Best FEMALE VOCALIST
Jessica Powers
Route .44 is all over the musical map — from garage rock to roots, punk, and R&B. But bandleader Lefty Lacombe says there’s one thing that binds it all together. “Darkness,” he says, bluntly. “It’s as much a vibe as it is a sound. There’s never been any clear direction, [the songs] kind of go where they go, not stuck in a genre. ” When three of eight members of your band work at a psychiatric hospital dealing with emotional trauma, it’s going to seep into the material. “It’s such an intense and acute environment, it’s necessary to vent in order to deal with it,” says Lacombe. “Music has always been a great way to vent.”
The cathartic elements of Route .44 are evident, not only in the performances but in the subject matter. Songs such as “Addiction,” “Pushed It Too Far,” and “Worthless Lessons” (the title track from their first disc) are scalding emotional soundtracks. And people are taking notice. “Yeah, we’re hitting a pretty good stride,” says Lacombe. “We’ve got a monthly slot at the Blackstone, which is great, and everybody is really coming together. The musicians are phenomenal so it takes the heat off of me, and everybody’s contributing more and more.” They’ll get a chance to show what they’ve learned when they convene to finish album number two. And the band is ready to trot out a new song, “Barfly,” this week at route44.org.
The band also boasts the BMP’s Best Female Vocalist — Jessica Powers (lower left in photo), a rock and roll newbie. “This is my first and only band,” Jess says. “I’m a stay-at-home mom with two young kids and Route .44 is the furthest thing from what I thought I’d be doing.” Jess met future bandmates Lacombe and Matt Swanton at a Custom House open mic a few years back. “I thought I’d end up as a folk singer, or something a little more normal,” she admits. “But that would have been doing the expected thing, rather than blazing something new, which is what this band is doing.
“When I got pregnant at 25, it came unexpectedly,” Powers says. “I had always had the mindset that I wanted to sing, but that there was plenty of time to do it. But my life drastically changed and there reached a point where I was like, ‘Holy crap! What’s happened? Husband, kids, dog.’ It all came very fast.”
And so it’s been with her singing career, which has grown almost as fast as her family. “It’s my alter ego,” she laughs. “And now it’s cool for my husband to say that his wife’s a rocker chick. But my reality is that my youngest is potty training and I spend a lot of time doing that.”
— Bob Gulla
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