Royal Southern Brotherhood:
Comes A Musical
Sermon
About Love, Unity,
And Peace
THE ROYAL
GOSPEL: Recorded at Dockside
Produced by
David Z
Out June 24 On Ruf Records
“The whole record is geared towards making a
joyful noise,” says Neville
Chemistry. You either got
it, or you don’t. When the five members of Royal Southern Brotherhood convened
in February 2016 at Dockside Studios, Louisiana, there was magic in the air. Just
seven days later, the acclaimed U.S. soul-blues collective emerged triumphant
with The Royal Gospel: the fourth album in their rocket-heeled
rise and further proof of a lineup born to play together.
Enough has been said about
Royal Southern Brotherhood’s illustrious backstory. Enough has been written
about the critical acclaim and sell-out crowds that greeted the original
lineup’s 2012 breakout. Right now, fans would rather hear about the questing
new material and finger-on-pulse worldview of The Royal Gospel,
released 2016 on Ruf Records. Amen to that.
Like all the best groups,
Royal Southern Brotherhood has evolved. Having bonded on 2015’s Don’t
Look Back, the MkII lineup of Cyril Neville (percussion/vocals), Bart
Walker (guitar/vocals), Tyrone Vaughan (guitar/vocals) and Yonrico Scott
(drums) have found another gear on bolstered by new recruit Darrell Philips
(bass/vocals),and guest B3 from Norman Caesar.
“As far as the men
making the music and playing the songs,” says Neville, “the mission of the band
has never changed.”
Scan the credits for The
Royal Gospel and you’ll recognize that while some bands operate a
songwriting dictatorship, this one thrives on material penned in partnership
(or even originated between three members). Neville is as prolific as you’d
expect – given the fistful of projects he’s kept spinning over the decades –
but so too are Walker and Vaughan, who collaborated remotely with their
bandleader, trading ideas back-and-forth via the Web.
“It’s not often that
you find a connection like Cyril and me,” explains Walker, whose Nashville home
is some 800 miles from Neville’s base in New Orleans. “It got to the point
where we were almost in each other’s heads – and we had already worked out what
the other one was gonna say.”
“It’s a very spiritual
thing,” agrees Neville. “I kinda laughed, because Bart was getting ahead of
what I was even thinking. Last time, we actually got together in the room to do
the demos. This time, it was all done by iPhone and stuff like that. But when
you taste this musical gumbo, you’re gonna be very satisfied. However we
approached the kitchen.”
When the band and famed
producer David Z arrived at Dockside, the recording ethos was unapologetically
old-school: simply cut the songs live in the room, eyeball-to-eyeball, in a
minimum of takes. “We walked in not really knowing what we were gonna do,”
recalls Philips. “Cyril and Bart come to us with chord progressions, tempos,
and ideas, and we build together. We’d just fall right into the thing and all
of a sudden, there’s the song. On this record, we came together as a band. It
was a magical thing to witness.”
Likewise, it’s a magical
album to hear. The Royal Gospel opens in emphatic style with “Where
There’s Smoke There’s Fire”: a stinging statement of intent co-written by
Neville and Vaughan, whose hard-rock riffing is tempered by a vocal addressing
a woman with “the face of an angel, a body that’s divine”. That same writing
duo also strikes gold on “Can’t Waste Time”, its descending guitar hook fused
to a lyric about a two-faced lover (“Girl, you’re like a ship without a
rudder”).
Fans of the Brotherhood’s
bluesier side will relish the rolling rhythms of “Spirit Man”, and hit repeat
for “I’m Comin’ Home”, with its molten slide-guitar solo and travelogue lyric
(“The road just goes on and on”). Elsewhere, Walker and Neville are at their
soulful best on “Blood Is Thicker Than Water”, the veteran bandleader singing
that “there’s nothing more sacred than the love of a son or daughter”, over a
groove sure to shake the room as the band tour the world through 2016. “It’s
extremely groove-orientated, this stuff,” nods Walker.
The Royal Gospel might
move your feet, but it’s not afraid to challenge your perceptions.
“The whole record is geared
toward making a joyful noise,” says Neville, “but while we’re partying, we
still need to be thinking about what’s going on around us. It covers what we’ve
seen in our travels over the last few years, and what we’ve lived personally as
citizens of the world.”
Case in point, “Hooked On
The Plastic” is an irresistible funk workout with soul-drenched backup vocals,
but also a razor-sharp critique of consumerism (“Livin’ way above your means…
no end to the stream of green”). And stick around for closing track “Stand Up”.
A joyous call-to-arms in the face of feckless modern politicians, it ends with
an electrifying outro, the band building to a dizzying crescendo while Neville
hollers a global message to take a stand: “Come together! Come
together!”
It’s a thrilling finale to
an album that cements Royal Southern Brotherhood’s reputation as a modern band
to treasure. This is The Royal Gospel. Consider us converted.
Only an elite group of players can be in a band like RSB, for it calls for
supreme musical chops, soul giving and a little voodoo for each night the bar
is raised.
Is it spiritual? Yes. Is it
hell-raising? Yes Ma’am. Is it soul-grabbing? Yes Sir.
Get in line to be healed.
The holy water is ready – are you?
Follow
the on all their social media platforms:
Instagram
- @royalsouthernbrotherhood
The Gospel Tour
06/03/16
Mandeville,
LA
Ruby’s Roadhouse
06/04/16
Ocean Springs, MS Ocean
Springs Live!
06/09/16
Denver,
CO
The Oriental Theater
06/10/16
Colorado Springs,
CO
Stargazers Theatre
06/11/16
Aspen, CO
Snowmass Free Summer Concerts
06/14/16
Lincoln,
NE
Zoo Bar
06/15/16
Wichita, KS
Barleycorn’s
06/16/16
Tulsa,
OK
Shrine
06/17/16
Topeka,
KS
Uncle Bo’s
06/18/16
Kansas City,
MO
CrossroadsKC
06/24/16
Norfolk,
VA
Bayou Boogaloo
07/08/16
Auburn Hills, MI
Callahan’s
07/09/16
Kalamazoo, MI
Kalamazoo Valley Blues Festival
07/10/16
Evanston,
IL
SPACE
07/14/16
Madison,
WI
La Fete de Marquette
07/15/16
South Bend, IN
Vegetable Buddies
07/16/16
Milwaukee,
WI
Bastille Day Festival
07/30/16
Pomeroy,
OH
Big Bend Blues Bash
08/06/16
Burnaby,
BC
Burnaby Blues Festival Canada
08/12/16
Calabogie
Calabogie Blues & Ribfest Canada
08/13/16
Québec
Donnacona Blues
Festival
Canada
08/20/16
Calabogie,
OH
Calabogie Blues – Blues & Ribfest
09/10/16
Las Vegas,
NV
Big Blues Bender
09/11/16
Las Vegas,
NV
Big Blues Bender
10/30/16
Lake Harmony,
PA
Pennsylvania Music Festival
