Despite the ever-increasing amount of genres and styles in today’s music, blues still remains untouchable; a timeless sound that has soared from generation to generation. In Boston’s backyard of Somerville there’s a lady who’s causing a stir with a voice that wails and can take over a room in a split-second. Evoking a similar vibe reminiscent of artists Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and ’60s-era Diana Ross, she wears her heart on her sleeve with each lyric she sings. Her name is Julie Rhodes, and her debut Bound To Meet The Devil is going to light a fire within you.
Rhodes’ debut was recorded with John Gifford at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and at Dirt Floor in Chester, Connecticut, with Eric Lichter and Spencer Bowden. The end result is a clear and pristine audial quality that’s unrivaled by numerous albums done by her contemporaries. Her immensely talented band of guitarists Danny Roaman and Jonah Tolchin, the latter being the one who discovered Rhodes while performing one of his own shows, Michael Bosco on drums and percussion and Matt Murphy on upright bass shines with each track. There’s also Doug Moffet on saxophone and storied Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section organist Spooner Oldham doing a few guest spots along with a few others.
Taking blues back to its roots is “In Your Garden”, oozing a subtle groove with nasty riffs from Roaman and Tolchin that’ll give you the chills. “Hey Stranger” is accented with a bass line from Murphy to give it a bump and Oldham has his organ shrieking in the background. When the chorus hits Cindy Richardson Walker and Marie Lewey add a bit of melody on backing vocals to make it all complete. The stripped down “Grinnin’ In Your Face” shows how Rhodes can really bring it vocally while an acoustic and a slide guitar are played. It’s organic and absolutely lovely.
Rhodes and her band will be celebrating the release of Bound To Meet The Devil on back to back nights with Providence electric blues trio The Silks. Friday, the crew will be at Thunder Road Music Club & Rock n’ Roll Bistro in Somerville with The Abbie Barrett Band, and Saturday they’ll be at Rhode Island’s Columbus Theatre with another Providence rock and roll act, in Smith & Weeden. Pick up a copy of Rhodes’ debut at either show, or buy it and stream it at the link below. Get down with what will be one of the best albums to come out of New England in 2016 and enjoy.
