Keb' Mo'
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- This article is about the blues musician originally known as Keb' Mo' (and given in songwriting credits as) Kevin Moore. For Kevin Moore the progressive metal musician and founder of Dream Theater and Chroma Key, see Kevin Moore.
Keb' Mo' (born October 3, 1951 as Kevin Moore) is a noted American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Born in South Central, Los Angeles, California, influenced by the Delta blues style of Robert Johnson, that traveled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America. Born Kevin Moore, but the more he got to be called Keb’ Mo’, the more he got into the Blues. Influenced by Robert Johnson, more for who he (Robert Johnson) was, which made him (Keb’ Mo’) want to be who he actually is. Coming from a divorced family, his parents came from Texas and Louisiana, instilling within him an early appreciation of blues and gospel.
“The Blues is my history, my culture”, said Keb Mo at an interview. The Blues is the authenticity of the form that undergirds his own songs – music elegant and funky, urgent and melancholy.
By adolescence, he was already an accomplished guitarist. At age 12, he got his first guitar, a Silvertone, which he bought at Sears, for $25.00. But he also blew trumpet and French horn. In his first band a calypso band he played steel drums and upright bass. In the 1970s and 1980s he played in a variety of blues and backup bands.
He recorded first in the early 70's, with Jefferson Starship violinist Papa John Creach, and around that time, he also honed his skills as staff writer for A&M Records and by arranging demos for Almo – Irving music, as well.
In 1980, his debut, Rainmaker, for Casablanca, was a R&B disc full of promise.
His stint in the Whodunit Band, headed by Bobby “Blue” Band producer, Monk Higgins, immersed Keb' Mo' further into the Blues.
Heightening his songwriting with candor and poetry, for the theatrical production Rabbit Foot, playing a Delta Blues man, he jammed with Albert Collins and Big Joe Turner, he emerged as an inheritor of a guard tradition and a genuine original.
In 1994 he released his self titled debut album, Keb Mo, which featured two Robert Johnson covers, “Come on in My Kitchen” and “Kindhearted Woman Blues”, in which he proved his admiring devotion for the legendary and enigmatic blues man from the Delta. This album introduced him to critical and popular acclaim.
In 1996 he released Just Like You, his second album which featured twelve songs, full of Deltarhythms. With this album he won his first Grammy award.
On the evening of June 10, 1997, he taped a compilation of his best songs in the TV Show Sessions at West 54th. He joined musician Laval Belle on drums, Reggie McBride playing bass and Joellen Friedcken on keyboards, to perform 14 songs, and in between he invited Dr. John.
Slow Down was his next album, released in 1998, which as the same of Just Like You, it featured twelve songs, and earned him his second Grammy award.
His fourth album Big Wide Grin, was released in 2000. February 10, 2004, was the release date for Keep It Simple, and this album earned him a third Grammy award. Later that same year, he released his fifth album, called Peace... Back by Popular Demand, Martin Scorsese presented the Blues, Keb Mo, in 2005, and his more recent released is Suitcase, dated June 13, 2006.
From that initial Keb' Mo' in 1994, through his 2006 release Suitcase, his stature has only increased. A few years later, he portrayed the blues legend Robert Johnson in the documentary film Can't You Hear the Wind Howl?.
He also composed one of the theme songs used on the show Martha Stewart Living.
In 2004 he participated in the politically-motivated Vote for Change Tour.
In 2006 he appeared in the last episode of the West Wing to perform "America the Beautiful".
Discography
- Suitcase (June 13, 2006)
- Peace... back by popular demand (September 21, 2004)
- Keep It Simple (February 10, 2004) - Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album, 2005
- Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Keb' Mo' (September 19, 2003)
- Big Wide Grin (May 16, 2000)
- The Door (October 3, 2000)
- Slow Down (August 25, 1998) - Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album, 1999
- Just Like You (June 18, 1996) - Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album, 1997
- Keb' Mo' (June 7, 1994)
External links
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