The band (L-R): Chris Joyner, Ben Smith, Liv Warfield, Nancy Wilson, Ryan Waters, Dan Rothchild (Photo: Jeremy Danger)
Shortly after her sister Ann Wilson announced a solo tour, news arrived last January that Nancy Wilson has a side project of her own. The younger sibling has started a Heart spin-off band called Roadcase Royale with a first song, “Get Loud.” (Watch the video below.)
The lineup includes R&B singer Liv Warfield, formerly of Prince’s New Power Generation band, her lead guitarist and musical director Ryan Waters, as well as current Heart members Chris Joyner (keyboards), Dan Rothchild (bass) and Ben Smith (drums).
On July 24, the band announced their first album, First Things First, which will be released September 22 by Loud & Proud Records. Pre-order here. The album is timed to coincide with the band’s opening slot by Bob Seger’s big arena tour. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or TicketNetwork.
And on July 28, the group shared news of several solo dates. (See below.)
“Roadcase Royale is a band I’ve always wanted to be in,” says Nancy Wilson. “We all write and create songs as a unit. It’s an inspired democracy. Liv and Ryan both bring a whole new level of magic to our new sound. I’m amazed after devoting my life to rock music how it now feels so brand new. That’s why our first album is called First Things First.”
Earlier this year, Wilson announced that Heart isn’t going away: “Roadcase Royale is a side project and not a replacement for Heart.”
In an interview, Wilson told Best Classic Bands how the band came to be: “I met with Liv and Ryan in New York, to talk about maybe doing something together. We talked over a bunch of ideas, and then I talked with some of my band members. I wanted my two rhythm-section guys and my keyboard player to come into the new band with Liv and Ryan, and try something.
“We set it all up, and after the Heart tour was finished, we all got together in L.A. and went to a rehearsal space. We were like, okay, this might be kind of embarrassing—everybody getting to know everybody a little bit—but let’s see what happens. So we kind of dipped our toe into that water, and it was instantly great. We had a rapport, we had great humor, we played well together and suddenly we were writing a new song. It was like, ‘Wow, this is it—this works!’ We kept going and did another session where we wrote more songs and re-learned some Heart songs. All of a sudden we were recording.”
Watch “Not Giving Up”
How did the name arrive? “When I came up with the name Roadcase Royale it was an interesting symbol to me since the big heavy duty road cases that our amps, drums and guitars travel in are much like the musicians they accompany on the road. Strong and regal looking yet all scuffed up and dented, covered in funny stickers that tell the story of a crazy traveling circus.
“It’s going to be fun to see our road cases with Roadcase Royale stenciled on the side!” she adds.
First Things First Track Listing
Get Loud
Not Giving Up
Hold On To My Hand
Even It Up
Cover Each Other
The Dragon
Insaniac
These Dreams
Mind Your Business (Live)
Never Say Die
Watch the video for “Get Loud”…
Related: Our recent interview with Nancy Wilson
Roadcase Royale Solo Dates
Sep 19 – New York, NY – Gramercy Theater
Sep 24 – Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater
Oct 01 – Charlotte, NC – Neighborhood Theatre
Oct 04 – Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theatre
Oct 08 – Nashville, TN – City Winery
Oct 15 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre
Meanwhile, sister Ann continues her solo tour and has a concert documentary, In Focus, on its way.
1 Comment so far
Jump into a conversationNancy, I think you should make Roadcase Royale your main band. Ann’s conduct since her husband caused Heart’s split has been terrible, and she really needs to stick with her side music that is in a key she can sing. Her ability to sing the classic Heart tunes has been in decline for a couple of years and was very noticeable by the middle of last year’s tour. Since she can’t sing the hits anymore and this band is so much fresher I don’t see anything wrong with retiring Heart and focusing on this awesome new endeavor.