound that is
tempered by frontman Casey McPherson’s easy, soulful vocals. The sextet’s songs manage
to be dramatic and stirring without overdosing on sentimentality, a sound that is even more
epic live."
"One detects remnants of U2 and Radiohead in Alpha Rev’s daedalian mesh of sound, but honestly, I haven’t enjoyed an Austin club concert more than the Rev’s set at Antone’s on Saturday. Employing a capacious touring mix, the fivesome could not be more charismatic and their combination of voltaic guitar, undergirding rhythms and electronicized strings had a full house pulsating with social connection. (It helps that the Rev’s lyrics often deal with the way that people cohere, socially.)"
"Overall, The Greatest Things I’ve Ever Learned offers a succulent, multicourse sonic feast orchestrated by a talented songwriter and some incredible players."
"The most obvious difference between this band and its zillion competitors in Austin is the instrumentation…The result is a more deeply textured, often orchestral sound that allow[s] the band to take a variety of approaches to its material."
"My most recent crush: Alpha Rev, whose pop rock “The Greatest Thing I Ever Learned” is alarmingly sophisticated.
Here go 11 Austin acts I adore right now, in alphabetical order: Alpha Rev, Band of Heathens, Explosions in the Sky, Ghostland Observatory, Ghost of the Russian Empire, Grupo Fantasma, Jets Under Fire, Meridianwest, Nelo, Pompeii and White Ghost Shivers."
- McPherson is the winner of the 2007 Sonicbids/Snocap/American songwriter contest for his song “Colder Months”
- First unsigned band on Yahoo! Music online
- Featured artists on mycoke.com
- Selected to showcase at 2007 CMJ National Convention
- Voted 2009's "Best Local Pop/Rock Band" in Rare Magazine
- Selected to showcase at 2008 NACA National Convention
- Songs licensed by MTV: Underaged and Engaged; The Real World
- "Though I Walk" featured in the independent film "Pineapple"
Jeff Buckley, Keane, Coldplay
The Greatest Thing I’ve Ever Learned
Released February 12, 2008



