Plain Folk
by Les Pearson - August 2006

Transition Is Reality for Romi Mayes!

Romi Mayes is and is not like every other woman with a guitar on the folk circuit these days. What is her personal brand? Finding a unique musical style is difficult, especially when it is in transition.

I talked with her at South Country Fair this summer. Her sameness distilled on that southern Alberta scorcher. What remained was pure and 90 proof.

Romi reacted to my "new grass" music tag for her tunes. "Yes, it's been called that. My newer album, my newer stuff, isn't as blue grassy…." And about the label, she says "…I'm not sure if I'm a crazy fan of those kind of titles but I understand that they have to be. People need something to understand it."

For young women hopefuls, like Abby Johnson or Jess Dollimont, Romi's words are encouraging: "I definitely noticed…a handful of years ago when Ani Difranco would get up and play. It was this huge deal because she was this woman who could play guitar."

Romi is not certain if this was a Canadian phenomenon, only that "…the doors were open at one point." And now, "…it's just a really good time to be a woman in music. You know, it's not only accepted, but it's preferred."

Listening to Romi's lyrics disturbed me. Life in her songs is bleak and loveless. What keeps her going?

"I believe in friendship…a lot. I believe in family. I don't know. I'm not going to tell you my life story…." But she shared this much.

"I had a pretty rough go….I experienced a lot of terrible things and lost a lot of people I loved. And these things, they come out. You know, you get jaded or you get cold. And I have a warm heart-I know I do!-but there are a lot things that…it takes a lot for me to get close to somebody. So I don't mean to sound so jaded and don't believe in love, don't believe in Jesus, but that's where I'm at. You know, I believe in me cause that's all I've got."

That is not the entire truth. Lately, Romi has important friends. Her accompanist, Dan Walsh, hooked Romi up with Gurf Morlix, Mary Gauthier's recording producer. It was Gurf who mastered Romi's latest CD, Sweet Somethin'Steady.

Morlix seems to have a penchant for women with troubled pasts. Romi agrees. "I think he does like the dark female, bar brawl, whiskey things quite a bit. Those are themes that I don't just write about because I think are cool. I lived them. This is my life."

This is reality for Romi Mayes. The fact that she is now in the company of Mary Gauthier and Lucinda Williams "…is not a bad thing." Romi smiles. She is taking September off. In November, it will be Texas and her new peers in the music world.