Paul Gilbert has announced his new album WROC. Due for release on 27 February via Music Theories Recordings, this is a record that sees the guitar virtuoso channelling the centuries-old etiquette guide known as Washington’s Rules Of Civility.
The title is an acronym for Washington’s Rules Of Civility and marks one of Gilbert’s most outlandish ideas yet. Using George Washington’s famous list of Rules Of Civility And Decent Behavior In Company And Conversation as his lyrical compass, Gilbert has built an entire set of songs around guidelines that trace their roots back to a 1595 French etiquette manual written by the Jesuits.
Fans who know Gilbert for wielding a cordless power drill for supersonic tremolo picking or using a slide to summon the voice of Ronnie James Dio will find WROC pushing him into new territory again. It is his first vocal album since 2016’s I Can Destroy, and it leans hard into his sense of melody as much as his trademark guitar fireworks.
The first taste of the record arrives with the single Go Not Thither, a track that fuses throbbing vibe pedals, regal harmonies, classic Heavy Metal riffage and a little ZZ Top boogie blues. “Hundreds of years ago, everyone must have been walking around kicking the earth,” Gilbert says of the song’s inspiration. “They kicked the earth so much that a rule had to be invented to put a stop to it! Another rule in the song, Play Not The Peacock, is more difficult to follow. I know this, as I can’t resist playing guitar solos while wearing a tricorn hat.”
The spark for WROC struck on the flight home from the last show of Mr. Big’s final tour, where the band said goodbye at Tokyo’s legendary Budokan Arena. Gilbert was searching for a lyric partner in the mould of Bernie Taupin or Rush’s Neil Peart when he realised that Washington’s copied list of rules could be his unlikely collaborator. “While lyric writing is something I’ve certainly done, it’s not really my favourite part of the process,” he explains. “So I got George Washington to be my Bernie Taupin.”
As a player who has helped define the role of the electric guitar in rock, Gilbert has long understood which rules to follow and which to break. With Mr. Big he helped pioneer chart-topping pop rock anthems that filled arenas around the world, while his work in Racer X pushed the instrument into a more metallic direction, proving that technique and taste can go hand in hand. His solo career has seen him move freely between instrumental and vocal records, touching on blues, classical, jazz and straight-up rock along the way.
For WROC, he took palpable joy in resurrecting these 16th-century guidelines for the hyper-connected modern world. “I’ve never had such a good time writing songs in my life,” he admits.
WROC was recorded live over four days at The Hallowed Halls in Portland, Oregon, with Nick D’Virgilio on drums, Doug Rappoport on guitar and Timmer Blakely on bass. Gilbert later added extra vocals at home, but the beating heart of the record is the sound of a band playing together in a room.
It all kicks off with Keep Your Feet Firm And Even, based on a Washington rule Gilbert admits he finds personally challenging. The hook-heavy Speak Not Evil Of The Absent finds him twisting centuries-old wording into modern vocal phrasing, while tracks like Show Not Yourself Glad (At The Misfortune Of Another) and Maintain A Sweet And Cheerful Countenance underline just how musical these old rules can become in the right hands.
“Some of these rules are easy to follow, and others… I don’t know if I could ever do them,” Gilbert says. “But it’s certainly aspirational to think about them. I would say WROC is one of the most musical and listenable albums I’ve ever done. It’s much more than just guitar licks that came from my fingers.
“The music came from my sense of melody. I feel like this is the most successful journey I’ve made to my inner melodic generator… thanks to the inspiration from George Washington and those who went before him. Overall, the process was so enjoyable, and you can hear that joy in the tracks.”
Paul Gilbert – WROC Tracklist
1. Keep Your Feet Firm And Even
2. Show Not Yourself Glad (At The Misfortune Of Another)
3. Maintain A Sweet And Cheerful Countenance
4. Go Not Thither
5. Orderly And Distinctly
6. If You Soak Bread In The Sauce
7. Let Thy Carriage
8. Speak Not Evil Of The Absent
9. Turn Not Your Back (To Others)
10. Conscience Is The Most Certain Judge
11. Every Action Done In Company
12. Spark Of Celestial Fire
13. George Washington Rules
WROC is released on 27 February via Music Theories Recordings. Pre-orders are available from lnk.to/PaulGilbert
