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Monthly Archives: September 2012

Rollicking blues sound

September 28, 2012
United States
Blue Morning

Aiding & Abetting

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.

Not so much in the lyrics—Lily takes a more traditional and stripped-down approach to those. But the rollicking blues sound is in the same general corner of the universe, though The Mystix are certainly more rambunctious. Bobby Keyes’s guitar work is stellar, impressive both in terms of skill and feel. He knows how to set the table—and when to snatch the tablecloth from underneath the settings as well.

I’m sure these boys would be a good time down in the corner saloon, and they’ve put together an exceptional album as well. And now that I’m the same age as many of those “old” people I saw grooving to the Nighthawks all those years ago, I understand that it’s not only possible for us oldsters to get down, but that sometimes it’s absolutely necessary. And bands like the Mystix make it much easier for us to do our duty.

They’re not fortune tellers

September 13, 2012
United States
Mighty Tone

Ted Drozdowski , The Boston Phoenix

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.

Exceptionally good album

September 1, 2012
United States
Mighty Tone

Rob Johnson, Hittin’ the Note

“This record is a truly timeless collection of music, a rootsy odyssey that sounds ancient and brand new at the same time. Everything from Alan Lomax field recordings to The Mystix’ own original songs are combined into a whole item that is utterly unclassifiable, other than to say it is just good music. One of the best compliments you can give a band is to say they don’t sound like anybody else, and The Mystix’ Down to the Shore has a unique vibe.”

Lead singer and main songwriter Jo Lily has a captivating voice, rich and worn like aged leather, and he has a way of drawing you into a song. The other members of the band are seasoned veterans of the Boston music scene who have played with everyone form Jerry Lee Lewis to Susan Tedeschi. Marty Richards on drums and Mary Ballou on bass always keep each tune firmly in the pocket, and guitarist Bobby Keyes and keyboardist Tom West have the perfect riff for every song.

And what songs they are! The old gospel number “We Are almost Down to the Shore” drips with world-weary soul. “Gamblin’ Man” has a broken-down, Tom Waits-like charm to it, and “Get Right” gets everything right, from the up-tempo groove to the barrelhouse piano break.

There is a lot of melancholy and longing on this record, but the music never gives into despair. Down to the Shore is the perfect soundtrack to a rainy day, or any day when you crave music with that soulful sound.

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