Best UPK Contest Winner: Reverend Bastien

uPlaya recently held a contest on Facebook to find the best UPK, and we found just what we were looking for in Reverend Bastien’s press kit. In addition to his savvy ability to build an excellent and powerful UPK, Reverend Bastien also has a lot of wisdom to bestow upon his listeners drawing on his life lessons and tales on the road with nothing but the guitar on his back. His music blends varieties of Jazz & Ska Punk into American Roots Music to create a heartland rock sound reminiscent of his influences like Tom Petty, Warren Zevon, and Leonard Cohen.

After the release of his first album “Campfire Stories” in 2009, the Reverend set out on an Open Mic tour from New York to San Francisco. His encounters along the way inspired his next goal to create a minimalist rock band that would interpret a well around a campfire or on stage. After his return home and with his new goal in mind, Reverend Bastien assembled one of the band’s stand out features-The Bare Drum- which is a combination of Bass & Snare Drum tones, a mounted shaker, and splash cymbal.

To make the band complete, he enlisted long time friends El Hefe LaVallee to take the sticks on his highly innovative, homemade drum kit and recruited Frenchy DeSilva to play the bass. Reverend Bastien and his new company The Congregation of the Traveling Empire.