Passion, Soul & Rock & Roll: Back from the Dead
Downtown Royalty re-releases a stunning debut album
You can find an eclectic mix of genres — turn-of-the-millennium college radio, New Jersey variety band, country rock, and gritty, soulful blues — in the recently re-released “Passion, Soul, & Rock & Roll,” a stunning debut album from Wichita Falls’ Downtown Royalty. The 9-song collection, originally released in 2018, is a poetic, genre-blending album with impassioned and introspective lyrics that convey deep emotional messages on love and personal struggle.
On the strength of Michael Kately’s songwriting, and with a healthy dose of funky, rhythmic instrumentation from a talented band, “Passion, Soul & Rock & Roll” takes you on a ride through music appreciation, with hints of Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Springsteen and Cafferty, Sister Hazel, and a selection of other influences that make DTR hard to classify.
Genre defying style notwithstanding, the quality of the production is excellent, and the album is a delight to listen to. “We worked with Taylor Tatsch at his studio, “Audio Styles,” Kately said. “Taylor was incredible to work with… His ear for music will impress you. He produced & played on the album as well; adding keys, vocal harmony, percussion, and guitar as needed.”
Perhaps the most telling aspect of Passion, Soul & Rock & Roll’s artistic merit is the visual imagery that accompanies each listen; the mental panorama of a dark lounge that accompanies the opening refrain of Apple Pie, the 1950s crooner that Kately so impressively calls to mind in Careless Me, or the smoky blues & soul club that you can’t help but see in your mind’s eye when guitarist Mark Forehand takes a lead vocal on Non-Smoker. Anybody who’s ever spent time in an art gallery knows, when the artist conjures “theater of the mind,” they have done their job, and there is no question Downtown Royalty has done their work with due diligence.
“I feel the album represented a time in our lives, and some of the experiences we managed to capture. Each song is like a photo saved to your camera roll,” Kately said. “There are so many more ‘pictures’ that our fans haven’t seen yet.”
Regarding where Downtown Royalty is today, Kately said, “Our sound has evolved to a more edgy rock & roll, where the no trespassing sign has been ignored. There were elements of this missing from the first album we feel. For further releases, we aim to hit the raw nerve every time.”
In addition to Kately, Forehand, and producer Taylor Tatsch, musicians on Passion, Soul & Rock & Roll include current DTR bassist Files Little and former drummer Brandon Mundt. Together they made something that is an incredible effort for a debut album, with production values that stand up against label-signed artists. When ingested on repeat, as we’ve been consuming it at TheFUSE, it is clear it’s simply one more example of a stellar original music talent pool in Wichita Falls.
Listen to Passion, Soul & Rock & Roll [Spotify | Apple Music].
Follow theFUSE on Facebook
Follow theFUSE on Instagram
TheFUSE supports our local performers. Would you consider supporting TheFUSE with a free or paid subscription? We cannot survive without your help. Thank you in advance for your support.