Romi Mayes and the Perpetrators’ Jay Nowicki are pretty inspirational characters and performers and songwriters in their own right, but when they get together, they are a force to be reckoned with. That’s what they did on Mayes’ latest CD “Lucky Tonight.”
They got together and wrote several songs and debuted them live at the West End Cultural Centre, where they also recorded them for the first time.
While the songs are based around Mayes and Nowicki’s guitar, the CD also features Ken McMahon, Jaxon Haldane and Damon Mitchell, the result shows just how well they play off each other. They start slowly with ‘Easy On You”, then pick up the tempo with the snarling “ Don’t Mess With Me,” which features some tuneful harp playing from Damon Mitchell and soulful guitar solos.
They go a little bit country on “Heavy Heart,” and feature the D-Rangers’ “Jaxon Haldane singing harmony vocals.
The title track “Lucky Tonight,” is back to the blues rock,” but she slows things down again with the slower, sadder “Ball and Chain.” That is followed by another highlight “Make You Love Me,” which is a lot slower on the CD than the live version, which is usually a lot faster.
“After the Show” picks up the pace a little bit, but she slows down again on “Not My Baby,” before killing it with my favourite “Can’t Get You off My Mind.”
Throughout there is excellent guitar, catchy melodies and Mayes’ soulful Joan Jett singing the blues - style voice is immediately appealing.
However, the constant slow/ fast songs are a little distracting. Some of the momentum that could be created throughout the CD is lost. And while it is great to have the drums on some of the tracks, they are sorely missed on “Can’t Get You Off My Mind.”
She ends the CD on another slow, piano powered number “I Will.”
Cd: Lucky Tonight
Artist: Romi Mayes with Jay Nowicki
Genre: blues
Record label: Indie
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