Anthony Gomes - Peace, Love & Loud Guitars (2018)

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Anthony Gomes - Peace, Love & Loud Guitars (2018)

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Paramount after 100 plus years of blues music is the indefinable spirit of deep expression beyond words and notes. Anthony Gomes, the Canadian blues guitar hero and scholar with impeccable taste, personifies that spirit. The glorious result is stunningly emotional, timeless music, including the 12 original compositions on his 13th album. Band mates Mike Brignardello (bass), Greg Morrow (drums, percussion), David Smith (keyboards) and Chris Leuzinger (acoustic guitar) kick hard while never leaving the pocket.

Gomes bares heart and soul on “Come Down,” a modern work song with the startling plea “Come down from heaven B.B. King, cause this kingdom has no king.” The lamenting chorus of Angie Primm, Gale Stuart, Devonne Fowlkes and Gomes contrasts with twisting guitar solos of compressed yearning. The chugging stop-time bruiser “White Trash Princess” describes a pas de deux involving “redneck royalty”…“a white trash princess” from “Texarkana” who “keeps a loaded gun, right next to her bible,” for a memorable aural portrait of a femme fatale. Gomes always crafts memorable content, with the grinding slow drag “Blues in the First Degree” a prime example. Over industrial strength crunch guitars he modulates his voice from accusingly corrosive to purringly sweet while a soaring guitar solo with cascading finger tapping nails the indictment.

It would not be blues without primal urges. “Nasty Good” flaunts throbbing riffs and a hot “call and response” guitar solo inflaming the unabashed carnality of “Do it all night, wake up the neighborhood, you’re so bad, it’s nasty good.” Likewise, demon rum appears in the swaggering boogie shuffle “The Whiskey Made Me Do It.” Gomes defends chasing his girlfriend’s sister due to “drinking triples and seeing double, acting single, now I’m in trouble,” leading to “We woke up naked on the hood of a car, the police said, ‘son, you took it too far’,” while flashing slashing slide guitar chops.

Stifling wanton desire for “pure” love on “You Are Amazing,” co-written by Mark Selby, Gomes waxes tender on a classic R&B ballad that should become a standard. A master of playing for the song, he spins violin-like sustain for a sweet, wordless coda. The anthemic blues-rock of the hopeful title track could be a new motto for the post-Woodstock generation, replacing the “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll” hedonism of yore. Acknowledging the past, Gomes pays tribute to Robert Johnson while creating his own crossroads legend on “Stealing from the Devil.” Building tension with a dramatic, descending chord progression, he delivers the knockout blow with “Hey devil, kiss my ass!” On the ramblin’ bluesman’s lot of “Your Mama Wants to Do Me (And Your Daddy Wants to Do Me In),” Gomes relates a cautionary tale regarding indiscreet advances over a strutting riff-rocker featuring fleet, scalding solos.

Lost love is given an especially poignant look on “Only Woman I’ve Ever Loved.” The thunderous slow boogie shuffle finds Gomes bemoaning “The only woman I ever loved, I let walk away a long time ago”…“cause if you do, the blues is all you’ll ever know.” Menacing, descending riffs provide the propulsion for “Hard Road Easy,” Gomes defiantly exclaiming “Riding that hard road, easy, can’t stop me if you try. Riding that hard road, easy, gonna ride till the day I die,” his guitar wailing like a siren. Almost in counterpoint, the gospelly “Take Me Back Home,” co-written by Jim Peterik, is a petition for redemption and salvation with Gomes beseeching “Take me back home, shine a light on my journey. Together, forever, I’m lost till you take me…,” his guitar crying out in sympathy.

Anthony Gomes has nothing left to prove while leaving all his passion on the table. Nonetheless, he continues striving to not only find the legendary “lost chord,” but the ultimate combinations of words, notes and performance. We are fortunate to accompany him on his journey.

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Anthony Gomes - Peace, Love & Loud Guitars (2018)

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Anthony Gomes - Peace, Love & Loud Guitars (2018)

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