Anthony Gomes – Electric Field Holler I Album Review

anthonygomescdAnthony Gomes – Electric Field Holler

Self-Release 2015

www.anthonygomes.com

12 tracks; 40 minutes

Originally from Canada, Anthony Gomes has lived in the USA for some years.  His latest CD was recorded in Nashville, St Louis and Ferguson MO and features all original music, three of the songs having contributions from Gary Nicholson, Jim Peterik and Talan Latz alongside Anthony.  Anthony handles all guitar and lead vocals, Chad Cromwell is on drums, Theo Harden on bass and David Smith on keys.  R Scott Bryan and Glen Caruba add percussion and background vocals come from Wendy Moten, Minnie Murphy, Kelly Wild and Vicki Hampton.

This CD is quite firmly at the rock end of the spectrum with just one track that one could call real blues, the short “The Blues Ain’t The Blues No More” which features Anthony on acoustic slide, singing of how he “went down to the crossroad but the Devil don’t stay there no more”.  Otherwise the material here is pretty heavy blues-rock with the following being the strongest cuts for this reviewer:

Track 2: “Back Door Scratchin’”.  A solid backbeat leads us into a strong tune (co-written by Gary Nicholson) with plenty of attitude from Anthony’s vocals and his ‘scratchy’ guitar that is set against some lively rhythm work.

Track 3: “Whiskey Train” is a mid-paced rocker as Anthony contemplates drowning his sorrows. A solid guitar riff is at the centre of this tune and Anthony’s strong vocal recalls some of the great vocalists like Paul Rodgers.

Track 5: “Nowhere Is Home” is a more melodic track with a good hook courtesy of Anthony’s riff and some warm organ work from David that harks back to 80’s rockers like Bon Jovi or Van Halen.  Lyrically this one deals with the life of some of the least fortunate in our society: “where can you run to when nowhere is home”.

Elsewhere there are plenty of powerdriver riffs and some catchy rock tunes but not much sign of the blues.  This is a CD that will appeal to those who prefer the rockier end of the blues spectrum, so if Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Joe Bonamassa are for you, Anthony Gomes may well be too.

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