This has had a lot of famous musicians. The two first guitar players left, Mike Zito first, replaced by Bart Walker, then Devon Allman left too. Today in this band are Cyril Neville on vocals (from Neville Brothers) and Tyrone Vaughan (Jimmie's son and Stevie Ray's nephew) on guitar. This one is as gifted as his father and we can listen to his famous Texas Blues style (his heritage), as Bart Walker plays more in the Southern Rock way with a touch of psychadelism. Royal Southern Brotherhood last album seems to be influenced by Funk Music (Cyril Neville influence) and gets good songs. First "I wanna be Free" a mid-tempo song between Blues-Rock and Southern Rock. Guitarists show their virtuosity on the break and the final. "Reach my Soul" is a groovy song between Funk and FM with a good guitar solo. ""Don't look back" begins with a bass guitar solo just before a funky rhythm played on banjo. It's an original song but we can note the lack of a guitar solo. Bart Walker and Tyrone Vaughan share the solos on the Southern Funk "Hit me once" close to Wet Willie. Funk is always here on "The big Greasy", "They don't make 'em like you no more" and "It's time for Love", just before the jazzy "Better Half". "Hard Blues" a mid-tempo Blues-Rock is close to Point Blank, with a good guitar solo. Let's continue on the Honky Tonk song "Bayou Baby" and on the Southern Funk "Come Hell or Highwater". Let's talk of the Funky Blues-Rock "Poor Boy" with a very good wah-wah guitar solo, just before the final song, "Anchor me" with just an acoustic guitar and Cyril Neville voice. Royal Southern Brotherhood is a kind of race horse who could win any derby. And about this last album, my four favorite songs are « I wanna be free », « Hard blues », « Bayou baby » and « Come hell or highwater ».

Let's bet on them!

Olivier Aubry