Quality music requires an extra effort to find in this era

Steve Morse, The Boston Globe

Quality music requires an extra effort to find in this era of declining record labels and transitional scenes. A fruitful discovery is this outstanding new album by the Mystix, an Americana-minded posse of all-star Bostonians whose cast includes singer Jo Lily (Duke & the Drivers), guitarist Bobby Keyes (Jerry Lee Lewis), keyboardist Tom West (Susan Tedeschi), harp ace Jerry Portnoy (Eric Clapton), and the rhythm section of bassist Marty Ballou and Marty Richards, who have backed Peter Wolf. Anchoring the gang is Lily, who wrote three new songs that fit snugly with the vintage blues, gospel, country and old-timey covers that are given a fresh, invigorating visit. With Levon Helm having passed away, fans who love rural Americana music should look this way because the Mystix are poised to make your acquaintance. Lily’s voice grows ever more soulful through the years and now sounds like a cross between a latter-day Bob Dylan and John Lee Hooker. His own songs feature the chooglin’ “Mighty Love” and the funky and timeless “Keep on Walkin’.” The Mystix also go deep on such forgotten gems as Jimmie Rodgers’ “Blues #4” (about an Amazonian woman who is “tailor- made/ she ain’t no hand-me-down”), Ernest Tubb’s “Mean Woman Blues” (an acoustic blues standout), and the traditional “Too Close,” which has a Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee feel with gospel overtones. It adds up to a connoisseur’s delight. You can play it over and over. Just don’t expect to be satiated any time soon. It’s that good.

—STEVE MORSE, former longtime staff critic at the Boston Globe who has also contributed to Billboard and Rolling Stone and is now teaching an online course in Rock History at Berklee College of Music.