This is another example of a veteran and very good West Coast band that the rest of us don’t know about; vocalist Deb Rhymer is out to change that with her first album. None other than David Vest calls her the ‘Queen of the Blues in Western Canada’ and she has a hard-working trio behind her plus several guests for the recording. Collecting her original songs, honed by years of performing and including a couple of covers, Don’t Wait Up makes for a fine introduction. Kelly Fawcett on guitars, Andy Graffiti on drums and Clayton O’Howe on bass form that band. The opener is “Heartache and Trouble”, a midtempo rocker lamenting her no good boyfriend. Gene Hardy adds some trademark sax work. “Let Your Heart Decide” has a more contemporary soul blues sound, written with and featuring Bill Johnson on lead guitar, a keeper for sure. The title song is a tender ballad to her partner from a working musician, “Don’t Wait Up”. A great groove drives “Just Enough Blues” celebrating live music but only if it has the right ingredients. Co-producer Wynn Gogol adds keys on this full band co-write. Her own “There’s the Door” is her version of a classic break up song featuring, somewhat unusually, a solo trombone, played very well by Randy Oxford. One of the covers is an uptempo “Won’t Be Long” driven along nicely by David Vest’s piano. Ms. Rhymer has a somewhat limited vocal range but she knows how to stay within it and uses it very well indeed. If you get a chance to see her live, you should take it. Her web site is www.debrhymerband.com.