Alfie Smith

Every Rome Needs A Nero

Gilded Tooth Records

Alfie Smith recorded his first album “Alfred John Smith” in 1998, and followed up with 2003’s “Buckshot Blues”, 2005’s “Flesh & Bones”, 2008’s “Brass & Steel”, and 2011’s “Sometimes The Rain”.  “Every Rome Needs A Nero” is the eighth album from the Canadian born Hamilton, Ontario based troubadour Alfie Smith. This powerful singer is at the height of his creativity with splendid slide guitar on both National and resonator guitars. Smith’s clear deep voice sounds like it has been dredged from the depths of the muddy Mississippi River. This is Smith’s first album in ten years, included are eight new songs and two covers, and the time between now and the last album, 2014’s “Come In My Kitchen”, has given him a large selection of material to choose from. Featured throughout the recording is some great trumpet from Troy Dowding, Justine Fisher on bass, and Dave Gould, drums and percussion.

“East End Girl” is both an ode to a lover and a homage to Smith’s hometown of Hamilton, “my love for you will never fail, my east end girl, I love you so…make it out of this rusty town, my east end girl, I love you so”. “All The Blues I Need”, “give you all that I have baby, you’re all the blues I had, now its all behind me, baby, you’re all the blues I need”. “Sweet Persephone” follows with the lyric “the best is left behind us”.

“Shake Sugaree” was written by Elizabeth Cotton “everything I had is come and gone, lost everything I had”. “Time Is A Rocketship” is another beautiful vocal “it come back and kick your ass…my hands can’t feel the grip, time is a rocketship”, with Smith on slide. “Mule”, “sometimes I feel like a hollow log” with some great piano from Jeese O’Brian (who also plays with Colin James) and the Hammond B-3 organ from producer Brandon Bliss.

“Stupid Fool” is a mellow acoustic blues featuring words of wisdom from Smith’s longing desire to be a better partner “sometimes your wife may just be wanting to tell you her problem, she doesn’t want you to tell her how to fix it, she just wants you to listen”. “Blue Fire” includes more great trumpet from Dowding. On the closer, a cover of Leonard Cohen’s masterpiece Smith croons “like a bird on the wire, like a drunk in a midnight choir”.

Smith recalls that he developed a seemingly unlikely personal and musical alliance with the hard-rock band Monster Truck. That mutual admiration paid dividends when the Covid pandemic rolled in as Monster Truck’s keyboardist became producer of “Every Rome Needs A Nero”. This mutual admiration helped account for the warm and relaxed feel of the recording. Smith’s multiple talents have been recognized by The Hamilton Music Awards who nominated him 12 times, in the Best Male Vocalist category, and the Toronto Blues Society, who selected Smith to represent them at the prestigious International Blues Challenge in Memphis, in 2010. Now Smith, is emerging as an artist totally ready for prime time.

Richard Ludmerer

Contributing Editor/Making A Scene

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