The gimmick that became a calling

Rick Revel was just 15 when he stood backstage at the Grand Ole Opry and received career-shaping advice from country icon Roy Acuff — if you want to make it in the music industry, you have to find your gimmick.

At that time, Revel admits he wasn’t sure what that meant. He was younger than most aspiring country artists and singing about a world he was only beginning to understand.

Decades later, he found his “gimmick.” That thing that helps him stand out is his ability to fuse meticulous historical storytelling with deeply rooted Southern songwriting. Blending those two passions has now been fully realized in his album, “That Muscle Shoals Sound,” and its sweeping single, “Singing River.”

“That’s where the title of my album comes from,” he said. “I wanted to pay tribute to those wonderful musicians, producers and voices that came out of Muscle Shoals. You know, the Wilson Picketts and Percy Sledges of the world. We wouldn’t have had their music if it weren’t for Muscle Shoals.”

Rick Revel’s songwriting career spans decades and has won him over 80 awards, including Best Song in the blues, Christian, country and rock song genres.

Revel’s journey toward that realization began early. He started playing guitar professionally at age 12. By age 13, he was writing songs. By 15, he had written more than 100.

While many teenagers gravitated toward rock and roll, Revel found himself immersed in country music thanks to his father’s connection to a Grand Ole Opry member.

“My dad worked at a place called Holly Carburetor, the carburetor plant, as w called it,” Revel recalled. “Well, Brother Oswald had a trucking company, and he would come in every now and then with some of his truck drivers. So, my dad became buddies with him, and he said, ‘Anytime you want to come to Nashville, be my guest.’” Beecher Ray Kirby, better known as Bashful Brother Oswald for his popularization of the resonator guitar and Dobro, opened the doors for Revel. Backstage at the Opry, which was then hosted at the Ryman Auditorium, Revel absorbed lessons not just about music but about longevity.

For years, Rick revel has written songs with a historical slant. His interest in American history even inspired his own show, “History Highway.” Above, Revel, dressed as George Washington, is pictured alongside his colleague, David Chaltas

Acuff’s words lingered. As he’d pointed out to Revel, Nashville was already crowded with talent.

Still, Revel found one of his first distinctions was his youth. He began pitching songs with his unique perspective to publishing houses like Acuff-Rose and Tree Publishing, but as he matured, another distinction arose. That longtime love for history.

Revel credits his high school history teachers and their vivid storytelling for igniting that passion.

“One of my history teachers was a soldier in World War II, and he was captured in Europe and put in a German prison,” Revel said. “Another of my history teachers was at Pearl Harbor when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. These were people who lived history. When they taught history, they brought it to life.”

That spark eventually shaped an unexpected chapter in his career. Encouraged by songwriter and manager Merle Kilgore, known for his work with Hank Williams Jr., Revel began leaning into historically themed music.

“He told me, ‘Son, you’re just a regular old Mr. History, aren’t you?’” Revel recalled.

Revel embraced the label. He wrote songs with themes and stories from the Civil War and early American history, and eventually, he began performing first-person portrayals of figures like George Washington and Davy Crockett.

This led to the launch of his television program, “History Highway,” which blends music, history and storytelling across its 30-plus episodes so far. That fusion continued as a throughline in his career, but the road to his latest album was anything but straightforward.

Years ago, while promoting some of his Civil War music at a Nashville event, Revel met John David Thompson, a Muscle Shoals native who insisted Revel needed to meet legendary producer Jimmy Johnson, co-founder of the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio.

“That name I had heard, but you know, there are a lot of Jimmy Johnsons,” Revel said with a laugh. “I told him to explain, and John said, ‘You know, the guy who recorded Lynyrd Skynyrd.’” That struck an immediate chord for Revel. To him, Johnson represented that same blend of grit and storytelling he’d been chasing. Plans were made for a meeting, but Johnson fell ill and passed away before it could happen.

“It’s still a sad thing I never got the chance to meet him,” Revel said. “I thought that was it. I’d lost my chance to record in Muscle Shoals.”

Instead, Johnson’s widow, Becky, extended an invitation. After hearing the theme song Revel had written for History Highway, she told him his “song has bone.” It was a phrase her late husband used to describe music he felt was timeless.