The first time St. Louis-based soul band Root Mod performed at the City Winery, it was a nightmare. Siblings and band founders Daniel and Bianca Fitzpatrick’s father had died just one week before the show in August 2023.
However, the siblings pushed through to complete the performance. The pair and the rest of the band return to the City Winery stage to celebrate the release of their debut album “This That N’ The Third” on Jan. 4.
“We tend to just channel him in everything that we do, and so it’s an opportunity to do that,” Bianca says. “I think those are moments where we feel really near and close to him and I’m learning to embrace that even more now.”
Just two days after the release of their long-awaited, debut album, Root Mod is ready to show the world who they are. The band formed in 2017 with Bianca, Daniel, their cousin Greg Fitzpatrick, Thomas Paden and Peter Plank. Seven years later, the band’s members and sound have changed. Its lyricism and instrumentation have evolved through live shows and rehearsals, with rapper MC Tres joining the collective in 2023.
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“We can produce really good music, and we can produce really good shows,” Bianca says. “I think that’s expected of us, but also I think there’s this missing element of like who Root Mod really is.”
Bianca and Daniel’s great-grandmother was a pastor, and the siblings’ father, Daniel LaDale Fitzpatrick I, was a talented musician who honed his gifts under the watchful eye of church musicians and clergymen. As the siblings began to dabble in music, the church provided a platform for them to nurture their gifts.
Their bassist, Shawn Pavey, also started playing in church while living in France. Guitarist Plank, drummers Thomas Paden and Rob Reavling II, and trumpeter Brady Lewis all had similar backgrounds. Daniel met percussionist Issac Johnston while in church, saying although Root Mod isn’t a gospel group, the love of God and gospel foundation is what’s missing in today R&B.
“Go back as far as you want to roots of R&B,” Daniel says. “I don’t think you would have got there without church.”
Daniel says Root Mod began as a family band rooted in love, a theme that resonates throughout their music. However, the band intends to showcase who they are beyond live shows at their City Winery album release show. They plan to show their heart’s intention behind the songwriting, including personal anecdotes and creative tidbits throughout the show.
“People never really knew where we came from unless we told them, but I think we’ll have the chance to tell them at the show,” Daniel says.
Although the album “This That N’ The Third” releases on Jan. 2, Daniel describes the project as “that baby the parents say was an accident.” While Root Mod’s latest single “Alright” is a new track, the rest of the eight songs have different ages. Bianca says “Got a Thing” before the band’s foundation and the title track is the oldest song on the album.
However, bassist Pavey says the project “made sense” and fans were asking for a release from the band they’d seen live at events like Music at the Intersection, Q In the Lou and the Enjoy Illinois 300 NASCAR Cup Series in 2023. Daniel says the band refurbished the tracks with new members after figuring out which version of songs to release. Pavey says the records are still changing despite the upcoming album through their live shows.
“It’s still growing; it’s not done,” Pavey says, mentioning how the band is already working on new music.
Despite listeners’ pleas for an album, Daniel insists the creation of “This That N’ The Third” was never intentional. He describes Root Mod as “old school,” a music collective quicker to hop on stage and jam in person than dedicate time to producing songs for online consumption. The years spent performing live helped the band craft a unique identity based on authentic songwriting and true artistry.
“We were able to get a grasp of what the audience appreciated about what we were doing,” Bianca says. “We were able to then hone in on what direction we wanted to go.”
“We needed that time to really identify our sound and then identify what we wanted to present,” she says.
Root Mod also returned to its roots by adding rapper MC Tres to the collective in 2023. Original founding member, Greg Fitzpatrick, rapped in the collective early on before leaving the band for other pursuits. Bianca says the band was missing that male hip-hop sound for a while before the emcee joined their ranks.
Understanding that the road to their first album was not a microwave process, Daniel and the rest of Root Mod are looking forward to continuing to define their style.
“Let’s write meaningful music and impact people in real-time in front of them,” Daniel says. “There was really no other goal.”
Michael Dorf, founder of City Winery, explains why his company chose St. Louis and City Foundry for its newest location. Video by Kevin C. Johnson
