There’s a four-piece rock band out of Wichita Falls, Texas that’s been quietly building something worth paying attention to. Downtown Royalty doesn’t fit neatly into a single genre box, and that’s exactly why they work. Part rock, part funk, part blues, part soul, all of it played with the kind of conviction that only comes from four people who’ve spent years writing and performing together in the same room.
The lineup is Michael Kately on lead vocals and guitar, Mark Forehand on guitar and vocals, Files Little on bass, and Josiah Botts on drums. They’ve been playing original music since 2014, but the current iteration of the band really clicked into place about two years ago when Botts came on board. Since then, the output has picked up, the live shows have gotten tighter, and the catalog has grown into something that’s hard to ignore.
Their latest album, “Homemade Bad,” dropped on September 12, 2025, and it’s nine tracks of the band firing on all cylinders. The mixing and mastering alone deserve a mention. It’s clean without being sterile, and every instrument has room to breathe. The melodies stick, the vocals carry real weight, and the guitar work across the record pulls from places you don’t always hear in the same project. “Warning” is a particular standout, the kind of track that earns repeat listens without needing to grow on you first. On the quieter side, “Love It Ain’t Simple” slows things down to something more intimate, like a John Mayer groove filtered through slow whiskey and a touch of Leon Bridges warmth, while “Marks Song” strips things back even further into raw, unhurried territory. Those moments show the band can pull back without losing any of the feel, and they balance out a record that otherwise runs hot. For a band with their monthly listener count, the quality here is genuinely surprising. This is hidden gem territory.
What makes Downtown Royalty different from a lot of bands working the Texas circuit is that they actually sound like a band. That might seem obvious, but it’s rarer than you’d think. Their music comes from four people writing and playing together, not one person’s vision with hired hands filling in the gaps. As the band puts it, “It pulls from a time when bands mattered, when chemistry and feel were the point, and songs came from being in a room together. Nothing about it is manufactured or trendy.”
The influences back that up. They cite Jimi Hendrix, Kings of Leon, John Mayer, and The Black Crowes as touchstones, and you can hear all of it without the band sounding like any of them. Hendrix shows up in the rawness and expressiveness of the guitar playing. Kings of Leon is there in the modern rock dynamics. John Mayer’s fingerprints are on the groove and melodic sensibility. And The Black Crowes come through in the loose, lived-in arrangements that never feel over-rehearsed. It’s a wide net of influences, but Downtown Royalty pulls from all of it with enough personality to make the result distinctly their own.
Forehand’s guitar work, influenced by artists like Tom Petty and Matchbox 20, adds texture and depth alongside Kately’s more punk and soul-leaning tendencies. Little holds down the low end with a style rooted in funk and hard rock, giving the rhythm section a muscular foundation that Botts drives home with precision and energy behind the kit. The chemistry between the four of them is the engine that makes it all go.
Live, they’ve built a reputation across Texas for high-energy sets rooted in tight musicianship and a relentless work ethic. “If we’re not creating or playing, we feel like something’s off,” the band says. That restlessness keeps them in constant motion, booking shows, writing new material, and staying active across social media with a steady stream of content.
On the creative side, they’re currently exploring a country EP, not as a pivot but as a way to flex their creative muscles and see where it takes them. They’re also working on The Downtown Royalty Podcast for YouTube and considering the release of some live singles to capture what the band really sounds like in its natural environment. For a group whose live energy is a major selling point, that’s a smart move.
Downtown Royalty isn’t chasing background music status. “We hope listeners feel the authenticity, actually hear the lyrics, and connect with the music in a real way,” the band says. “More than anything, we want it to move people, not just be something playing in the background, but something that sticks with them and means something.”
With “Homemade Bad” out and more material on the way, Downtown Royalty is a band worth catching up with before the rest of the room figures it out. They’ve spent over a decade earning it. The work is there. The songs are there. Now it’s just a matter of enough people seeing this hidden gem and pressing play.
Keep up with Downtown Royalty through their website, Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
