In late 2023, SAVNT was working a 9-5 at an education technology company while gigging at night. Three months later, he and his newfound band, Ghost Hounds, played before Luke Bryan. A few months after that, they opened up for the Rolling Stones.
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The journey, SAVNT told American Songwriter, was made possible thanks to equal parts dedication and manifestation.
“Maybe 90 days prior, [my wife] was like, ‘You should write down the best case scenario,’” SAVNT recalled of the months leading up to joining Ghost Hounds. “I was talking about all the things that I was grateful for as if they had already come. I was like, ‘I’m grateful that I get to start my full-time career in music January 1, 2024.’ That’s exactly what happened.”
While the whole thing came on fast and “felt like serendipity,” SAVNT’s musical journey has been decades in the making.
SAVNT grew up with parents who played all types of music, from Sam Cooke to Barbara Mandrell to Aretha Franklin. Music was so much a part of SAVNT’s day-to-day, in fact, that he didn’t know other people couldn’t sing until he was in third or fourth grade.
“This girl was just like, ‘Oh, my God, you can really sing?’ And I was like, ‘What? Can’t everybody?’” he recalled. “When I got up in the class and I actually sang for the class, that’s when I was like, ‘Oh, I could really do this.’”
He didn’t begin pursing music right away, though. SAVNT went to college in a pursuit of a child and adolescent studies degree. At night, he’d play open mics.
“It just so happened that people were there,” he said. “That’s where it all really started for me.”
How SAVNT Found His Way to Ghost Hounds
Eventually, SAVNT decided to audition for The Voice. While he made it through several rounds of the show, doors didn’t open after the fact the way he thought they would.
“You’re only as popular as you’re ever going to be as long as you’re on the show. After that, it kind of drops you off. It’s just like, ‘What do I do now?’” he said. “I definitely went through that struggle in coming down off that high. It’s super depressing, super lonely.”
After The Voice, SAVNT went back to his office job, though he continued to pursue music at night. It was during one such evening that Tre Nation was in the crowd.
“Getting into this incredible band, Ghost Hounds, it wasn’t because of The Voice. I almost prefer it this way, because it’s not like I got in through a back door,” SAVNT said. “I was performing and it just so happened that the previous lead [of Ghost Hounds] was in the in the crowd and he made the call and he was like, ‘I got the guy.’”
SAVNT quickly quit his job and flew out to meet the band. When he arrived, “the chemistry was instant. It just felt like we found our people.”
Not only did he connect with his bandmates, but with Ghost Hounds’ music too. In retrospect, it was as if his parents’ varied musical tastes foreshadowed SAVNT’s eventual band.
“I never wanted to be type casted. This genre encompasses all of roots. It’s blues, it’s country, it’s soul and rock. I get to just be all of that,” he said. “As soon as I started listening to even more of the music, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m coming home.’”
Meet the Members of Ghost Hounds
Ghost Hounds, which SAVNT described as a mix of Lightnin’ Hopkins, the Rolling Stones, and Chris Stapleton, is the brain child of guitarist Thomas Tull, a media-shy billionaire whose past ventures include movie production, AI technology, investing, and philanthropy.
“The reason why he doesn’t want the limelight is because he wants the music to shine. He always wants the music to speak first. That is something that I can get behind,” SAVNT said. “… He’s also providing a space for somebody like me who is non-genre specific. Some places in the music industry would have tried to pigeonhole me, but now I get to do all of it.”
As for his contributions to the group, SAVNT said that Tull “is really a genius.”
“He’s like a mad scientist with songs,” he said. “He kind of writes to himself and then he’s just like, ‘What do you guys think?’… It’s like he’s conducting the whole thing.”
The band also includes local Pittsburg legend Joe Munroe on keys, “cool guy” Bennett Miller on bass, and guitarist Tyler Chiarelli, who’s previously performed with Florida Georgia Line, Sheryl Crow, and Daughtry. On top of that is Sydney Driver, a drummer who joined the band at the same time as SAVNT, and fiddler Kristin Weber, whom SAVNT considers to be Ghost Hounds’ “secret sauce.”
“We all like each other. That doesn’t happen. We genuinely want to spend time with each other. We genuinely want to hang out,” SAVNT said of his bandmates. “… I think we all approach the music the same way.”
What to Expect from Ghost Hounds in 2026
After settling into their current lineup, Ghost Hounds put out their latest LP, Almost Home, in March 2025. The album featured collaborations with both Lainey Wilson and Patty Griffin, both of which served as a “validation point” for the band.
Since then, the band has been busy on the road. All the while, they’ve kept their focus on two things: the music and giving back. In Boston, for instance, they played a show at Citizens House of Blues to help raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital and the Ryan Seacrest Foundation.
More such shows are likely forthcoming for the band, as SAVNT explained, “We all individually want to be aligned with anything that’s going to be giving back to the community.”
Likewise, more music is in the works too.
“We let the music dictate what it wants,” SAVNT said of what fans can expect from the band’s new music. “I think that’s what you’re gonna get in this one. You can get some blues, then get some country, definitely gonna get some rock. That’s just who we are.”
With so much accomplished already and with more big moments on the horizon, SAVANT’s dreams for Ghost Hounds are anything but small.
“I’m focused on the CMAs and the GRAMMYs,” he said, before noting that, awards or not, “This whole thing feels like an era of answered prayers.”
Photo by Jay Arcansalin
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