Band shakeups, while common enough, usually bring their share of drama. Swapping out your lead singer is an especially delicate move. But Ghost Hounds have managed to do just that without missing a beat in their formidable schedule. Between 2019 and 2023, the Pittsburgh-based country-rock ensemble released four full-length albums while grinding it out on the road, opening for the likes of the Rolling Stones, Bob Seger, ZZ Top, Garth Brooks, and Guns N’ Roses. But frontman Tre Nation decided to pursue other dreams. In came his replacement—a vocalist by the name of SAVNT, whom Nation scouted himself—alongside a new drummer, Sydney Driver, in February 2024.

Fans of NBC’s The Voice might recognize SAVNT, who appeared on season thirteen under the name Stephan Marcellus. But even a primetime show couldn’t prepare him for opening for the Stones (the band’s second run with the rock supergroup) on some of the world’s biggest stages just four months after joining Ghost Hounds. SAVNT also got busy in the studio, lending his talent to hard-charging anthems and soulful ballads on the Hounds’ fifth album, Almost Home, including duets with Patty Griffin and Lainey Wilson.

Today, G&G is proud to premiere the video for “She Runs Hot,” the album’s classic-rock-inspired opening track. Watch it below, and read our interview with SAVNT about being thrust into the spotlight on stage and on screen, collaborating with a legend, and the story behind Almost Home.

The album is out March 21 and available to pre-save here.

Okay, it’s June of last year. You’ve only been in the band for a few months, and you’re about to open for the Stones. How are you feeling before that first show in Atlanta?

I don’t think “nervous” actually sums up everything I felt [laughs]. I will say when I was doing soundcheck, I heard myself in that room, and I was like, Oh yeah, I want to do this for the rest of my life. 

When you hear about bands reformulating, you often hear stories of conflict and tension. But Tre Nation handpicked you, so it sounds like that wasn’t the case?

Tre actually shouted me out on Instagram when the transition was made public. He posted a picture with me and was like, This guy is incredible, and I completely back him. So that set the tone. For me it was nothing but love—I was met with love the entire way through.

Ghost Hounds is a fairly large ensemble. What is your creative process like?

Thomas [Tull, guitarist] is the primary writer for Ghost Hounds—he understands the voice, and so he will give me the songs and I’ll demo them and kind of formulate how I want to sing them. And then you get the guitarist and the fiddle player and the piano player and the drums, and we each help to inform the next decision. It’s almost like improv—we’re playing off each other until we find the perfect sweet spot.

You’ve stepped up not just as the voice of Ghost Hounds but as the face of it in a series of music videos. Congratulations on being able to rock both a cowboy hat and a bedazzled jacket, by the way! What was the inspiration for the video for “She Runs Hot”?

“She Runs Hot” is really an ode to the eighties. It’s very simple and more of a performance-style shoot, but our director said, “You’ve got to have something to make you pop.” So we got the jacket, and it was really fun—I think in that video you’ll see a whole bunch of fun. I always talk about this song as, “This is about meeting somebody for the first time and those chaotic emotions that come up.”

That’s a good segue to the album as a whole. Can you tell us about the narrative running through Almost Home?

So Almost Home is a story. “She Runs Hot” is meeting this person, and then you start building this home together, and then toward the end you almost want to set the whole thing on fire, right? So it’s like the rise and fall of the relationship. And I think Almost Home signifies the fact that maybe this was not the relationship that worked out, but it feels like we’re so close to it. We’re almost there.

The album culminates in a duet with Patty Griffin for a beautiful cover of her song “Long Ride Home.” How did that collaboration come about?

The first show I did with the Ghost Hounds was at the Roxian [in Pittsburgh], and we were trying to figure out the best set list. Thomas brought two songs to me—“Long Ride Home,” and we had another song on the table as well. But I was like, “We have to do ‘Long Ride Home.’” I absolutely love this song, and it’s just another song that tells a story. 

When we saw the reaction from the crowd that night, we thought, “Okay, we actually have to do this justice.” We reached out to her team, and she had never heard a male cover her song like this. She said, “I have to do this one”—and she says no to everybody, apparently. It was a blessing to be able to work with an actual legend. She’s a complete sweetheart.

The album has this sort of folky moment with “Long Ride Home,” classic rock songs, some slower ballads, some country-rock anthems. I imagine that’s pretty fun for you as a vocalist.

Absolutely. One thing you hate as a vocalist is to be trapped into a box, and here I get to be a kid in a candy store.