REVIEWAnthony Gomes "Live"
For some musicians, it all comes down to what happens on stage. Anthony Gomes burns with blazing vocals and incendiary guitar work throughout his new CD, 'Live' to be released February 19th, the first full-length concert release from a man who plays as many as 250 dates annually in North America and Europe.
Mining blues-rock, soul and gritty R&B styling for the past decade, Live is a summation of where Anthony’s been and also offers a glimpse of where he might be heading, too. The album finds him immersed in his element – performing for an audience and making a connection. Certainly, Anthony enjoys the craft of the studio, but that passion and power truly rises to its greatest heights during his live performances.
“Some of my favorite artists and bands would release live albums to bookend a period and then move on to a new sound, a new journey,” Anthony says. “I feel like this is a booking-ending of this sound and style for me as I look forward.”
Nominated Artist of the Year by Blueswax magazine 4 years in a row, winning one of those years, Gomes acclaim continues to grow as a songwriter and especially as a performer. While the original plan for a live album was to record a series of dates in Nashville, fate overtook the project when Anthony and his band lined up a test recording during a show at the Triple Door in Seattle, Washington on February 27, 2007. Listening back to the 90-minute performance, Anthony and his team realized they already had the live album they wanted. “We just played, not thinking about the red light being on,” he says. “There’s no studio trickery, this is it. We started to pass it on to some fans before releasing it an they all said it’s their favorite CD, ‘this is the Anthony Gomes that we know, the person we see in a live show.’”
“The album captures the essence about what happens between and artist and the audience, that energy you can’t capture in a studio,” he says. “The show is a journey and within, there are great individual performances. It’s an organic, living, breathing document of that one night."
The set list includes a churning “Music Is the Medicine” as Anthony works the crowd into a frenzy, while the funky and soulful “Bluebird,” a highlight of the last studio release, soars even higher here, the interplay between guitar and keyboards capped by group vocals on the refrain. The explosive “Testify” is so powerful, Anthony thinks it shreds his original studio track.
The album also features a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Heartbreaker,” both a challenge and a thrill for Anthony. “It was intimidating, but also very natural, part of who I am,” he says. “I played it in my first band in high school and grew up on that music, so it’s an extension of myself and it’s nice to pay respects to an act that influenced me as a musician and a songwriter.
On the new “I Won’t Let You Down” Anthony thanks his greatest supporters throughout his career – his parents. “You want to make them proud of the man or woman you’ve become,” he says. “They’ve given so much to raise you and you want to make sure you’re doing a good job in their eyes and live up to the legacy of your family.” Equally compelling is “Wings of a Song,” which harkens back to Anthony’s lifelong mission statement that music can indeed change the world.
As Live ends one creative period for Anthony, he’s already looking ahead to the next chapters in his ever-continuing musical story as he prepares to unveil Anthony Gomes and the New Soul Cowboys, a song summit between blues, R&B and country too. Of course, his unofficial membership in the Nashville Muzik Mafia, which includes Big and Rich, Cowboy Troy and Anthony’s one-time backing singer Gretchen Wilson, should make it all the more colorful.
"I'm very well-received in Nashville, being a southern rock/blues musician and I've been laying down the groundwork for this new direction, being a roots player, too," Anthony says. "Yes, I'm a blues guy, but as I said on my first album, my blues is Technicolor." And the sound of Anthony Gomes has never been more widescreen, full of Hi-Def excitement, than on Live.
Mining blues-rock, soul and gritty R&B styling for the past decade, Live is a summation of where Anthony’s been and also offers a glimpse of where he might be heading, too. The album finds him immersed in his element – performing for an audience and making a connection. Certainly, Anthony enjoys the craft of the studio, but that passion and power truly rises to its greatest heights during his live performances.
“Some of my favorite artists and bands would release live albums to bookend a period and then move on to a new sound, a new journey,” Anthony says. “I feel like this is a booking-ending of this sound and style for me as I look forward.”
Nominated Artist of the Year by Blueswax magazine 4 years in a row, winning one of those years, Gomes acclaim continues to grow as a songwriter and especially as a performer. While the original plan for a live album was to record a series of dates in Nashville, fate overtook the project when Anthony and his band lined up a test recording during a show at the Triple Door in Seattle, Washington on February 27, 2007. Listening back to the 90-minute performance, Anthony and his team realized they already had the live album they wanted. “We just played, not thinking about the red light being on,” he says. “There’s no studio trickery, this is it. We started to pass it on to some fans before releasing it an they all said it’s their favorite CD, ‘this is the Anthony Gomes that we know, the person we see in a live show.’”
“The album captures the essence about what happens between and artist and the audience, that energy you can’t capture in a studio,” he says. “The show is a journey and within, there are great individual performances. It’s an organic, living, breathing document of that one night."
The set list includes a churning “Music Is the Medicine” as Anthony works the crowd into a frenzy, while the funky and soulful “Bluebird,” a highlight of the last studio release, soars even higher here, the interplay between guitar and keyboards capped by group vocals on the refrain. The explosive “Testify” is so powerful, Anthony thinks it shreds his original studio track.
The album also features a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Heartbreaker,” both a challenge and a thrill for Anthony. “It was intimidating, but also very natural, part of who I am,” he says. “I played it in my first band in high school and grew up on that music, so it’s an extension of myself and it’s nice to pay respects to an act that influenced me as a musician and a songwriter.
On the new “I Won’t Let You Down” Anthony thanks his greatest supporters throughout his career – his parents. “You want to make them proud of the man or woman you’ve become,” he says. “They’ve given so much to raise you and you want to make sure you’re doing a good job in their eyes and live up to the legacy of your family.” Equally compelling is “Wings of a Song,” which harkens back to Anthony’s lifelong mission statement that music can indeed change the world.
As Live ends one creative period for Anthony, he’s already looking ahead to the next chapters in his ever-continuing musical story as he prepares to unveil Anthony Gomes and the New Soul Cowboys, a song summit between blues, R&B and country too. Of course, his unofficial membership in the Nashville Muzik Mafia, which includes Big and Rich, Cowboy Troy and Anthony’s one-time backing singer Gretchen Wilson, should make it all the more colorful.
"I'm very well-received in Nashville, being a southern rock/blues musician and I've been laying down the groundwork for this new direction, being a roots player, too," Anthony says. "Yes, I'm a blues guy, but as I said on my first album, my blues is Technicolor." And the sound of Anthony Gomes has never been more widescreen, full of Hi-Def excitement, than on Live.
TRACKS
01 - Countdown
02 - Up 2 Zero (Peterik, Gomes)
03 - Bluebird (Peterik, Gomes)
04 - Heartbreaker (Jones, Page, Plant, Bonham)
05 - Prelude In Blues (Gomes)
06 - When The Right Woman Does You Wrong (Peterik, Gomes)
07 - Falling (Peterik, Gomes)
08 - War On War (Selby, Gomes)
09 - Won't Let You Down (Gomes)
10 - Music Is The Medicine
11 - Wings Of A Song (Peterik, Gomes)
12 - Testify (Peterik, Gomes, Miller)
01 - Countdown
02 - Up 2 Zero (Peterik, Gomes)
03 - Bluebird (Peterik, Gomes)
04 - Heartbreaker (Jones, Page, Plant, Bonham)
05 - Prelude In Blues (Gomes)
06 - When The Right Woman Does You Wrong (Peterik, Gomes)
07 - Falling (Peterik, Gomes)
08 - War On War (Selby, Gomes)
09 - Won't Let You Down (Gomes)
10 - Music Is The Medicine
11 - Wings Of A Song (Peterik, Gomes)
12 - Testify (Peterik, Gomes, Miller)
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário