Mike Farris & the Roseland Rhythm Revue

There are plenty of reasons to be down these days. The economy. Maybe you've been laid off from your job. That's why Mike Farris & the Roseland Rhythm Revue can be a salve for the soul. In the '90s, Farris was frontman for the Southern rock band the Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies, but he got lost along the way fighting his personal demons. Then he saw the light, and this Americana Music Award winner is letting it shine with an ace nine-piece, gospel-blues-soul band that includes the McCrary Sisters, whose father, Sam McCrary, was a onetime member of the venerable gospel group the Fairfield Four. Farris comes by the feelings honestly in his blues-tinged vocals. You don't have to believe. You ain't gotta be washed in the blood. But you will be moved by the spirit. And if that spirit is only the music of Mike Farris and band, then I'm sure that's all right with him. To him, it's the same thing.