Royal Southern Brotherhood

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.

Royal Southern Brotherhood is an American blues and blues rock supergroup, consisting of singer and percussionist Cyril Neville, vocalist and guitarist Devon Allman, vocalist and guitarist Mike Zito, drummer Yonrico Scott, and bassist Charlie Wooton. New blood. New beginnings. For Royal Southern Brotherhood, Don’t Look Back isn’t just an album title, but the attitude that drove the award-winning US band’s third release. Tracked at the iconic Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, with an all-guns-blazing new guitar lineup and production team, this is the sound of a band rolling with the punches and turning the page.

Royal Southern Brotherhood's second studio album! "The Royal Southern Brotherhood is a Southern rock, blues, R&B, and soul supergroup of sorts, with a pedigree that is pretty impressive. For one, the group's main singer is the amazing Cyril Neville of Meters and Neville Brothers fame. Guitarist Devon Allman is the son of Gregg Allman of the legendary Allman Brothers Band. Guitarist Mike Zito has had a critically acclaimed blues guitar history of his own, while bassist Charlie Wooton played in Zydefunk and Yonrico Scott has been the drummer for Derek Trucks and other high-profile acts. It's a pretty good resumé for a new band. The Royal Southern Brotherhood released a self-titled debut album with Ruf Records in 2012."

This blues-roots rock supergroup of sorts features musicians bred, if not always born, in the South. The only real royalty would be singer/songwriter/percussionist Cyril Neville, who shares lead vocals with younger but still established blues-rock journeymen guitarists Mike Zito and Devon Allman. Bassist Charlie Wooton from Zydefunk and ex-Derek Trucks drummer Yonrico Scott comprise the solid rhythm section rounding out this quintet. With all this instrumental and vocal firepower, the musical possibilities of mixing Neville's familial, funky New Orleans swamp with Zito's soulful blues and Allman's tougher rock are enticing.

Tyler Morris’ latest release, “Living In The Shadows”, is the powerhouse guitarist’s second Vizztone release in the Blues/Rock genre and his fourth release in total. “Living in the Shadows” was produced by Mike Zito (Royal Southern Brotherhood, Mike Zito Band), who says, “Tyler Morris is a very serious contender in the new world domination of Blues Rock Guitar players. He is fired up and fierce for a young man. His depth of musical knowledge knows no bounds and he is just coming into his own voice. Tyler will help bring back the glory of Electric Guitar to the masses.” Recording guests on this album include Blues legends Ronnie Earl, Joe Louis Walker and Mike Zito, as well as acclaimed vocalist Amanda Fish, who featured Tyler on her Blues Music Award winning album last year.

It’s back. The debut album that blew up the ’90s blues scene. The songs that announced the touchdown of a major new talent. In modern times, as an established solo star and former member of the globally acclaimed Royal Southern Brotherhood, Mike Zito’s reputation precedes him. But turn back the clocks. Rewind the film reels. Slip through the wormhole to 1998, when a 27-year-old punk kid took his first shot in the studio. “Blue Room,” he reflects, “is the beginning of me becoming an artist.” By 1998, Zito had been around the block. Raised at the sharp end in St. Louis, Missouri, he’d witnessed the lean years of the ’70s, as his father – a union employee at the local Anheuser-Busch brewery – grafted to support five kids in a cramped apartment.

After two albums with his jam band Honeytribe and co-founding the blues rock supergroup Royal Southern Brotherhood, Devon Allman issued a fine solo album in 2013 with Turquoise. While that record focused on his skills as a songwriter as much as it did his considerable ability as a guitarist, Ragged & Dirty changes up the game again by heading north to the wellspring of electric blues: Chicago. Produced by noted drummer, songwriter, and arranger Tom Hambridge – who has worked with everyone from Joe Louis Walker and Susan Tedeschi to George Thorogood and Johnny Winter – this is not a set of hard boogie blooooooz numbers, but a skilled, nuanced, yet kinetic reflection on the murky terrain where Chicago's signature electric style meets vintage R&B and rock.

After a couple of albums with his band Honeytribe, guitarist and songwriter Devon Allman scored with the Royal Southern Brotherhood. A blues-rock supergroup comprised of Allman and guitarist Mike Zito, drummer Yonrico Scott, and bassist Charlie Wooton from Zydefunk, the band's lone album hit the Top Ten on Billboard's blues chart. But Allman has proven himself restless from the start, and Turquoise is the latest chapter in his musical evolution. For those who've heard his past recordings as exercises in jam band expression, this set will come as a surprise. Produced by Jim Gaines (the Radiators, Huey Lewis, Santana, Ana Popovic, etc.), the album is a deeper, richer, collection of tunes that focuses on the Allman the singer and songwriter rather than the guitarist.