Same Power, Ease From Rosie Flores

Rosie Flores isn’t going soft. Not even close. The country/rockabilly traditionalist stood onstage in a fringe jacket at the Mint on Tuesday, picking and slashing at a turquoise electric guitar, as fiery and gracious as ever.

She was backed during an hourlong set by a pair of young players recruited from Flores’ new home base of Nashville, and together the trio played with casual force, racing through an exciting rave-up of Johnny Cash’s “Country Boy” and the Bo Diddley-ish beat of “Don’t Take It Away.” The band was just as effective during the quieter romantic passages of Rick Vito’s “Devil Love,” which flowed at a jazzy, soulful pace.

Flores lived in Los Angeles during much of the ‘80s, back when she was first acclaimed as a new hopeful for country stardom, with the feisty flair of idol Wanda Jackson and the post-punk consciousness of Dave Alvin. And she waved to several friends in the Mint crowd, including a couple of former bandmates from her defunct cow-punk side project the Screaming Sirens.

“This is like old-home week,” she said happily. But Tuesday’s performance showed time has done nothing to diminish Flores’ power and ease with the right material, sung with a voice both commanding and deeply emotional.

A new album, “Speed of Sound,” shows renewed commitment to the ageless sounds of country and rock that first inspired her. Flores is due for a revival of her own, just as soon as Nashville is ready for a return to what made the home-grown sounds of country worthwhile in the first place.