The Trevor B. Power Band – Everyday Angel | Album Review

The Trevor B. Power Band – Everyday Angel

self released

www.trevorbpowerband.com

10 songs/42 minutes

The Trevor B. Power Band’s debut record Everyday Angel is emotional and deeply personal. This record is the culmination of a life’s journey, so far, through love, pain, loss and parenthood for singer/songwriter Trevor B. Power. Half Blues, a quarter Rock and a quarter heartfelt Folk ballad, this album slides the listener between feels as Power pours his heart out, one assumes, autobiographically. The core band of Billy Gensch on lead guitar, Mark Enright on bass and Tom DiCianni are at the heart of this record and are augmented or replaced by a number of guest musicians.

The strongest performances are the Blues numbers. Admitting that he is relatively new to the Blues, Power sings with a spoken word simplicity that does well. This technique is in prime effect on “You Ain’t Acting Right.” With a Louis Armstrong sense of irreverence and joy, Power busts up at the end. Slow powerful (excuse the pun) Blues are in full effect on “Saddest Thing” with Gensch burning it down on lead. This song has a moving, ice-cold, turnaround “B” couplet on the third verse: “and when I asked you to be my only one, your reply was the saddest thing that I ever heard.” Multi instrumentalist Anthony Krizan one-man-band-s it with overdubs playing slide guitar, bass, drums and background vocals adding to Hammond wizard John Ginty and Power’s rhythm guit and vox on “I Wrote It Down;” a growling menacing Howlin’ Wolf styled dress down.

The strongest track is the rocking opener about Power’s dog “Jack.” The band is augmented by Krizan on slide among other instruments and Ginty on B3. “Jack” has the ragged chord jangle of post-Punk alt-Country bands like Son Volt or The Replacements. “Jack” is a stand alone anomaly on this record and could point a way for future projects for Power. Another stand out is the horn studded boogie woogie, courtesy of Ginty on a baby grand, “Future Plans.” This track is in the school of super upbeat music delivering incredibly morose and sad messages: “God forgive me because I wish you were dead, cause I can’t find the strength to pray for you anymore.”

The quarter of this record that is Folky lush syncopated ballads is a mixed bag. Power’s voice is too gruff and plain spoken to fully realize these songs stylistically. The strongest track musically is the Bobby Whitlock and CoCo Carmel supported title track, “Everyday Angel.” Whitlock (Derek and the Dominoes) and Carmel are a roots music power-couple. They produced this track, playing and singing all over it creating an atmospheric grooving foundation. Trevor testifies about his love for his daughter and his desire to see her more than he does. It is a beautiful sentiment and a fitting way to cap off this album.

The lyricism on Everyday Angel is inconsistent. For every clever surprising line, like the ones quoted above, there are some overused cliques. The use of a train metaphor in “Jack” falls short. The conceit of “Murder In the First Degree” too well worn. And as lovely and heart felt as the title track is, the unfurling of the story and the use of Angels is a little too obvious. However, Power is a veteran bar band entertainer, already well into his career. He has grinded it out in his native New Jersey and he knows how to write and perform good songs. With this debut record he has laid out some impressive groundwork for music to come.

Additional musicians: Bob Lanza guitar, Nick Conti saxophone, Jim Ruffi drums, CC Coletti background vocals, Niles Terrat bass, Danny Pompeii percussion

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