Avey Grouws Band : Devil May Care
Avey Grouws Band
Devil May Care
The influence of the Mississippi river on American jazz blues and roots music is indisputable. For the communities that have grown up along the big muddy gave birth to the unique sound. The Avey Grouws Band make their home in the quad cities, an area distinctive because the Mississippi river flows from east to west as it passes through the heart of the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendor with sister cities of Rock Island and Moline across the river in Illinois. The community grew up Stimulated by river boat traffic that brought influences up from the Delta and down from the headwaters. The mix of northern mid western muscle and southern Charm is reflected in the passionate powerful and playful music of the bands debut album. The 10 original tracks that make up the 2020 release The Devil May care, were written by the dynamic duo of Jenny Grouws and Chris Avey. She has aN alto that can blow like a cool breeze or thunder like a Kansas tornado, and he is a skilled guitarist that has drawn quick comparisons to Coco Montoya and Robin Ford. The duo are Backed by a skilled rhythm section Of Drummer Brian West, with ‘Randy Leasman on Bass Who were culled from their former bands. They wisely brought in keys and horns to augment several trackS. The result is a very fresh sound with deep roots.
The set begins with girls playing the coquette teasing her man to “Come Get This Love, ‘ with the band definitely employing the rumba to swing Format for a great dance track. The title track is a clever twist on an old adage About reckless behavior Over an ice pick riff from Avey while she sings about a forbidden affair that may be a sin but only ‘ the devil may care.’
West Rolls out a rousing Bamboula street beat as Grouws Calls on us to “turn anger into action,” on the fiery anthem ‘Rise Up.’ The mood then shifts on the sentimental doo wop flavored love song ‘Let’s Take It Slow.’ That Midwestern muscle and appreciation for the wide open spaces On the Iowa planes comes to bear on the mighty rocking anthem ‘long road’ that features soaring vocals and a gritty slide guitar solo.
The rhythm section drops a convincing roadhouse shuffle augmented by some tasty barrelhouse piano wow grows wells like Bessie Smith on the boiling ‘Let Me Sing My Blues.’ The acoustic driven track, ‘Weary,’ is a dreamy tome of longing, to escape the day’s troubles with blissful sleep.
Grouws then adds a follow up to the title track with the scorching number, ‘ Dirty Little Secret.’ Avey joins her on the feel good duet ‘dig what you do,’ that’s a Southern fried buggy full of fun. The swinging album closer, two days off, (and a little bit of liquor),’ spells out how hard-working men and women combat the hard times with The promise of a reprieve in the weekend. The earworm chorus will have you singing it took all week long .
Jeni Grouws and Chris Avey joined forces to officially former band in 2017, And have one critical Acclaim in the region ever Since. The depth and strength of their strong debut, the devil may care, should garnered national attention for the group of Musicians Who are the pride of the quad cities and represent the talent grown in that area of the Mississippi Valley.
https://www.aveygrouwsband.com
Rick J Bowen
© 2020