Gomes blends blues and country

By John Benson

There’s nothing in this world that guitarist Anthony Gomes loves more than playing the blues.

Despite the fact he’s been living his dream for the past decade, the Toronto-born musician recently felt as though something was missing from his gig. It wasn’t until he played before a mostly country- music audience that he discovered what that something was.

“I’ve lived in Nashville for a long time, and I was part of the music mafia with Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson,” said Gomes, calling from St. Louis, Mo. “I do those shows, and about a year ago, I did a show for 2,000 people, and it was a country audience. So I went up and played two blues tunes, and they were knocked out. They just thought it was the most incredible thing, and they didn’t say, ‘Wow, this reminds me of B.B. King or Buddy Guy.’

“They said, ‘This reminds me of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Lynyrd Skynyrd.’ And they really dug it. That’s when I thought, ‘Here are 2,000 people who would never go to a blues show, but they’re loving this music. So how do we get to those people? How do we blur the line?’”

In short order, Gomes’ answer was to form Anthony Gomes and the New Soul Cowboys with bassist David Karns and drummer Peter Lang. Within months the trio recorded its self-titled debut, which Gomes describes as sounding like “hillbilly Led Zeppelin.” Among the band’s favorite songs are the Jimi Hendrix-meets-Johnny Cash-sounding “Painted Horse,” the radio friendly “What It’s All About,” the upbeat “Carolina” and the ballad “You Are Amazing.”

Similar to a shark that has to keep moving, musicians need change in their music to keep them challenged and interested. However, that opinion is not always shared by fans, who can become rigid in their expectations and tastes. So how exactly has Gomes’ cult following responded to his recent Music City sound?

“Well, a third of them think it’s heresy,” Gomes laughed. “Another third like whatever we do, and the last third are really excited about it and think this is the most exciting thing we’ve done. The one thing I’m noticing is our fan base has grown quite a bit, but that’s kind of putting the cart before the horse. We’re just trying to make good music. And we’ll let the people decide.

“But yeah, some of the blues music diehard fanatics feel disappointed, but on the other end of things, I’m bringing in a lot of new people to the blues that wouldn’t be otherwise.”

Attracting new folks into the fold is exactly the idea Gomes has in mind for the New Soul Cowboys’ Youngstown debut, a Tangled Up In Blues Show taking place Saturday at Boulevard Stage/Dash Inn.

“They should come out because we’re going to give them a hell-raising show,” Gomes said. “It’s going to be high energy, exciting, and they’re going to be able to see the cutting edge of where music is headed. They’ll be part of a developing active music scene, so they can be the first to tell their friends they saw outlaw rock ’n’ roll when it was being born.”