The band The Mystix manifests the kind of music americana is. Alongside their own music interpretation, you find the likes of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, John Lee Hooker, Steve Earle and Carl Perkins.
The Mystix has been called “a roots supergroup” in a newspaper back home in Boston. The epithet is actually valid as the members Jo Lily, Bobby Keyes, Matt Leavenworth, Jesse Williams, Marty Richards and Annie Raines have merits that few in the industry have, and they also put their own special touch on not only their own material, but also on interpretations.
This live album is the group’s fifth album, and offers everything from blues to country, jazz, rock and r & b.
The frontman, singer and guitarist Jo Lily at times sounds like Bob Dylan squared and his To Ramona is one of many covers. Even songs by Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash are interpreted, though the best cover is You’re the best lover That I ever had by Steve Earle.
But it is, after all, Jo Lily’s songs that stand out, especially Midnight in Mississippi and A lifetime worth of blues.
Anyone looking for answers to what the term americana stands for need look no further.
Hans Bloom