Saturday, March 25, 2017

Roadcase Royale - Get Loud


Roadcase Royale - Get Loud 


The first single from Heart’s longtime guitarist Nancy Wilson and former New Power Generation vocalist Liv Warfield’s band Roadcase Royale, “Get Loud”, heralds the beginning of something special. The first time collaboration between these two major league talents has produced a single that can be taken as a call to never let yourself be silenced, a timely message in light of our recent national history, but it’s also a wildly entertaining musical journey condensed into a highly tasty form. Warfield and Wilson are joined by the Wilson sisters touring band for Heart and Warfield’s musical director lead guitarist Ryan Waters. This six piece has made a considerable impact with this first effort and the promise displayed on this track is such that it is highly probable future efforts will match its standard or totally go beyond it in quality. Roadcase Royale, an inside musician joke about the massive containers used to transport musical instruments and equipment from one gig to the next, is far from a musical joke. This is a seriously talented outfit capable of appealing to a widespread audience. 

The arrangement is priceless. Waters and Wilson’s guitars seemed joined at the hip throughout the song’s three minutes and change with neither ever taking an upper hand. Instead, their six string lines wrap and fire off volleys over the rhythm section that are always attuned to what the other player is doing and never risk over-indulgence. Bassist Dan Rothchild and drummer Ben Smith are equally key, however, thanks to their on target and tasteful turns holding down the song’s bottom end. They establish a great R&B groove that forms a foundation for the guitarist to flaunt their rock skills and the seemingly disparate styles come together without the slightest hiccup. The song turns at all of the right moments, as well, and the chorus sets a tone for the track’s climatic points that’s quite appealing and memorable. 

Warfield’s vocal is equally impressive. She seems to have endless control over her voice and sounds capable of exploring the full facet of her vocal range without ever making even one misstep. Her phrasing is quite impeccable and the emotive atmosphere she invests the words with makes all the difference in taking a good lyric and making something like performed poetry out of it. This song certainly has commercial appeal, but it never panders. Roadcase Royale are bringing a message to listeners, but they are never crass or too obvious about their intentions. Instead, their efforts pay off handsomely insofar as they get across their point of view without ever undercutting the music to do so. They never waste a note of music getting there and the words, as well, are finely sharpened to a razor edge. Veteran talents like these performing music with such life and confidence is, unfortunately, all too rare. Nancy Wilson and Liv Warfield, however, sound like they are every bit as engaged with the process of creation as they ever were in their youth and their talents have only blossomed exponentially.  


William Elgin 

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