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| Kenny Neal’s Blues Roots Run Deep On His New Album Multi-talented New Orleans bluesman Kenny Neal, son of Louisiana legend Raful Neal, proudly presents a celebration of his family heritage with this stellar new studio album! A member of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and a multi-award winning talent, Neal has never sounded better than he does here, offering some of the most moving songwriting and electric performances of his incredible career. In addition, no less than 8 members of the Neal clan lend their musical talents to this unique album, making it a true family affair and proving beyond doubt that the blues is most definitely in Neal's Bloodline. A video for the title track from Bloodline features appearances by several members of the Neal family as they dance and sing about their rich musical legacy. The album also features a heartfelt salute to the great B.B. King, whose life and music left an indelible mark on Neal. To support this release, Neal will be embarking on a nationwide tour! July 23 - Redwood City Pal Blues Festival - Redwood City, CA July 24 - Malarkey's - Long Beach, CA July 25 - Maui Sugar Mill Saloon - Tarzana, CA July 30 - Genoa Blues Festival - Genoa, NV July 31 - Laguna Grande Park - Seaside, CA Aug 1 - Yoshi's At Jack London Square - Oakland, CA Aug 3 - Jus' Blues Music Awards - Tunica, MS Aug 6 - Kitchener Blues Festival - Kitchener Ontario Aug 28 - The North River Blues Festival - Marshfield, MA Sept 4 - Moe's Alley Sunday Blues Series - Santa Cruz, CA Sept 5 - Blue Wing Festival - Upper Lake, CA Sept 6 - Squaw Valley Ski Resort's Blue Tuesday - Olympic Valley, CA Sept 10 & 11 - Big Blues Bender - Las Vegas, NV Kenny Neal is an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist and is widely renowned as a modern swamp-blues master. Born in 1957 in New Orleans and raised in Baton Rouge, Neal began playing music at a very young age, learning the basics from his father, singer and blues harmonica player, Raful Neal. Family friends like Lazy Lester, Buddy Guy and Slim Harpo contributed to Kenny's early musical education. At 13, he joined his father's band and, fouryears later, he was recruited and toured extensively as Buddy Guy's bass player. Through the years, Neal has shared the stage or worked with a who's-who list of blues and R&B greats at one time or another, including B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Muddy Waters, Aaron Neville, Buddy Guy and John Lee Hooker. Since signing with Alligator Records in 1988, Neal has released a series of consistently lauded albums featuring his laid-back, Baton Rouge blues, with a modern spin on the Louisiana sound he grew up with. In 1991, Neal branched out into the world of acting when he starred as the lead in the much-acclaimed musical, Mule Bone, a lost play written by the famed African-American poet Langston Hughes and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston in 1930. Featuring music written by Taj Mahal, Neal's performances garnered a prestigious Theater World Award for "The Most Outstanding New Talent On and Off Broadway, " and he concurrently set two Hughes poems to music on the album Walking With Fire. The Chicago Tribune pegged Kenny as "one of a mere handful of truly inventive young contemporary guitarists, Neal has something fresh to say and the chops with which to say it, " while AllMusic said his "gruff-before-their-time vocals retain their swamp sensibility, while assuming a bright contemporary feel that tabs him as a leading contender for future blues stardom." Blues Revue agreed, calling Kenny "one of the brightest young stars on the blues horizon, and a gifted artist." Track List: 1. Ain't Gon Let The Blues Die 2. Bloodline 3. Plain Old Common Sense 4. Funny How Time Slips Away 5. Keep On Moving 6. I Go By Feel 7. I'm So Happy 8. Blues Mobile 9. I Can't Wait 10. Real Friend 11. Thank You BB King write your comments about the article :: © 2016 Jazz News :: home page |