Alfie Smith releases his eighth album, Every Rome Needs A Nero, and that is excellent news for blues lovers. The Hamilton-based troubadour is a popular and crowd-pleasing fixture on the Ontario’s blues/folk/roots festivals and club circuit, 

His return to the recording arena with Every Rome Needs A Nero finds Alfie at the height of his creative powers. He is a triple threat: a guitar virtuoso fluent on slide and vintage National and resonator instruments, an eloquent songwriter in the classic blues tradition, and a powerful singer with a voice to match his formidable physical presence. That deep voice sounds like it has been dredged from the depths of the muddy Mississippi River. It is rich and earthy, and capable of expressing tenderness, melancholy, joy, and, in the case of the new album’s title track, righteous anger.