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This is bluesy soul at its finest and least pretentious.
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From the April 2008 NOISE magazine THE MYSTIX As the Mystix intrudes upon my morning awakening, I really can't grab the words at first. This band, as early morning, go-to-the-job background, well, it really leaves a space between the mind and brain. For those who work the early, or "normal" shift of slavery to acquire the monies to pay thy rent and booze, I heartily recommend this. Okay, enough weird talk, this album GROOVES in the CCR way, funky low down blues-grooves with slide guitar-really great songs that could serve as an ass-kickin' smooth drivin' soundtrack for some new classic American film. Real pro musician quality (whatever that may be; make your own decision) permeates every song, and I love that twangy surf guitar. These guys know how to play, and they know how to play together. It's refreshing to hear a veteran band like this in the midst of the Boston scene. Some bands got it, and the Mystix has it and uses it.
April 2008 Review of BLUE MORNING
Boston-based band The Mystix has produced some good Southern fried soul music with the new release BLUE MORNING. Made up of Massachusetts and New York musicians, the group makes roots music with an ecstatic and loving sound. Singer and guitarist Jo Lily's hoarse field calls practically beg to be heard in open air. He growls, purrs and shouts with a sound that isn't quite country, isn't quite New Orleans blues, but draws on both, with a helping of gospel thrown in.
The Mystix' latest CD, BLUE MORNING, just got a fantastic review in the latest issue of BLUES REVUE magazine that will be on newsstands (like Barnes & Noble and Borders) March 11th. THE MYSTIX The Mystix, at least name wise, sound like a band in one of Lenny Kayes' NUGGETS collections, more akin to The Standells' of "Dirty Water" fame than to Muddy Waters. But the players in The Mystix are veteran hardcore New England bluesmen, with Jo Lily, of Duke and the Drivers, on vocals, the two Martys-- both Ballou and Richards from all those Duke Robillard albums-- handling the rhythm section, Bobby Keyes (not the Stones sideman) on guitar, and Tom West and guest Kenny White on keyboards.
The Mystix just had a great article written about them! The Mystix want you to know they're not fortune tellers. If you Googled their band a year ago, that wasn't so obvious. "You'd have to wade through 15 pages of Nostradamus before you got to us," says singer Jo Lily.
A great Review for The Mystix' BLUE MORNING As you'd expect from a batch of journeyman musicians from jazz hotspots like Boston and New York, this set of excellent tunes with dynamic performances rarely misses the mark. The band is Jo Lily (vocals and guitar), Bobby Keyes (guitar), Marty Ballou (bass) and Marty Richards (drums). While the rhythm section holds things down, Lily and Keyes are the focus. Lily's vocals sound uncannily like latter-day Bob Dylan and the guitars drive most of the music.
INTERNATIONAL REVIEW! The Mystix / Blue Morning / Mystix Eyes 323
Boston Herald Review Boston has a great new roots band. On its new CD, "Blue Morning," the Mystix - singer/guitarist Jo Lily, guitarist Bobby Keyes, bassist Marty Ballou and drummer Marty Richards - sounds like the greatest swamp-rock band you never heard.
The Mystics Boston-based Mystix makes lunch-bucket roots rock with a working-class ethos - lots of heavy lifting but no wasted motion. Fronted by Jo Lily (aka Sam Deluxe of Duke and the Drivers), the band of guitarist Bobby Keyes, drummer Marty Richards, bassist Marty Ballou and keyboardist Tom West is a collection of erstwhile hired guns who have backed local luminaries such as Peter Wolf, Susan Tedeschi, Duke Robillard and Barrence Whitfield. While Lily's apocalyptic croak is so Dylanesque as to inspire confusion, there's nothing confusing about the passion, commitment and economy the Mystix brings to its mix of blues, r & b and country.
Future looks bright for Mystix The Mystix - who were known as The Mystics before they discovered how many soothsayers that would conjure up on the Internet - have been together less than three years, but they have plenty of experience. Frontman Jo Lilly was better known as Sam DeLuxe when he was fronting legendary Boston rockers Duke and the Drivers. Guitarist Bobby Keyes has worked with a long list of bands, often behind the scenes, but his most visible gig was probably with New Kids on the Block, although he’s also worked with rock ’n’ roll legend Darlene Love, soul man Ben E. King and Jerry Lee Lewis.
SPIN CONTROL Summer wouldn't be complete without a steaming musical gumbo of funky New Orleans-style R&B. But Dr. John, the gris-gris man with the swamped-out voice and roiling rhythms, is working as a "Mercernary" this year -- actually doing quite interesting renditions of Johnny Mercer classics. And various other Crescent City projects were either delayed by Katrina or accelerated to strike while our collective attention was focused there. Where's a music fan to turn?
BLUES BITES: Boston’s well-traveled Mystics boast vitae that include stints with Ben E. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Duke Robillard, and just about every recording artist, due to the presence of guest Crispin Cioe, saxophonist for the Uptown Horns. Singer Jo Lily, whose Eddie Hinton-esque vocal quality thrills, has for years fronted Duke & the Drivers as Sam Deluxe. Satisfy You (Mystic Eyes 322) offers a delightful range of styles, from Sam Cooke R&B (“Can’t Say Enough”) to deep soul (“Some Things About Love”) to Spanish Harlem balladry (“A Little Bit of Soap”). The title track opens the disc on an eerie, minor-key note. Uptempo numbers are scarce, with the exception of the truck-driving country of “Change My Mind” and the roots-rocker “Ding Dong.”
CD review by Pat Benny - Southbound Beat Magazine (Oct 17, 2006) . . . “Satisfy You” is a stunningly moving, brilliantly executed CD by six of the best journeymen musicians in the industry. The original compositions are indescribably powerful, emotionally exhausting and perfectly executed. The cover tunes are reborn with a depth and texture that can only be achieved when artists of this skill and experience collaborate. This is a recording that transcends all genres, all trends and fashions. This record is hip. Visit www.sonicbids.com/TheMystics and buy this CD at: www.cdbaby.com/cd/mysticsmusic
The Mystics Roots music made by adults. These local Mystics not only know their music history, but also the pain and happiness of their personal histories. The gravel voice of singer-songwriter Jo Lily (Sam Deluxe of Duke & the Drivers) recalls Dr. John, Tom Waits and late-period Bob Dylan. Melding blues, rock and country, there is a touching, vulnerable gentleness amid the grit. Download: ‘‘On My Way.”
INTERNATIONAL REVIEW! Supergroups, do they still exist? For sure, and this is one that any real roots lover would lick his fingers over. Read and shiver: Jo Lily (vocals and guitars — ex. Sam Deluxe and Duke & the Drivers), Bobby Keyes (guitar — Fame Studio, Ben E. King, Jerry Lee Lewis . . . ), Marty Ballou (bass — John Hammond, Duke Robillard, Roomful of Blues . . . ), Dennis McDermott (drums — Donald Fagen, Boz Scaggs, Shawn Colvin, Graham Parker . . . ), and Crispin Cioe (sax — Uptown Horns, Rolling Stones, James Brown, Solomon Burke, Lou Reed . . . ), assisted by pianist Kenny White (Linda Ronstadt, Dwight Yoakam, Aaron Neville, Peter Wolf . . . ).
December 2007 Almost 20 years ago, I took my then-new girlfriend (and now wife) down to a local joint in Columbia, Mo., and saw the Nighthawks tear up the place. The crowd was mostly thirty and forty-something townies. We'd never seen "old" people get so hot and bothered about music. I mean that literally. The folks were sweating so much that dancing became something of a Twister match. I think that was kinda the idea. The Nighthawks still tear up the joint wherever they play. And The Mystix remind me a lot of that night years ago in Columbia, even if they and (especially) singer Jo Lily remind me a lot more of Bob Dylan's recent output.
The Mystix, Blue Morning, Mystix Eyes Records This is bluesy soul at its finest and least pretentious. The Mystix frontman Jo Lily is the kind of raspy-voiced vocalist who sounds like he started smoking cigarettes and mainlining bourbon as a toddler. I mean, you wouldn't mistake him for Tom Waits, but he could be Tom's long-lost Boston cousin. When a group combines rock, R&B, blues, and country, they risk coming off like just another bar band. On their follow-up to Satisfy You, this Beantown quintet succeeds in dodging that particular bullet-not as handily as Waits and crew, but close enough.
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