Robert LaRoche
Robert LaRoche - Sacred Vow
“Originally from Massachusetts, Robert LaRoche formed power-pop sensations The Sighs in 1982.They flirted with rock stardom, signing to Virgin Records in 1992 and releasing the critically acclaimed debut What Goes On. The album’s main single, Think About Soul, charted at modern rock radio and the band hit the road with the Gin Blossoms and Spin Doctors before splitting in 1996. Robert relocated to Texas and has been making a comeback in recent years. He released his solo debut Patient Man in 2015, the EP A Thousand Shades in 2019, and the 2023 album Forevermore on longtime collaborator and multi-instrumentalist John DeNicola‘s OMAD Records. Sacred Vow (due Sept. 26) also features DeNicola, steel player John Leon and Sighs drummer / co-founder Tommy Pluta.” – Tinnitus – Darryl Sterdan
Recent release – Sacred Vow – September 2025
A healthy handful of chords, tautly played. Relatable lyricism, straight from the heart. Craft so catchy you’re singing along before you even know the words. These are the fundamentals of real rock and roll—and as delivered by Robert LaRoche on Sacred Vow, they’ve never been such a vital force. This record is a wakeup call, compelling the artist and the listener to rise up, reach out, and get it together, now.
“Our time is finite,” LaRoche says simply of the album’s sense of urgency. “I want to be an active participant in my own destiny.” He’s been doing exactly that, a working songwriter and musician since founding and fronting New England power pop legends The Sighs in the 1980s. Yet this collection sounds as if rock and roll was invented just this morning—fresh, focused, and forthrightly confrontational.
The rousing, ringing opener “Cross the Line” is a challenge to face our demons, and uplifting “Downward Slide” continues in that vein, relying on the energy of guitar-bass-drums to revel in everyman redemption. While blistering blues-rocker “Bottle in Your Hand” takes a hardline look at addiction, it’s the countrified confession of the title track, punctuated with pedal steel and dobro, that has LaRoche imploring: “Bring back my faith, shelter me now/Pride will pull me under ’til I embrace your sacred vow.”
“I’m chronicling my own weaknesses and desires, while at the same time trying to let go of regrets and stay present,” says LaRoche, clean and sober himself for 13 years. “A big part of my recovery has been turning my will over to a higher power, and for sure this has seeped into my songs—ideally that would offer hope to others who are struggling.”
For all its at-times brutal honesty, Sacred Vow also shimmers with pure positivity. Unabashedly poppy but nonetheless plaintive, “Calling Me Back Home” is a paean to human connection. And then there’s the never-too-late romance of “Very Last Call,” with its woah-yeah yearning and targeted guitar—the sort of supple love song that filled Forevermore, LaRoche’s 2023 solo effort.
Personnel on Sacred Vow includes Omad Records owner John DeNicola, who’s been in LaRoche’s corner since producing the first Sighs’ LP back in 1992. “Working with John is always a great pleasure,” LaRoche says. “He not only creates an atmosphere of positive energy and studio spontaneity where all ideas are considered, the fact that he’s credited with 14 different instruments speaks volumes to what his musicianship has to offer.” Also present is former Sighs’ co-fouder Tommy Pluta on drums. “In addition to being an exceptional musician, Tommy is my best friend,” LaRoche says. “We’ve been through the trenches of the music business together, but never lost sight of the most important aspect—the music itself!”
DeNicola and Pluta will form LaRoche’s rhythm section in a combo rounded out with the stellar pedal steel of John Leon (a buddy from Austin, Texas, LaRoche’s adopted city since The Sighs’ disbanding in the mid-‘90s).They’ll play live to celebrate the release of Sacred Vow; then LaRoche will take it across the pond and on the road, touring Europe through the fall.
“Songwriting, recording, and live performances are a force for good,” LaRoche proclaims. Give his latest a listen and be inspired to live your best life, from this moment on. “The
Sacred Vow is to be true to yourself, true to your craft—whatever that may be—and hold onto a belief in a power greater than yourself.”
Robert LaRoche - Forevermore
Forevermore, the adverb, means eternity, always, forever—yet on Forevermore, the album, Robert LaRoche expresses each of its exquisite musical love stories in some three minutes or less “I’m a firm believer in less is more,” he says. “Simplicity, memorable hooks, and straight from the heart.”
It’s an ethos of song craft LaRoche has practiced throughout his career: during the Eighties and Nineties, as the frontman for power pop sensations The Sighs, and as a solo artist. With Forevermore, his second full-length release, he’s created a tuneful travelogue through just about every romantic landscape us human beings can visit. “Love, loss, redemption and most importantly hope are the basic essence of these songs,” he says of the record’s running theme.
This becomes sparkling clear, from the chime-y, harmony-heightened charm of “Steal Your Heart” and “Home Again” onto the plaintive “Hard Rain” and the pledge of “Burn That Kingdom.” Sweetened with strings, the title track has LaRoche commemorating his parents’ 70-year relationship, while “Safer Inside” taps gentle keyboards to explore self-protection, its vocal advising: “Don’t let it show, don’t let him know that you’re afraid to find the love we made.”
Lyrically, Forevermore’s songs have a personal vulnerability that’s nonetheless relatable. “They’re all autobiographical to a certain degree; my life experiences, some past, some present,” LaRoche reveals. “Honest and direct—that’s the only way I know how to write.” As if there’s any doubt, the natural, earnest yearning of his tenor underscores that truth on every track.
Lending chops to Forevermore are Sighs’ drummers Tommy Pluta and Tom Borawski (Pluta switched to bass as the band’s sound began to gel), while legendary axe-slinger Zonder Kennedy delivered the ripping solo on “Burn That Kingdom.” Native New Englander LaRoche called on David Perales (violin) and Brian Standefer (cello), like-minded musicians from his adopted city of Austin, Texas. As to everything else contributing to the richly textured sound, LaRoche relied on his longtime friend John DeNicola, an Oscar-winning songwriter, producer and the main man of Omad Records; the two have worked together since The Sighs’ 1992 debut LP.
“Collaborating with John is an absolute pleasure, as he’s full of musical curiosity and makes the recording process extremely enjoyable,” says LaRoche. “He’s a strong advocate for experimentation, so whatever idea one or both of us had was given a try.” The Forevermore sessions took place at DeNicola’s studio, a converted barn in bucolic Upstate New York. “As a multi-instrumentalist, John anchored the tracks with his signature bass playing, later layering on B3 organ, electric guitar, marimba, pump organ, even glockenspiel!” LaRoche goes on. “We both love vintage guitars and amplifiers, and this gorgeous retro sound had a direct impact on the record’s overall sonic warmth.”
Robert LaRoche has done nothing but music since his teens in Holyoke, Massachusetts—and his enthusiasm for it never flagged. The Sighs toured hard and long in support of their Nineties’ albums What Goes On and Different, and when their frontman elected to step out of the spotlight for awhile, he found a satisfying supportive role, writing, recording, and performing with Patricia Vonne, whose pop-rock sound has Latinx/country flavors. Ultimately, however, LaRoche’s own muse began to stir anew; he released the aptly titled Patient Man in 2015 and its follow-up, A Thousand Shades, four years later.
On Forevermore, he has come full circle. There are sparkling, giddy moments and somber, poignant pieces that reach into some of our most painful places, his voice on target every time. “Loss and gain, dark and light—it’s the basic human experience of redemption that I hope rings true to the listener,” LaRoche says.
Find out for yourself—in under thirty minutes. Cue up Forevermore. Now.
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