Ace Monroe: One Year Later
- Rachel Spooner '26
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
Last time I spoke with Ace Monroe in February of 2024, they were about to set off on their official tour for their second studio album, which found them emerging from the eastern side of the country for the first time. Now, with a fresh new tracklist and a hot-blooded, nonstop, coast-to-coast tour of 40+ cities under their stylish belts, Ace Monroe is truly coming into their own–and they’re thrumming with energy, simultaneously brimming with potential and constantly in motion.
The Nashville-based American rock ‘n’ roll band kicked off their careers in 2020 with a coltish liveliness: playful, frenetic, joyously boyish. But after five years of writing, touring, and collaborating, their maturity is shining through–but of course, despite the heights they reach, Ace Monroe can never take themselves too seriously, which is undoubtedly part of their charm.
I met up with the band on their stop in Atlanta at The Masquerade Oct. 19. The purple-walled dressing room above the Purgatory venue was sweltering; I immediately shed my jacket, though they seemed comfortable in their leather and velvet. The thermostat was, in fact, set to 90 degrees, and they didn’t even notice. What is it that they say about being forged in a crucible?
Since our last conversation, Ace Monroe has played over 80 shows, and they show no signs of slowing down. And little did I know on that night in February, Ace Monroe had just started working on their latest album, “Wild Card,” truly hitting the ground running on it in March 2024.
Released in April of this year, the 12-track record–their longest yet–sports a new, modern sound from a band inspired and motivated by the classic rock n’ roll greats. Lead singer Robbie Dylan said, “When ‘Wild Card’ came out, it wasn't [a title] suggestion, it was actually a description. There were certain songs on it that people would be like, ‘Wait, that's Ace?’ And we're like, yeah, it's kind of a wild card.”
It was the final installment on a long collaborative list of names. Lead guitarist Josh Alfano pulled out his phone to ramble off a few scrapped titles: “Double or Nothing,” “Dunkirk,” “Locked In,” and “There and Back Again.” Drummer Jonathan Tatooles jokingly contributed gems such as “Ace Monroe 2: This Time It’s Personal,” “Ace Monroe 2: Electric Boogaloo,” “Ace Monroe Strikes Back,” and so on and so forth. I suppose we can all be glad their maturity won out in this instance.
The name wasn’t the only thing that came together in a unanimous way–much of the album itself did, too. “The reason why it went smoother than the last one is a testament to how hard the last one was. Just us getting to know each other and how we work together,” Dylan said. “This one, there was a trust. You kind of understand that things are gonna fall in place. And having that belief, it kind of just made it go smoother.” That confidence and growth extended to how “Wild Card” was recorded; Alfano said, “The other thing about this record that was wildly different–no pun intended–was that the last record, we recorded the singles and then stopped and then came back and did the other songs.” With “Wild Card” finished and polished before its announcement, the band had the time to come up with a brilliant, perfectly chaotic visual.
The cover art was shot in Alfano’s house on a table the band found on Facebook Marketplace; a testament to the band’s grit and down-to-earth nature. Nashville friends of Ace Monroe Laurel and Simi crafted the creative concept and designed the set and photographer Garret Hayes snapped the shots. Some tableaus you can spot in the beautiful disarray include a racecar and a cigarette butt in a cup of tea, a plastic toy cowboy in an amber glass, and my personal favorite, a banana with “APPLE” scrawled across the peel. The centerpiece, a custom cake, became the album’s motif, found on merchandise and Tatooles’ drum head.
On the tour for “Wild Card,” the band stopped in several cities they’d never played before, like Minneapolis and Austin, which shocked them with support they didn’t know they had. But of course, they also returned to familiar favorites. Alfano said, “We’re going back to so many of the same cities and seeing more people than we saw last year. So I think it put the fire under us again like, hey, maybe this whole thing's working for some reason.”
And working, it certainly is. Just in this past year, Ace Monroe opened for legendary acts like Rival Sons and Smash Mouth of “Shrek” superfame. Despite making their own waves, Ace Monroe isn’t afraid of unabashedly admiring the acts that inspire them. “Rival Sons is a band I’ve been listening to forever. Seriously, just being in the room during that sound check, like, I was getting goosebumps,” Alfano said. “Those guys are just such seasoned pros at it, to watch them, I feel like you take in as much as you can.” The band mentioned sneaking a peek at Rival Sons vocalist Jay Buchanan’s pre-show warm up–which entailed one wail into the microphone and walking off the stage. Very rock ‘n’ roll.
Bassist Erik McIntyre so wisely summarized: “Rival Sons was the ‘holy shit’ moment, and Smash Mouth was the ‘hell yeah’ moment.” Smash Mouth was a childhood dream come true for all five of the guys. They were asked to sing “All Star” onstage with the band, and Tatooles recalled sprinting to the bar to grab a beer to hold in each hand a la Jaren Johnston–one of his biggest influences–singing with Miranda Lambert. “It was probably one of the best beers I ever had,” he said. Guitarist Jack Kaiser added, “I think it’s a testament to, like, in America, if you want to sing ‘All Star’ with the guys from ‘Shrek,’ you can do it.”
The band is undoubtedly on the up-and-up. With 100,000 followers on Instagram and a couple of reels with over 1 million views, their social media presence has drawn fans from all over, including notable musicians like Jake Owen, Richard Fortus, and Ryan Roxie. Ace Monroe has garnered overwhelming support, but of course, with all rock ‘n’ roll bands, there are naysayers who are stuck in the past. It’s always the people who bemoan that rock is dead that shoot down bands who are bringing it back. Dylan said, “No matter what, if you have a certain amount of positive feedback, there’s always going to be negative.” In the band’s classic cool-as-a-cucumber fashion, they made a video reading out some of their hate comments, letting the animosity slide right off their backs. Kaiser said, “The more the hate comments come in, the better we do, because it just pushes us. They’re hilarious.”
Their buoyant attitude is clearing a path for their success–that and the perpetual, ultimate dream of becoming full-time rock ‘n’ rollers. After long stints on tour, all five of them have day jobs waiting for them back in Nashville. The band is grateful for every show they play and every fan they gain, but they don’t let themselves rest on their laurels. Alfano said, “It's amazing that these people are coming out to shows and supporting us. And then you gotta put your head back down and get back to work. We’re not there yet.” Kaiser echoed that sentiment: “When’s the next one? That’s what you always gotta say.”
Now finishing up the last leg of the “Wild Card” tour, Ace Monroe doesn’t want to stop. Despite the physical, mental, and emotional toll that a cross-country tour can take, they’re raring to go again like boys at the bottom of an indoor waterslide in a Kearny, Nebraska Holiday Inn–don’t ask. As for new music, Alfano said, “We haven’t sat down all together collectively for anything yet, but I know everybody’s got something cooking right now.”
Ace Monroe is simply a class act, and there’s no two ways about it. And the best part is that they’re only getting better. I look forward to the day the band sells out their first arena show. With a stage presence and an energy like theirs, they’re electric in a small room like Purgatory, but they’d utterly light up a huge stage–and the whole crowd would be on their feet. If you’re looking for the next great American rock band, it’s Ace. They’re ones to watch.
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