August 2006
By Ruth Fletcher

What happens when a January blizzard strands a Winnipeg musician? Romi Mayes knows, because Frank and Gail O'Connor of the Voyageur Lodge and Cookhouse are welcoming her back.

"We met Romi in a January snowstorm," Frank said. "She was stuck here in a blizzard. We traded breakfast for a CD and fell in love with her music."

This weekend, the shores of Batchawana Bay will rock with the tunes from the third annual Voyageur's Musicfest and Romi, (pronounced raw-me) will be the Saturday night headliner.

Described as " the Joan Jett of country", the guitarist is hailed as having an honest, edgy sound and a great storyteller. In a phone interview from Edmonton, Mayes told of her introduction to the music world.

"I was on a canoe trip when I was 14 years old. The leader had a guitar and I thought it was the coolest thing."

Since her family was "tone deaf" and there was no music in her house, she had to talk her mom into buying her an instrument.

"I ended up with a cheap guitar, a Fiesta, and started to play."

Her career took off soon after. She spoke of her first performance in her hometown of Winnipeg.

"Bobby Star called me up to play at a concert. I was 15 and it was my first time. I played a few songs, tearjerkers, and I had grown men in the audience in tears."

Mayes has two accompanists. Dan Walsh plays dobro, a type of acoustic guitar used in country and bluegrass music. He used to play with fellow Canadian songsmith Fred Eaglesmith and has accompanied Romi regularly since last December.

Chris Carmichael is lead guitarist and drummer. He and Mayes have been together for almost three years. She calls him "irreplaceable." When asked who influences her music she credits a variety of inspirations.

"I grew up on classic rock but there's so much more. I did a train tour with Hayes Carll and then there's Mary Gauthier, Hank Williams, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnston. But I always do my own songs."

Daughter Ashley, 6, also serves up some inspiration.

"Ashley is a huge supporter and is quite talented herself," Mayes said. "When she's looking at me I see a confident, strong young girl."

Mayes talked about her varied fan base.

"There's the younger crowd, who still think of bluegrass as bad ass. And then there's the CBC listeners, the music lovers. We are moving away from bars, more into the soft-seat theatres where you can pick up on the subtle sweet nuances. You can't fight the bars for that."

Mayes's commitment to performance will be enhanced by other exceptional musicians this weekend. Friday evening,