The Sweet Stringin Soul returns to NYC

I first saw Anthony Gomes in October of 2000. My friend and I were in Memphis on vacation and she was the one that kept telling me how great of a musician and singer this guy Anthony was...you have to hear him. She was right. I remember being floored at the deep soulfulness of his voice....and I fell in love with his guitar :) He was a mix of blues, funk, gospel and rock. It made you move and every note was powerful.

Over the years I have gotten to see him in different cities and I each show is forever etched into my musical heart beat. One show in particular is the perfect example to me to show how moving Anthony and his music is. It was in NYC at the Red Lion a week after 9-11. My friend P had worked in the second tower to get hit. She was one of the very few survivors in her office. Something told her to leave her office, walk down the stairs and go home even though no one knew what had happened. She listened to that inner voice. Even when the speaker said to return to your office, she kept going. She walked down more than 40 flights of stairs, walk to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked home. She survived. Thank God. I had to find out from people in London that she had gotten out of the building before it collapsed. She had survived, but she was devastated. People she had worked with for 13 years were gone forever.

Anthony was playing in NYC a week later and I wanted to take P. During the show P was so absorbed by the music and she had such a great time. She later told me that it was the first time since everything had happened that she was able to not think about what had happened and was able to just be in the moment of what was going on right then. For me that says it all.

Last week when I was on the bus I saw in the paper that Anthony was playing at B.B. King's in the city on April 21st. I think I gave the driver a heart attack when I suddenly yelped for joy :) I have not seen Anthony in about 3 years. It is about friggin time he returns to the city..3 years is too long :)

So basically..in short...if you are in the NYC area April 21st. GO TO B.B. KING'S AND SEE ANTHONY! If you are not in the NYC area, find out when he will be around and check him out.
He has a new live cd out, which is currently #1 on the blues chart. I personally like his older music the best (Steet Stringin Soul has one song in particular that I always find touching), but nothing compares to his live performance.

I am very proud of Anthony and how far he has come [although I miss his iridescent pimp suit days of ole :) ]

Keep smilin
Jenn

www.steelstringblues.com