Doomed Confessionary: Brandon, Luke & Derek (Good Spirits)
Good Spirits is a three-piece stoner/psych rock band hailing from Shreveport, Louisiana.
Originally forming in 2017 as a four piece alt-rock band, Good Spirits released their debut album »I Am All These Things« in 2019. With Covid at its peak and their bass player Chris moving out of state, the band became stagnant. To breathe some new life into the group, they decided to switch it up a bit and move along as a trio. The band went into a heavier direction. With their new album, »The Greenseer«, released on August 1st, 2025, there is a mixture of old and new. Spacey beautiful guitar licks, psych/stonerish riffs, post-rock influences with roots of alt-rock shining through.
Good Spirits are Brandon Pruiett (vocals, bass), Luke Wharton (guitar) and Derek Henry (drums).
Can you please say a few words about your band?
Luke: Our band started in 2017 with Brandon, Luke, Chris, and Derek. If you go back and listen to our first record you’ll hear a striking difference in our current direction as musicians. Before we really leaned into the indie/alternative rock with spacey guitar riffs and a more polished sound. Our original bassist Chris moved away around covid time so those two things almost killed the group. We had a few one off local shows in our area from time to time with our buddy Tim filling in on bass. After Tim decided to hang it up as well it left us trying to figure out where to head afterwards. Then and there our first decision was to stay a trio (with our vocalist switching from 2nd guitar to bass) and lean into our more experimental and heavier roots, and that’s where the more psychedelic and stonerish style started showing up. I’m a huge pedal guy so of course there are plenty of beautiful reverb and delays at the same time, and that’s how our new direction and album was born.
Derek: I’m proud of the direction we’ve been going with this new stuff. It’s pretty awesome to get to play music with your two best friends.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Luke: I think our biggest challenge is we are just a smaller band and have our normal day jobs and families to worry about. Sometimes that makes it harder to get out there and hit the road like we’d want to sometimes.
Derek: I think it was when Chris moved away. It was a big loss for the band but we bounced back!
What can you be most proud of so far?
Luke: Honestly, the most typical answer is the best right now. We’re really proud of this new record.
Brandon: Matt Pike of Sleep/High On Fire liked our post on Instagram one time.
Derek: I’m really proud of this new album. It’s a new direction for us but it’s music we’ve been listening to for years and years.
What was your biggest regret?
Luke: Man, no regrets. Life is what it is and you gotta make the best of it. So I tend to not try to live in the past and worry about regrets.
Brandon: Part of me wants to say, maybe not getting these songs out sooner, but things happen when they happen and that’s kinda nice too.
Derek: I can’t really think of much here haha.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
Luke: We’ve had some really great shows in our local area to be proud of, it’s honestly hard to choose just one.
Brandon: My favorite shows are our local ones when we do BearsFest or Castle Jackson Halloween.
Derek: Playing the Louisiana Music Prize is always a cool show to play. Good production and the city really shows up.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
Brandon: With how rich our local music scene is with musicians/artists that more haven’t blown up on a larger scale.
Derek: Our music scene is very tight nit. We get support from all types of band around town. People really show love, which makes us show love back.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Luke: Always Manchester Orchestra and Pink Floyd. Other ones I’ve not been able to put down are King Buffalo, Elder and All Them Witches. I’m a huge post rock guy too so I’m a sucker for anything instrumental.
Derek: Elder, Pallbearer, Boris, Holy Fawn, Earth AD, REZN, Deafheaven, Mastodon etc.
Brandon: All Them Witches, Primus, Balthvs, Glass Beams.
Derek: Deafheaven.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Luke: Wear comfortable shoes.
Brandon: I don’t know, everyone’s usually drunk at the bar so everything someone has said to me is always taken with a grain of salt.
Derek: Years ago a respectable musician told me to stay away from hard drugs. It’s worked out so far haha.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Luke: I like to watch chick flicks?
Brandon: Cosmic Brownies.
Derek: That sweet leaf.
Can you say something more about the current music scene in Shreveport?
Luke: The Shreveport area is so rich in music history. From Elvis to the smallest of musicians. Our scene has had it’s ups and downs over the years but in my opinion it’s always been solid. Could it use work? Yes but what doesn’t need a little love? There’s a lot of great venues in our area, and a bunch of people who really care about our scene doing a lot of great work. We can’t take credit for any of that but we’re just glad to be here and a part of it.
Brandon: Yea, what Luke said.
Derek: There is a crazy amount of talent in the area. So many good musicians and bands that have called and still call Shreveport home.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
Luke: We tend to stay in Louisiana and surrounding areas. We’re looking into South Louisiana right now (Baton Rouge, Laffyette, Nola etc) and the DFW area as well. Anyone out there wanting us to make it out your way just reach out to us, haha!
Derek: Our album release show is on Sep 20th at Strange Brew and we have a few more in the works. Follow our social media to see when we post about shows!
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Luke: Our main goal is to continue writing the best music we can and rinse/repeat. We are the kind of people who just have to be creative and whether we end up with a million fans or 20, we’ll still be doing us at the end of the day.
Brandon: Agreed, end of the day/end of the year. We just want to make music.
Derek: Keep on writing. We’ve been in a creative mood and want to put out another new album as soon as possible.
How can people best support your band?
Luke: The largest support for us would be grab some merch or keep up with us on socials. It helps us feel connected.
Derek: Share and like our posts and social media pages, come out to shows and tell us you like our album and that we’re sexy. We appreciate any and all support!
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Luke: Honestly, our biggest message would just be thank you. We’re just 3 dudes who have been in the game for a long time and just enjoy creating/playing music.
Derek: Thank yall for everything! We’re just a few old dudes who like writing and playing music. Yalls support shows us we’re doing something right!
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well