Few guitar buyers have had to look down the end of a loaded gun when they arrived to make a purchase.
Lance Vanley is one of them. Vanley — who, with his uncle Jeremiah, forms the guitar core of southern rockers Treaty Oak Revival — was intrigued when he spotted an Arctic White Fender Stratocaster listed on Facebook Marketplace for just $300. The electric guitar was priced right, but something didn’t add up.
“The serial number didn’t make any sense,” he says.
Online research led him to an unusual conclusion: the guitar was built in Korea from U.S. parts.
I could see him standing in the corner, and I could see his hands doing a motion — and having been around guns I knew it was him loading a magazine.”
— Lance Vanley
“The guys on the Fender online forums were like, ‘Hey, if you see one of these, buy it. You’re never gonna see it again.’”
Lance arranged to meet the seller at his home. After texting that he had arrived, he watched the garage door open.
“I could see him standing in the corner, and I could see his hands doing a motion — and having been around guns I knew it was him loading a magazine.
“As soon as the garage door fully opens I hear a clicking sound, and I’m like, ‘Great. Am I about to get robbed in broad daylight in front of his house, by him?’ I didn’t know what was gonna happen.
“He comes over and says, ‘You have any weapons on you?’ I’m like, ‘I have a knife in my pocket; it’s just to open stuff.’ He literally police-patted me down… and then he goes, ‘You never know who you’re meeting these days.’ Then he put his gun up and we walked into the house. That was pretty crazy.
“And I still have that Strat.”
He now has considerably more purchasing power thanks to Treaty Oak Revival’s rise. The Odessa, Texas–based southern rock quintet has released three studio albums, two of them Gold-certified. Its latest, 2025’s West Texas Degenerate, debuted at number 21 on the Billboard 200 and topped both the Top Rock Albums and Americana/Folk Albums charts.
I would say it’s almost more like brothers than an uncle-nephew situation.”
— Lance Vanley
It also earned two Academy of Country Music Award nominations. The band has notched five Platinum and 13 Gold singles, with “Bad State of Mind” reaching the Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart and the Top 20 on Hot Country Songs.
Last year, the band expanded internationally with a four-date headlining tour in Australia.
“This whole experience has just been wild,” Lance says, recalling drawing pictures of himself performing onstage in fifth grade, “rocking out in front of the whole world.”
Despite a 10-year age gap, Lance and Jeremiah reject a traditional mentor dynamic.
“I would say it’s almost more like brothers than an uncle-nephew situation,” says Lance, 32.
“We’ve always been around each other,” adds Jeremiah, 42, the band’s elder statesman. “We’re from a music family… there’s always music when we’re together. It’s pretty natural.”
We’ve always been around each other. We’re from a music family… there’s always music when we’re together. It’s pretty natural.”
— Jeremiah Vanley
Both have played guitar for roughly the same length of time. Jeremiah started at 18 after switching from bass — and earlier, trombone. Lance picked up guitar at nine and took lessons from a friend of his father’s, who had recorded a Christmas album.
“‘Meant to Live,’ by Switchfoot — that was the first song I learned,” Lance says.
Jeremiah — an accountant before the band broke through — laughs at the memory. “Lance would always come around playing that Switchfoot song.”
His own influences ran heavier. “Van Halen, Metallica… Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert. I was watching G3 videos all the time.”
Lance says watching his uncle’s early bands shaped his path. “That showed me you could just hang out with your friends and play music,” he says. “That definitely pushed me toward starting bands.”
After failed school projects, a call from Jeremiah changed things. “We’re just jamming in the back of a vacuum shop on Monday nights. You want to come by?” Lance recalls. “And it went from there.”
Treaty Oak Revival — which also features guitarist and singer Sam Canty, drummer Cody Holloway and bassist Dakota Hernandez — continues touring behind West Texas Degenerate. The band plays Stagecoach on April 25, with U.S. dates running into August. A fourth album is not yet underway, but it’s in the conversation.
“There’s probably bits and pieces we haven’t put together yet,” Lance says.
Jeremiah adds that once touring slows, the band plans to write in Dallas. “We’ll rent a spot, get a few days in, cut some songs. That’s usually how it goes.”
“We’re still on the album tour,” he says. “But we’re also thinking ahead — what do we want to do next?”
