GET TO KNOW THE BAND
Origins
Highwater is a 4-piece southern rock and songwriter’s band from Denham Springs, LA. The writing, recording, and touring core is: Byron Bujol (guitar, vocals), Ryan Munsey (bass guitar, backing vocals), Joshua Lyons (drums), and Charlie McCall (lead guitar).
Highwater formed in early 2021 after a few years of sporadic but magical one-off sessions and gigs. They share an eclectic harmony of influences and a common love of delivering massive live shows. They unify Seattle Grunge Rock, sweltering Mississippi Blues, rugged Outlaw Country, and proud Southern Roots into an original style that could only be bound by the deep legacy, values, and roots of the Louisiana music community. Highwater came together under the weight of a global pandemic, and as the live music community re-emerged, they were “rocking at the bit” to help their fans celebrate a uniquely southern refusal to surrender.
Forged in floods and baptized by pandemic, Highwater has rapidly gained a reputation for delivering power-packed live music that draws comparisons with the proudest legends of freight train Southern Rock and songwriter driven Outlaw Americana. Obvious comparisons to Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, and the Allman Brothers are nuanced by influences as widely spread as Tab Benoit to Alice in Chains or Gary Clark Jr. to John Mayer.
Band Members
BYRON BUJOL
Lead Vocals | Rhythm Guitar
Byron blends his natural energy as a southern rock bar-room front man with the stadium worthy creativity of a decidedly non-corporate country music songwriter. Like more than one of his musical heroes, Byron started seriously writing and playing guitar during his military service (Semper Fi). Like them, Byron never had an interest in playing the songs he loves and the songs he writes in any way but his own. Helping his community and family rebuild after the epic floods of 2016 in Denham Springs, LA, Byron was led to his front-stage role as a founding member of Highwater.
CHARLIE MCCALL
Lead Guitar
Born in Wenatchee Washington, Charlie started playing guitar at five years old with lessons from his uncle - Nashville session, touring, and recording artist, Michael McCall (Scott Rhoads Records). His musical upbringing was split between his hometown’s immersion in the emerging Seattle grunge rock sounds, and the deeper blues and country rock influences only found in the Gulf South. As a gifted young guitarist, his personal discoveries of Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn led him to discover his own hard rocking country and blues driven guitar style. When his construction manager “day job” took Charlie to Baton Rouge, he became active in the local Louisiana music scene. U.S. Army deployment took him away from his new musical family but when Charlie returned, he found himself welcomed home straight into a newly forming band now known as Highwater.
RYAN MUNSEY
Bass | Backing Vocals
Ryan (Roadhouse Disciples, Sho-Tyme, Doug Duffy Band, No Idea Band) is another Louisiana native whose first instrument was a saxophone, in his case at the age of six. From his marching band days onward, he never stopped playing, learning, and performing live. At age 12, his grandfather gave him an old guitar which became his new focus. When he was 15, a stint in a band with three guitars led him to experiment with bass guitar, which he now prefers. By the time he graduated high school and moved to Rustan, LA for college, Ryan was an in-demand session and gig player. Like the rest of the band, his career was disrupted by Covid-19 and then by Hurricane Ida. When the chaos receded, he was more than eager to join a band that was originally founded to help music and performing arts rise from the depths of the murky flood waters.
Drums
JOSH LYONS
Joshua started playing his father’s drums at the age of eight and never stopped. A family man and a native of Denham Springs, Louisiana, Joshua blends the disciplined time keeping unique Louisiana music styles into his passion for hard hitting, southern rock grooves. When Joshua sat in with Charlie and Byron at a small party it was obvious to everyone that they had a special musical chemistry that would evolve into the true story of Highwater.
