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| An evening with Keb’ Mo’ at Harris Center Three-time Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter, guitarist and contemporary blues artist Keb' Mo' will be performing at Harris Center for the Arts, 10 College Parkway in Folsom, on Wednesday, March 9 — a rare treat for the region. Keb' Mo' released his 12th studio album titled "BLUESAmericana" on Kind of Blue Music on April 22, 2014. Since its release the album spent several weeks at No. 1 on the Soundscan Blues Album chart, including a return to the No. 1 spot after a period of time following its release. Last November "BLUESAmericana" was made available for purchase on vinyl. "BLUESAmericana" represents the second time Keb' Mo' has undergone a personal transformation. The first began in 1984 in his native Los Angeles, where he'd worked hard to get record and publishing deals and establish himself as a studio musician under his given name Kevin Moore and then saw all of that dissipate. "I was convinced my career was over and that if I was lucky I'd be able to play blues gigs for $40 or $50 a night … if I was lucky, " he said. He was very lucky. Moore got a gig in a blues combo with saxist Monk Higgins and guitarist Charles "Charlie Tuna" Dennis, who today plays rhythm six-string behind B.B. King. "Until then I thought there was just two kinds of blues — fast and slow, " said Moore. "Charlie taught me that there are all kinds of blues: delta blues, Texas blues, Chicago blues, soul-blues … I started opening my mind and learning how deep the blues was." His discovery of historical blues artists Robert Johnson and "Big" Bill Broonzy also resonated profoundly and over the next decade Moore developed a sound that blended their acoustic framework with the pop, R&B, rock, jazz and soul that had previously stoked his compositions. "I never set out to be a 'blues guy' but the blues is very powerful and fuels what I do. The blues puts the 'realness' in it for me, " he said. By 1994 Moore was signed to a major label again. He determined to celebrate his creative rebirth by adopting the new moniker "Keb' Mo.'" His first album under that name, 'Keb' Mo'' earned gold-record status. The second Keb' Mo' album "Just Like You" won the Grammy Award for Contemporary Blues Album — a feat he's repeated twice since then, with 1999's "Slow Down" and 2005's "Keep It Simple." Over the past two decades Keb' Mo' has cultivated a reputation as a modern master of American roots music through the understated excellence of his live and studio performances. His songs have been recorded by B.B. King, Buddy Guy, the Dixie Chicks, Joe Cocker and Robert Palmer and his playing inspired leading instrument maker Gibson Brands to issue the Keb' Mo' Signature Bluesmaster acoustic guitar. He's collaborated with a host of other artists including Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Brown, Cassandra Wilson, Buddy Guy, Amy Grant, Solomon Burke and Little Milton. Keb' Mo' also performs the theme song for the smash sit-com "Mike & Molly" and was music composer for TV's "Memphis Beat." He's no stranger to the stage and screen himself. His acting career began with an early '90s Los Angeles production of Leslie Lee's "The Rabbit Foot." He portrayed Robert Johnson in the 1998 documentary "Can't You Hear the Wind Howl" and appeared three times on the TV series "Touched By An Angel." He also played the ghostly bluesman Possum in John Sayles' 2007 movie "Honeydripper." He stresses that his focus will always be on making music and being a communicator, a songwriter. "My job is to look for something that's truthful, " he said. "Lies are the hardest things in the world to remember, but the truth digs right inside me and it reaches other people, too. If a song is truthful, the way the songs on 'BLUESAmericana' are, I have a piece of that song inside of me so I can always deliver it from my heart." write your comments about the article :: © 2016 Jazz News :: home page |