TruVine

Considered a small legend in the Boston area, The Mystix have been interpreting Americana since 2002 with strong insertions of blues and gospel, alternating between autographed songs and covers. The formation revolves around numerous artists with new arrivals and some returns from one record to another, a sort of variable collective that has always had Jo Lily (already with Duke & The Drivers; active since the ’70s) as singer and main animator, together to guitarist Bobby Keyes, session-man in jazz and rock. On the new record they are joined by Marty Ballou on bass (Duke Robillard, Roomful of Blues), Neal Pawley and Stu Kimball (Bob Dylan) on guitar and Marco Giovino (Band Of Joy, Emmylou Harris, John Cale) on drums and production. There is no shortage of prestigious guests including Luther Dickinson, Jerry Portnoy, Spooner Oldham and Doug Lancio and former regulars Tom West on organ. An expert lineup that enjoys offering a mixture of soul, country and bar-band blues (in fact they are compared to The Nighthawks) characterized by the hoarse, harsh and smoky voice of Lily between Dylan, Dr. John, Captain Beefheart and Roger Chapman.

TruVine is their eighth album, two years after Can’t Change It and contains some songs previously recorded in the past on the debut Blue Morning, Satisfy you and Midnight in Mississippi – in new versions. These include the nocturnal blues Lifetime Worth Of Blues, soft and sweaty without the violin of the original, Which Side Of Heartache, a country waltz with the addition of the accordion, Midnight In Mississippi with Luther Dickinson on the slide that recalls the sound of JJ Cale, author of the ballad, I Guess I Lose, performed in a slow and swampy mode with a brittle Dylan-esque voice.

The ominous and aggressive Satisfy You opens the disc and is one of the best tracks with Up Jumped The Devil, a remake of a Robert Johnson song and the up-tempo juke-joint Change My Mind with Jerry Portnoy’s harmonica. There are no negligible traces even in the final part of the disc in which the traditional gospel Devil Try To Steal My Joy in a swamp-rock version and the jazzy and nocturnal My Epitaph, cover by Ola Bell Reed, enriched by a horn section worthy of New Orleans. TruVine is the confirmation of a band that it would be a pleasure to be able to hear live in our area.

Paul Baiotti, The Vinyl Legacy Association blog

http://www.lateforthesky.org/2022/11/17/the-mystix-truvine/

The Mystix are known Boston, Ma. blues/roots/Americana band, fronted by vocalist and songwriter Jo Lily. They have started career in 2002 year, and during the period of existence, with actual one, group has released 8 albums.
Their actual release, “TruVine”, produced by legendary drummer Marco Giovino (Robert Plant, Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones), finds a band in a fresh and positive mood , with 11 songs, excellent dynamic, and in the same time pretty unique style, which represents a combination of blues, roots music and Americana, with elements of the so- called pab gospel, dominate all the time through presented songs. Positive atmosphere is something the band reflects throughout, while also delivering compelling background musicianship.
Finally, “TruVine” is an album recommended both for older freaks and newer fans of the mentioned stylistic variants.

Check out the authors page http://www.timemachinemusic.org/2022/09/28/the-mystix-tru-vine/

Album number eight from a band who continue to create music that engages and entertains. Formed in 2002 by Jo Lily and Bobby B Keyes, the early albums were a welcome addiction with an eclectic mix of country influenced swamp rock, blues roots and Americana sounds. This new record is full of personality, from the unique vocals of Lily to the fine ensemble of players that include many notable guest musicians. The core band is Jo Lily ( vocals, acoustic guitar), Bobby B Keyes (guitar), Stu Kimball (guitar), Neal Pawley (guitar), Marty Ballou (bass) and Marco Giovino (drums).

Lily has a voice that reminds me of Roger Chapman (Family, Streetwalkers) with a raspy vibrato and a soulful delivery. It certainly adds great character to these songs and the fine guitar playing heightens the experience with an atmospheric edge. The project delivers songs that include personal demons, dealing with lost love and down-on-your-luck laments.

Opening with Satisfy You and a slow menacing groove that teases, the arrangement builds with guitars and organ fueling the dramatic interplay. It lays down a real marker of what is to follow on this very impressive album.
Lifetime Worth Of Blues is a sensual delve into the pot of heartbreak that epitomizes the blues genre. Up Jumped the Devil has a wicked drum shuffle and a pulsing bass line that underpins the guitar and organ layers of sonic attack. Lily singing like his life is on the line and wringing great dynamics from the arrangement. A standout.

I Guess I Lose is another terrific song, all slow burn and regret as Lily sings of losing in the game of love. Again, a great band execution delivers a very convincing country inflected blues. The easy groove of Midnight In Mississippi is another addictive track and the understated guitar riff warms the soul.

On it goes, with hardly a weak track and Sugar Baby reminds me of the deepest Muddy Waters workouts, with superb guitar and banjo interplay underpinning the passionate vocals of Lily. Devil Try To Steal My Joy is a prime example of the band tucked into a deep groove and Lily laying down his vocal licks on top of the dangerously cool ensemble playing.

My Epitaph includes clarinet, trumpet and trombone in a slight departure from the other tracks, and the country sound of Which Side Of Heartache ’22 is a perfect song for the great Willie Nelson to cover.
Change My Mind has some mean harmonica parts from Jerry Portnoy, one of thirteen guest players on the album. Other guests include the impressive talents of Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars), Doug Lancio (Bob Dylan, John Hiatt), Duke Levine (Shawn Colvin, Bonnie Raitt), Spooner Oldham (Aretha Franklin, Muscle Shoals house band), and many others…

Without having credits as to who played on what track, it is hard to identify all the parts that come together to make up this very impressive whole. However, across forty-plus minutes the eleven songs are an example of this band at the height of their powers. They have certainly made records that come close to matching the peaks of this one, but they certainly have not made a better album. A real keeper and one of my albums of the year so far.

Review by Paul McGee

Checkout the author at https://www.lonesomehighway.com/music-reviews/2022/9/26/new-album-reviews

Can’t Change It was released in 2020, presented by the band The Mystix, founded in 2002. The follow-up album, TruVine, is now available.

“I don’t need no more TV, all that stuff they’re spinning me, I’ve got better things to do, I just want to satisfy you.” That’s how the first song, “Satisfy You”, begins and clearly shows what the guys in the band think is important. Back To The Roots, maybe a return to old and genuine values? Focusing on honesty, not appearances? If that’s the way it’s meant to be, then it’s musically successful, with this sound that is almost reminiscent of swamp rock, and a touch of the bombastic atmosphere of the southern states of the USA, played shirt-sleeved and to the point, full of emotion and down-to-earth.

Jo Lily’s rough and hauntingly raspy voice is also remarkable. It literally creeps into your soul, and the band powerfully underpins this mood. There are a number of excellent guest musicians who support this powerful mix of Louisiana Swamp, elastic rock with a springy groove and a touch of blues, soul, country, even a little jazz. Luther Dickinson, Jerry Portnoy and Spooner Oldham, among others, appear.

Compared to the predecessor, I have the impression that The Mystix influences and design have become more pronounced, the sound is more uniform and bears a truly independent and individual stamp with a high degree of recognition. The band seems fresher and has understood how to combine the different influences perfectly. The sound gets under your skin, is intoxicating and simply gives you a lot of listening pleasure, the passion is infectious and irresistible.

But it doesn’t always have to be danceable and shake your outer extremities, because slow creepers like “I Guess I Lose” can also make your heart happy. The regular cast has changed only a little, but that shouldn’t have had a major impact. The twin lead guitars by Bobby Keyes and Stu Kimball, and the guests round off the whole thing more than harmoniously, everything sounds rich and full and full of deep emotions.

Already two years ago I noticed that this band should finally move into the front row, and with this excellent album full of powerfully emotionally influenced music I can only emphasize that more than expressly! This band deserves to be heard (and experienced)!

A mix of Americana with gospel and blues is not very common in the world of modern music. Yet it is exactly what you can expect from the sound ‘The Mystix’ has brought since their 2020 album “Can’t Change It” and also on their latest record “TruVine” which we will evaluate further. Frontman of ‘The Mystix’ is R&B singer and songwriter Jo Lily, the former lead singer of the New England rock band ‘Duke And The Drivers’. The other five members are Los Angeles jazz guitarist Bobby Keyes (Robin Thicke), bassist Marty Ballou (John Hammond), drummer and album producer Marco Giovino, guitarists Stu Kimball (Bob Dylan) and Neal Pawley (Southside Johnny). For “TruVine” some guest musicians were also brought into the recording studio including slide guitarist Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars) and multiinstrumentalist Duke Levine (Bonnie Raitt), Sonny Barbato on accordion, keyboardists Tom West and Paul Brown on organ and Muscle Shoals veteran Spooner Oldham on piano. In total, this band from Boston, Massachusetts brings eleven songs on their eighth album “TruVine”. Producer Marco Giovino has earned his musical spurs in the past as a drummer for Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones and Robert Plant, among others.

https://rootstime.be/index.html

The Mystix from Boston is known as a band that is involved with Americana in a very committed way. Their Americana repertoire consists of blues variations, played in a very sultry and raw way, and mixed with influences such as gospel, New Orleans and soul. The band was formed in 2002 and currently consists of Jo Lily (vocals), Bobby B. Keyes (guitar), Stu Kimball (guitar), Marco Giovino (drums and production) and Marty Ballou (upright bass). Very conspicuously present is vocalist Jo Lily, who has the raw vibrato of Roger Chapman, the maniacal approach of Captain Beefheart and the rawness of John Lee Hooker.

His very lived-in voice can be heard in Satisfy You. A blues of the very soggy and sultry kind with hard twanging guitars and a stiffly pumping rhythm section. Lifetime Worth Of Blues sounds soft, sweaty and heaving with reverberating and piercing guitars. Up Jumped The Devil is a Robert Johnson cover and is a dangerously rocking song with Jo’s mesmerizing vocals. I Guess I Lose is a song by J.J. Cale and sounds very intimate, fragile, and laid back. Luther Dickinson performs the brooding funk of Midnight In Mississippi, which creates a swampy kind of J.J. Cale sound. Sugar Baby is a cover of the relatively unknown “Dock” Boggs and is an extremely gritty blues, pounding relentlessly. Change My Mind also stomps with Jerry Portnoy’s passionately roaring harmonica. Jo Lily’s vocals sound fragile and broken in the country waltz Which Side Of Heartache. The band-like gospel song I’ll Do It For You is followed by the ominous Devil Try To Steal My Joy, which sounds like a Captain Beefheart gospel. The closing track is a cover of Ola Bell Reed’s My Epitaph, a slow-moving gospel march.

Album number six by the Mystix has become a very special and very tasty album full of raw blues!

https://www.muziekwereld.com/the_mystix.1.htm

Can’t Change It, was released in 2020 and presented by The Mystix, founded in 2002. The follow-up album, TruVine, is now available.

“I don’t need no more TV, all that stuff they’re spinning me, I’ve got better things to do, I just want to satisfy you.” That’s how the first song, “Satisfy You”, begins and clearly shows what the guys in the band think is important. Back to the roots, maybe a return to old and genuine values. Focusing on honesty, not appearances. If that’s the way it’s meant to be, then it’s musically successful, with this sound that is almost reminiscent of swamp rock, and a touch of the bombastic atmosphere of the southern states of the USA, played shirt-sleeved and to the point, full of emotion and down-to-earth.

Jo Lily’s rough and hauntingly raspy voice is also remarkable, it literally creeps into your soul, and the band powerfully underpins this mood. There are a number of excellent guest musicians who support this powerful mix of Louisiana swamp, elastic rock with a springy groove and a touch of blues, soul, country, even a little jazz. Luther Dickinson, Jerry Portnoy and Spooner Oldham, among others, appearing on the album.

Compared to the predecessor, I have the impression that The Mystix influences, and design have become more pronounced, the sound is more uniform and bears a truly independent and individual stamp with a high degree of recognition. The band seems fresher and has understood how to combine the different influences perfectly. The sound gets under your skin, is intoxicating and simply gives you a lot of listening pleasure. The passion is infectious and irresistible.

But it doesn’t always have to be danceable and shake your outer extremities, because slow creepers like “I Guess I Lose” can also make your heart happy. The regular cast has changed only a little, but that shouldn’t have had a major impact. The twin lead guitars by Bobby Keyes and Stu Kimball, and the guests round off the whole thing more than harmoniously, everything sounds rich and full and full of deep emotions.

Already two years ago I noticed that this band should finally move into the front row, and with this excellent album full of powerfully emotionally influenced music I can only emphasize that more than expressly! This band deserves to be heard (and experienced)!

• Wolfgang Giese (https://www.musikansich.de/review.php?id=23460)