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Veronica Lewis (from the album You Ain’t Unlucky available on Blue Heart Records) (by Joe Burcaw)
I always hold fondness and admiration for my fellow New England musicians, but in this instance I hold an ‘extreme’ amount of admiration for Boogie-Woogie Blues ace Veronica Lewis. Hailing from the Live-Free-or-Die state of New Hampshire, this seventeen-year-old anomaly plays the barrelhouse piano like no other pianist I have ever heard, for real! The fire and passion emanating out of this young woman’s fingertips is frighteningly impressive, move over Jerry Lee ‘cos a new Lewis is in town. Veronica Lewis’ bombastic command of the keyboard, and exemplary Blues licks, are executed seamlessly on her latest release You Ain’t Unlucky. The Jerry Lee Lewis comparison is obvious, and not because they share the same surname or that she paid tribute to him in the song “Ode to Jerry”. Other influences can be found in the familiar inflections of Dr. John and Low Cut Connie weaving in and out of her musical web. What has struck me the most is her high level of confidence and trial-by-fire performances, which can be viewed all over YouTube. Veronica just won Blues Artist of the Year at the 2020 Boston Music Awards, and trust me, there will more accolades to come by years end if she keeps plowing through the music industry with this type of conviction! The title track, paying tribute to the late great Dr. John, is a perfect lead-off to get the listeners up and out of their seats; hips swaying and heads bopping to the up-tempo rhythms. I kept thinking about Tori Amos watching her live performances, Veronica Lewis practically standing on the piano as she bashes away with complete focus. “Whoo Whee Daddy” features the sax playing talents of Joel Edinberg crooning away to a hip call response interplay followed by a strong twelve-bar solo to the coda. If sock-hops were still in vogue, you could count on me attending with shoes prepped and shined, primed for a dance-til-you-drop marathon. Every song on You Ain’t Unlucky gets better than the next as we progress from track one to track eight. A key to a successful album is the ingredients and Veronica Lewis added all of the right herbs and spices on this one! Hopefully situations in the world begin to normalize so artists such as Lewis can get out there and hit the road doing what they do best, gig. Listen and buy the music of Veronica Lewis from AMAZON For more info, check out the Veronica Lewis website
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