Paul Gilbert has never done anything the conventional way, and ‘WROC’ might be the most unconventional thing he’s ever done. The guitar superstar’s new album, out now on Music Theories Recordings/Artone, uses George Washington’s Rules of Civility, an etiquette guide dating back to the late 1500s, as its entire conceptual foundation. The result is 13 tracks of intelligent, genre-traversing rock that somehow makes centuries-old table manners feel urgently relevant.
The new video for “Keep Your Feet Firm and Even” drops alongside the album, offering a vivid introduction to where Gilbert’s head has been. The track draws directly from Washington’s Rules 10 and 19, covering posture while seated and maintaining a pleasant countenance in serious matters. In Gilbert’s hands, those directives become something far more entertaining than any etiquette lesson has a right to be.
Gilbert describes how the project began. “Decades ago, when I first came across the Washington Rules of Civility on my bookshelf, I read the introduction and thought, ‘I am a civil person. I bet I can follow all these rules easily!’ As I read further, I realized that some of the rules might be more challenging than I had anticipated.”
The creative process turned out to be one of the most enjoyable of his career. “I’ve never in my life had such a good time writing songs,” he says. “I would look through the rules, sing them out loud and see which ones worked. A lot of these songs are word-for-word.” The result is Gilbert’s first vocal album since 2016, and it arrives with the full weight of his four decades of experience behind it.
‘WROC’ was recorded live over 4 days at The Hallowed Halls in Portland, with Nick D’Virgilio on drums, Doug Rappoport on guitar, and Timmer Blakely on bass. The album moves through AC/DC-style riffs, Burt Bacharach chord shapes, Todd Rundgren influences, Steppenwolf grooves twisted into 7/8 time signatures, and the rhythmic mastery of Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, all while keeping the flow completely natural.
“The trick was to make it flow,” Gilbert explains. “Sprinkle in some Burt Bacharach and Todd Rundgren and you’ve got WROC.”
From pioneering pop-rock anthems in Mr. Big to pushing the electric guitar to its outer limits in Racer X, Gilbert has spent his career refusing to stay in one place. ‘WROC’ is the latest and perhaps most gloriously odd proof of that restless creative spirit.