S4 E7 LIV WARFIELD: Rock & Soul

Peoria native Liv Warfield takes cues from musical influences like Nina Simone, Etta James, Mavis Staples, Sade, Tina Turner and Mary J. Blige, but has carved out a style all her own, which can best be described as “alternative soul with a lil bit of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” In 2006, she self-released her debut album Embrace Me. By 2009, she caught the eye of music icon Prince and ultimately joined his group the New Power Generation. After touring for several years and soaking up as much knowledge as she could from the ultimate music mentor, Warfield made her big splash on the national scene as a featured artist for VH1’s You Oughta Know campaign, and then with the release of her major label debut album The Unexpected, which was executive produced by Prince. What followed were show-stopping performances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with David Letterman and The Arsenio Hall Show; a 2014 Soul Train Music Award and nominations for two others; a BET Best New Artist Award nomination; an interview with National Public Radio; and high-profile cosigns from Lionel Richie, Cyndi Lauper, and Nancy Wilson of Heart. That same year, Warfield’s performance closing out Essence Fest was hailed as one of the most memorable after shows at the New Orleans House of Blues. In 2015, Warfield and the NPG Hornz were named one of the top 10 bands to see at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. In 2017, Warfield collaborated with another one of her childhood influences, Nancy Wilson, to create the band Roadcase Royale. Their lead single “Get Loud” was featured prominently in the 2017 Women’s March and they released their debut album First Things First later that year. If that weren’t enough, their remake of Heart’s These Dreams was featured in the film Molly’s Game. Warfield recently recorded music for the Oscar-nominated HBO documentary Da Bronx. Her third album Olivia is coming in 2023.