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[0:04] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon. Well, everybody here on The Roundtable, my name is Robert Bannon. I'm so excited you're here on iHeart, Spotify, wherever you're listening to music. I have an album for you. I have a new piece of work. I have someone on the road. I got someone who could sing. I'm gonna take my shoe and fling it across this Zoom call right now. The one and the only Brother Wallace is here with a brand new album and on the road hitting the road. Welcome to the show!

[0:30] Brother Wallace: Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.

[0:36] Robert Bannon: You are busy.

[0:38] Brother Wallace: Yes, I am, but it's good, it's good busy.

[0:42] Robert Bannon: Look, are you from Georgia?

[0:44] Brother Wallace: I am. I'm from Columbus, Georgia, from West Point, Georgia. I live in Columbus, Georgia.

[0:51] Robert Bannon: I have never been south of Atlanta. Why have I never been to Georgia? I've never been to Atlanta.

[0:56] Brother Wallace: No, I want to eat. Will you take me out to eat?

[0:59] Brother Wallace: Yeah, yes. You can come eat. We got good food now.

[1:03] Robert Bannon: Look, I moved from Jersey to Detroit and I gained 20 pounds because if I see a soul food plate...

[1:10] Brother Wallace: Okay.

[1:10] Robert Bannon: I'm never gonna be skinny again.

[1:12] Brother Wallace: Because you come down here, you just get ready.

[1:16] Robert Bannon: Okay. When did music hit you? When did you start to become a performer or sing?

[1:22] Brother Wallace: Well, I've always, you know, being into music coming out of the church. So I've always loved singing. And so I started taking piano lessons when I was like six. And the thing everybody was just so excited that I was learning how to play the piano. So they made me play the piano in Sunday school. And I was like, every time I learned the song, they would make me play, and they would sing along to whatever I was playing. And so I learned a song, they sing it, and then I learned another song and they sing that song with the other one, and then it just kept going from there. So I grew up playing and singing.

[2:03] Robert Bannon: It's literally in you. Like that's who you are. While we're talking, everyone, there's a brand new album that we're here talking about. It's out. Electric Love, it's out. Like you could be streaming it. It came out on May 8th.

[2:12] Brother Wallace: You could be streaming this video right now.

[2:17] Robert Bannon: You could be streaming there. But you're not gonna listen to us and then listen to here, and then go right over there, follow on Instagram, buy a ticket to the show, stream the album from beginning. The single "You Are the Man" is also out with you.

[2:32] Brother Wallace: Yes.

[2:32] Robert Bannon: What is your process like to put an album together? Are these songs you've been working on? Do you write fast? Do you take a long time? Do you have a notebook? Are you singing in your phone? What do you do?

[2:42] Brother Wallace: I'm just singing in my phone. I'm really, I'm really singing in my phone. I'm really, so like the songs, you know, we had an idea. Let's write some music. And I love to write. I love to write. I love to journal, I love to collect thoughts. And songs come to me all the time. We grew up, me and my sister, we used to sing everything that any of us say, you know, you have that friend that just connects the song to everything that you say, and you end with a word you just sing. So we grew up doing that. And so like, we always we were always singing and always making up stuff. And so, like, that's my process, and then like getting an idea and then writing everything I think about that idea, and then make it into a song. So that's kind of like the thing.

[3:31] Robert Bannon: How do you describe? Because when I read like a press release, it says like you're gospel rooted and you're like a so real vocal. It's a soul album. But for people who have not heard you or not listened to your original music, how do you describe in your words what you do?

[3:46] Brother Wallace: Um, it is just music from the soul, music from within. And it has all of my emotion, all of the feels, all of the everything, the blood, the sweat, the tears, all of it is inside of the music. And so it just feels like that's what it's about, the feeling. It's like a revival, it's a party, it's a spiritual moment, it's everything. You're gonna get all the feels, some of the singles that are out already, "Gone with the Wind," "Who Do You Love," who's that songs that you can be that have been listening to, but now listen to the whole thing from beginning to end because you have 13 tracks, yes, a full album, right? And you need to be listening to it.

[4:28] Robert Bannon: What is a live show like with you? What am I, what is it like to see you in concert?

[4:33] Brother Wallace: Well, we went into that just wanting to be authentic and just have a good time. That's how it, you know, that was the thing is to enjoy yourself and then have a good time. You know, we like the content and stuff, but we want you to put your phone down and dance.

[4:50] Robert Bannon: Yeah.

[4:51] Brother Wallace: Um, and really get into it. That's what I'm about.

[4:56] Robert Bannon: That's what we need. I picture this. I picture Brother Wallace, it's the weekend. You got a show coming up, like you have a show coming up at home tomorrow. You're gonna put the phone down, you're gonna put all the week and the stress and anxiety, you're gonna put it down, and you're just gonna let loose and have a good time.

[5:14] Brother Wallace: That is absolutely it. That is absolutely it in a nutshell.

[5:18] Robert Bannon: Who hits the road with you? What who travels? You have your band. Who's up on stage?

[5:24] Brother Wallace: My band is on stage. I have Jordan Manley, Snare Drummer on drums. All of these guys are from Atlanta. Ronnie Bullock is on keys. He's amazing. Both all of them are amazing, but he's a sight. And Travis Murphy on bass, and Ian Newberry on lead guitar, and then there is Shanika Thomas who's singing background with me right now.

[6:01] Robert Bannon: Oh, so y'all are. So that's us. You bringing a band, like y'all are you you're traveling deep. You got your full band up on the road with you.

[6:06] Brother Wallace: We got a band. Yes, we have a band. It's not the full band because we also have horns. We got a couple other, but yeah, we're full band. We've come to bring the real experience. Ain't no tracks here.

[6:19] Robert Bannon: Oh, no tracks, no click tracks, nobody's got no real singing. They're up here playing, they're playing.

[6:26] Brother Wallace: So when I look at your dates that are coming up, you got dates all the way through June. So if you're in Memphis, if you're in Nashville, if you're in Virginia, all the way to New York with you and Mavis Staples, which set Summer Stage in Central Park is a legendary concert. That's free. You're not gonna want to miss that. So New York show up and out. And then you're going to Europe.

[6:45] Brother Wallace: Yes, we're going to Europe. I started out with a band, The Heavy with Dan Taylor. And I love you. And I'm so excited to be playing there. And so the album was actually recorded in Europe. The album was recorded at Peter Gabriel's.

[7:07] Robert Bannon: Yes.

[7:08] Brother Wallace: Real World. It was recorded at Real World. With like incredibly, like, if you took a people who have engineered and mixed your album, they've engineered and mixed like the greatest, like Adele. Like these are the best of the best.

[7:22] Robert Bannon: These are the best of the best.

[7:24] Brother Wallace: Yes. It is insane. Are you someone who likes a real author, like an improv like studio setting? Or are you someone who takes a hundred takes? What is it like when you get in the booth to lay down a vocal?

[7:32] Brother Wallace: So I try to be a one-hitter quitter. Um, I try my best. I do what I can. But I believe in rehearsal. I'm a formal choir director, I believe in rehearsing. I believe in not going to the studio and don't know no song. You should know all of this stuff when you get here. And so for me, that has been my thing to get in here, and it gives us the opportunity to get in a creative space because we kind of know where we're going. And so like that's kind of my thing. I like to get into the studio and to go in, and I'm a workhorse. I like to get in there, but Real World was so beautiful just being at the space itself. It was so beautiful and awesome, and so it was a great time, a great time in going here and get these songs done, and we go out here to the lake and to the waterfall and see the horses and like it is amazing.

[8:40] Robert Bannon: I know you put in a lot of work, but it has to be you're on tour internationally, your album is out. People are discovering your music. People are buying tickets to see your shows. It really, from where you started and being a choir director and starting at church, and then your way up and working as background vocals or working around gospel, people like Kirk Franklin and learning the business and doing how does it feel that this is you? Like you're not working for somebody else. You're not singing six feet over there, you're not direct. This is your show. This is your album. You did it.

[9:13] Brother Wallace: Yeah, it um it's still a bit surreal, and there is, you know, um uh I um kind of keep my head to the plow, you know what I'm saying? And I'm always thinking about the next thing and how we make it, and but um but I I'm enjoying the moment, and it's a lot of moments. There was a lot of work, you know, a lot of you know process that got us here, and so um it was earned, I will say um um I'm I'm enjoying the moment. I I am enjoying the moment. Um, but I wanted you know, deliver to the audience at this point the thing that uh they have been expecting, and even for those who don't know what to expect, they'll get more than they've expected.

[10:14] Robert Bannon: Oh, I know that you're gonna you're gonna see a show, people. You're gonna see watch the videos, go watch some videos of what he's gonna put on a show. Uh, when you talk about, we talked before we were coming on, we were joking about gospel and going to church and all of that. That's a part of your roots. That's a part of who you are. How do you bring spirituality into this kind of an album? What are the roots of it and how does it show up?

[10:35] Brother Wallace: Um, one thing that um that uh you learn singing in church is you got to feel whatever you sing. It's not about you know singing pretty, it's about singing with with emotion and singing with feeling. And so with this album, I I wanted to bring that emotion to be, you know, to remind people of all things human, you know, and the the the real emotion of of what real singing is and what real singing brings. And I wanted to um wanted to bring that because you know that's what church is. It's it's it's it's sweating and singing your voice out, you know what I'm saying? Getting it out of you, however, you have to get it out of you, walking the aisles, however, you got to get it out of you, get it out of you. And so uh bringing all of that to these songs. And that's what you do, and you bring that emotion and that feeling to love songs, to songs about life, to songs about relationships, to whatever he's talking about, you're gonna you're gonna fall in love with it.

[11:46] Robert Bannon: If you're if you've never discovered your music before, if people are just turning on to you, who do you who is this for?

[11:52] Brother Wallace: For everybody, don't be scared if you don't like soul, gospel, RB. If you're from, you know, an accountant in Oklahoma somewhere, you gotta list. This is for everyone. This is for everybody. This right here is for everybody. And it's not about for me, it was never about like working, especially working with um uh over in in the UK, it was never about a specific genre of music. It was it was all things. It was all things music. It wasn't about making a soul album or making a uh an RB album or anything, it was just making the music. And then everybody else lives in categories. I don't live in a category. Um I'm uniquely unapologetically imperfectly me. And so that's what this music is.

[12:50] Robert Bannon: When you can't say it better than that. Why one of your songs is called Electric Love. The album is called Electric Love. Why, why did you name it that? What does that mean to you?

[12:58] Brother Wallace: Um electric love, even the song is about, you know, um, there's a saying where I'm from that says, Love is what love does. And um, you know, and love isn't hard. And like electricity, uh, it shocks you, it wakes you up. But it's because it's so fast, because it moves so quickly. And um, and you know, there's not a lot of mechanics to electricity. You know what I'm saying? Lightning just strikes. It um there's not a lot that that that has happened there, and that's the way love is necessary happened with the thing with the music and the message that we're we're trying to convey is and let it flow through you, let it flow in you, and then let it once it's in you, let it flow out of you. Um, and then it'll hit the next person and the next person, the next thing. And we're all just conduits of electricity, and we're all conduits of love.

[14:04] Robert Bannon: That is preaching right there. That is a whole word. That is a whole sermon.

[14:06] Brother Wallace: That is a whole word.

[14:11] Robert Bannon: For people who don't see when I think of you, when I was watching videos of you, when I was seeing what you do, you give that like we're gonna laugh, we're gonna party, we're gonna hug, we're gonna have a celebration, we're gonna celebrate life. Like you give that energy on stage. I picture you like that in real life.

[14:24] Brother Wallace: Yes, I am. That is that is absolutely me. It is going to be, it's like going to his living room, and he's inviting you into his house, and he's gonna put on a show and sing, and you're his guest, and that's what you're gonna get when you buy a go see the show. And here on the record.

[14:41] Robert Bannon: Yeah, absolutely. So the links and everything will be below. You can get you could stream the album. The album is out and available wherever. Get that electric love on this weekend. Go put the play the song, play the album from beginning to end. If you're in Atlanta, you gotta get a ticket. If you're gonna be around the country, you gotta get a ticket. You're gonna come out to Central Park and see this show with the incredible Mavis Staple. I'm I moved out here to Detroit two years ago. I don't I don't see Detroit on the list yet. I'm waiting for you. I'm ready. I got my tambour.

[15:07] Brother Wallace: Well, we just left Detroit.

[15:10] Robert Bannon: Where was I? I don't know where you were. I don't know where you were. I would have had you over. I could have made you a Coney Dog, gave you some chili cheese fries. We could have had it. We're gonna have a whole thing. I was just in. We we um we just did Detroit. Um my God. Don't worry about it. I can't think of the venue. We we were at down.

[15:31] Brother Wallace: Yeah, I'll be back. I had a when I say we had a time in Detroit. We had a time in Detroit. We had a good time. I know Detroit. It's listen, Detroit. All the people in Detroit who watch us, you know, Detroit. It we the you know that you're gonna show up and out, and uh you gotta listen to this album as well. You got it. Yeah, and they would they it was so much crazy.

[15:53] Robert Bannon: Oh, I know. It was such good energy in Detroit. Um, St. Andrews, you were at St. Andrew.

[15:58] Brother Wallace: It's a fun spot.

[16:00] Robert Bannon: St. Andrews, yeah. Yeah, it was and I was like, you know, even I'll be there.

[16:08] Brother Wallace: No, it's yeah, yeah, come come through. We're gonna have a good time. I'm so excited to meet you. I'm so proud. I don't know you, but I'm so proud of you. I know you now. I'm so excited for this. This album is gonna be.

[16:19] Brother Wallace: Oh, thank you. Wait till you hear what people are gonna say about it. It's gonna be your summer must-listen album, too. You're gonna have a party. You're driving to the beach, driving home on this weekend. This is the album you gotta listen to. And I'm so excited and grateful you spent some time with us. Thank you so much for being here, Brother Wallace.

[16:33] Brother Wallace: Oh, thank you for having me. I've enjoyed it.

[16:37] Robert Bannon: My pleasure. Click the links, everybody. Listen to it, follow on social media, go to the website, get your tickets, and I'll see you real soon.