Roadcase Royale - First Things First: A Review

Roadcase Royale is a band formed as a way to cope with loss. Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson and Prince’s New Power Generation lead singer Liv Warfield were both dealing with different types of grief when they formed Roadcase Royale with guitarist Ryan Waters, keyboardist Chris Joyner, drummer Ben Smith and bassist Dan Rothchild. Wilson was astringed from her sister, Ann, whose husband assaulted Nancy’s children and was convicted of assault, and Warfield was dealing with the death of legendary singer Prince, who was a mentor to her. The band is a rock, R&B fusion. The band’s first album was released on September 22, 2017, and was called First Things First.

Track List:

1) Get Loud

2) Not Giving Up

3) Hold On to My Hand

4) Even It Up

5) Cover Each Other

6) The Dragon

7) Insaniac

8) These Dreams

9) Mind Your Business [Live]

10) Never Say Die

The album includes two Heart covers. These are Even It Up and These Dreams. Two songs on the album are about what is currently happening in today’s political climate. Get Loud is about the Women’s Marches, which have taken place since 2017. Not Giving Up is about American President Donald Trump’s border wall and how President Trump is spreading hate through his speeches and his Twitter account. Other songs are about love, like Hold On to My Hand and Cover Each Other.

The band fuses R&B and rock very well the songs are written like rock songs, but the songs are put to an R&B beat. The R&B beat adds emotion and gives it a more funky sound. The rocky lyrics add strength and provide a strong message the band wants to give the audience. The songs are written in a way they are catchy and get stuck in your head.

With this band, you can tell they genuinely like each other. In their music videos, they look to be cracking jokes and they are smiling and laughing. It always sucks when a band is always fighting with each other and cannot get along. This does not seem to be the case with this band.

Some of their songs are more political in nature. Get Loud was written largely about the Women's Marches which took place directly after now-former President Donald J. Trump was inaugurated, in January of 2017. Not Giving Up references the Trump administration as well. It specifically references then-president Trump's then-proposed border wall, between the United States of America and Mexico, to keep out illegal immigrants which he often referred to as rapists and criminals.

These songs were very timely, given what was happening in 2017.

Overall, this band’s first album gets a five out of five. This was a great first album and is a very enjoyable listening experience.

It has been nearly five years since this release and it does not seem like they will be releasing any new music anytime soon. The band members seem to interact with each other on social media, such as Instagram. I would love to see a new album sometime soon. Wilson seems to be busy with other projects such as a tour with Styx, this autumn season.

Warfield was also out touring around North America and Europe earlier this year.

I feel like the band could write material about what it is like to live in a post-Trump America. Maybe they could even discuss the Black Lives Matter movement and the Me Too movement. Or even tell other stories they think listeners would enjoy hearing.

The band’s music is available on Spotify, YouTube, iTunes and Pledge Music. Their website is roadcaseroyale.com.