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Keb' Mo'

Kevin Roosevelt Moore (born October 3, 1951), known as Keb' Mo', is an American blues musician and five-time Grammy Award winner. He is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as "a living link to the seminal Delta blues that travelled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America."[citation needed] His post-modern blues style is influenced by many eras and genres, including folk, rock, jazz, pop and country. The moniker "Keb Mo" was coined by his original drummer, Quentin Dennard, and picked up by his record label as a "street talk" abbreviation of his given name.

Keb' Mo'
Keb' Mo' with a Hamer guitar at the Crossroads Guitar Festival, June 26, 2010
Background information
Birth nameKevin Roosevelt Moore
Born (1951-10-03) October 3, 1951 (age 71)
South Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1]
OriginCompton, California, U.S.
GenresDelta blues, country blues, Americana
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, guitarist
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, harmonica, banjo, mandolin, bass, keyboards
Years active1970s–present
LabelsChocolate City, Epic, Yolabelle International, Kind Of Blue Music, Concord/Rounder Records

Biography

Early life

From early on, Keb' Mo's parents, who were from Louisiana and Texas, instilled him with a great appreciation for the blues and gospel music. By adolescence, he was an accomplished guitarist.[2]

Career

Keb' Mo' started his musical career playing the steel drums in a calypso band. He moved on to play in a variety of blues and backup bands throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He first started recording in the early 1970s with Jefferson Airplane violinist Papa John Creach through an R&B group. Creach hired him when Moore was 21 years old and Moore appeared on four of Creach's albums: Filthy!, Playing My Fiddle for You, I'm the Fiddle Man and Rock Father. Keb' Mo's first gold record was received for a song, "Git Fiddler", which he co-wrote with Creach on Jefferson Starship's Red Octopus.[3] Red Octopus hit number one on the Billboard 200 in 1975.[4]

Moore was also a staff writer for A&M Records and arranged demos for Almo – Irving music. Keb' Mo's debut, Rainmaker, was released on Chocolate City Records, a subsidiary of Casablanca Records, in 1980. He was further immersed in the blues with his long stint in the Whodunit Band, headed by Bobby "Blue" Bland producer Monk Higgins. Moore jammed with Albert Collins and Big Joe Turner and emerged as an inheritor of a guarded tradition and as a genuine original.

Keb' Mo' has appeared on stage (1990–1993) in several versions of the musical Spunk, by George C. Wolfe, an adaptation of three short stories by Zora Neale Hurston. His character, Guitar Man, learned while he was an understudy to "Chick Streetman", played all the actual music in the play while performing.[5] The character of Guitar Man is the foundation for his stage persona.

In 1994, Keb' Mo' released his self-titled album, Keb' Mo', which featured two Robert Johnson classics, "Come On In My Kitchen" and "Kind Hearted Woman Blues".[6] In the Martin Scorsese miniseries The Blues, Keb' Mo' states that he was greatly influenced by Johnson. Keb' was the runner-up for Best New Blues Artist at The Long Beach Blues Festival, where he was spotted by Steve LaVere, who owns the publishing for the entire Robert Johnson song catalogue (1992–93).

Keb' Mo's self-titled album was released on Okeh Records, a vintage revival division of Sony Music.

In 1996, he released Just Like You, his second album, which featured 12 songs full of Delta rhythms. He won his first Grammy Award for this album, which featured guest appearances from Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.[7]

On June 10, 1997, Moore performed on the television program Sessions at West 54th. He joined musicians Laval Belle on drums, Reggie McBride playing bass and Joellen Friedkin on keyboards to perform 14 songs, some from each of his albums. Blues pianist Dr. John also made a guest appearance. This session (known as Sessions at West 54th: Recorded Live in New York) was shown on television but was not released as a DVD until late 2000.

In 1998, Moore was involved in the multi-artist project "Begegnungen (Encounters)" by German rock musician Peter Maffay. They performed together a new version of Mo's "Am I Wrong" on the album and some more songs in the 30 concerts at the arena tour later the same year, documented on the live album Begenungen Live, released in early 1999. A further guest of Maffay at the Begegnungen album and tour was Sonny Landreth and many more artists from around the world.

Slow Down, his next album, was released in 1998 and featured twelve songs. It earned him a second Grammy Award. The album begins with the song "Muddy Water", a tribute to Muddy Waters. It also features a song entitled "Rainmaker", which had been released previously on his first album, eighteen years prior.

His fourth album, The Door, was released in 2000. The same year, Keb' Mo' released Big Wide Grin, a children's album featuring many songs from Moore's own childhood, along with some newer children's songs and some by Moore himself. In 2001, he appeared on Sesame Street with Kermit the Frog, Grover, Elmo, and other muppets performing the song "Everybody Be Yo'self". The album includes an original arrangement of "America the Beautiful", which he performed years later on the 2006 series finale of The West Wing, "Tomorrow", in which he appears as himself to perform the song at the inauguration of President Matt Santos.

In 2003, Martin Scorsese collaborated with many blues musicians including Keb' Mo' to put together a series of films entitled The Blues. Following its release, several albums were released in accordance, some were compilations, some new collaborations and Keb' Mo' released an album in the series featuring a handful of existing recordings from Keb' Mo' to The Door.

Also in 2003, Moore and Lyle Lovett released a cover of the Bob Seger song "'Til it Shines".

On February 10, 2004, he released Keep It Simple which earned him a third Grammy Award, again in the contemporary blues genre. Later that year, he released his sixth studio album, Peace... Back by Popular Demand.

Moore released Suitcase, on June 13, 2006. His touring band following the release included Reggie McBride on bass, Les Falconer III on drums, Jeff Paris on keyboards, and Clayton Gibb on guitar.

On October 20, 2009, Keb' Mo' released the live album, Live and Mo'.

 
Keb' Mo' performing with Dan Aykroyd at the 2013 Crossroads Guitar Festival, April 12, 2013

At the 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival, Keb' Mo' performed an acoustic set with Stefan Grossman and an electric set with Vince Gill, Albert Lee, James Burton, Earl Klugh and Sheryl Crow. He joined the finale with most of the day's performers.[8]

On August 2, 2011, Keb' Mo' released The Reflection.

Keb' Mo' performed at a White House event titled "In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues" on February 21, 2012.[9] On February 24, 2012, many of the same performers, including Keb' Mo, Gary Clark Jr., Buddy Guy, Warren Haynes, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, paid tribute to Hubert Sumlin at the "Howlin' For Hubert" memorial concert at the Apollo Theater in New York City.[10]

On the first night of the 2013 Crossroads Guitar Festival, Keb' Mo' performed a set with Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Blake Mills and Matt "Guitar" Murphy. Keb' Mo' later performed two songs with emcee Dan Aykroyd.[11] On the second night of the festival, Keb' Mo' performed with Taj Mahal.[12]

In early 2014, he was nominated for three Grammy Awards for Best Americana Album (BLUESAmericana), Best American Roots Performance ("The Old Me Better") and Best Engineered Album Non-Classical (BLUESAmericana).[13] In May, he appeared alongside Metallica at MusicCare' 10th Annual MAP Fund Benefit Concert at Nokia honoring Ozzy Osbourne and Jeff Greenberg.[14] In October 2014 he honored the Everly Brothers, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 19th annual Music Masters Series, and in November he honored Mavis Staples alongside Bonnie Raitt, Gregg Allman, Taj Mahal and Grace Potter, at Chicago's Auditorium Theatre for celebration of Staples' life and career in honor of her 75th birthday.[15][16] Also in late 2014 he was featured on a Jackson Browne tribute album, Looking into You: A Tribute to Jackson Browne.

In 2015, his album BLUESAmericana won the 'Contemporary Blues Album' category at the Blues Music Awards.[17]

He has been supportive of charity Playing For Change since its inception and recently appeared in a video with Keith Richards' singing Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up". He appeared on two tracks from the Playing For Change: Songs Around The World that was released on June 17. The album had over 180 musicians from 31 countries, including Keith Richards, Sara Bareilles, David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, and Taj Mahal. He donates 5% of BLUESAmericana to the charity.[18]

In late 2015, he performed at a special concert hosted by Barack Obama called "A Celebration of American Creativity: In Performance at the White House". It was shot and filmed in the East Room of the White House. Other performers included Smokey Robinson, James Taylor, Buddy Guy, Queen Latifah, Usher, Trombone Shorty, MC Lyte, Audra McDonald, Esperanza Spalding, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Carol Burnett. It commemorated the 50th anniversary of the founding of Lyndon B. Johnson's National Foundation on the Arts through the Humanities Act.[19]

Keb' Mo' released a live album, Keb' Mo' Live – That Hot Pink Blues Album on April 15, on Kind of Blue Music/RED Distribution.[20][21][22]

Keb' Mo' partnered up with Taj Mahal to release a joint album, TajMo, on May 5, 2017.[23] The album has guest appearances by Bonnie Raitt, Joe Walsh, Sheila E., and Lizz Wright, and has six original compositions and five covers, from artists and bands like John Mayer and The Who.[24] The album won the 2018 Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album.[25]

 
Keb' Mo' performs in 2020.

In June 2019, Keb' Mo' released a studio album, Oklahoma, with guest contributions from Rosanne Cash, Jaci Velasquez, Robert Randolph, and Taj Mahal, with a duet with Robbie Brooks Moore (his wife).

Keb' Mo' played the Glastonbury Festival in June 2019 followed by UK and European dates in July 2019.

Keb' Mo' performed at the 2019 Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum concert and induction ceremony.

Keb' Mo' won the Grammy Award for "Best Americana Album" in 2020 for Oklahoma.[26] He was one of the headliners at the 2020 Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai, India.[27]

Film projects

In 1998, he portrayed Robert Johnson in a documentary film, Can't You Hear the Wind Howl?[28]

In 1997, Keb' Mo' portrayed the character Isaac, the Angel of Music, in the episode "Inherit the Wind" and again in 1999 in "Then Sings My Soul" of the television series Touched by an Angel. He performed "Hand It Over" from his 1996 release Just Like You in the 1997 episode and again in the 2002 episode "Remembering Me: Part 2". He also appeared as J. D. Winslow in the 2001 episode "Shallow Water", where he performed his song "God Trying to Get Your Attention" from his album Slow Down.

In January 2007, he performed at the Sundance Film Festival.[29]

He played the role of the mischievous spirit Possum in the 2007 John Sayles movie Honeydripper.

Keb' Mo' provided additional music for Mike and Molly.

He has co-written the opening music for B Positive with executive producer Chuck Lorre.[30]

In 2019 Ke' Mo' featured as a guest artist on the PBS concert series Bluegrass Underground (now re-branded as The Caverns Sessions).

Political activism

In 2004, he participated in the politically motivated Vote for Change tour alongside Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, with whom he originally recorded the title track from the album Just Like You.

Keb' Mo' is part of the No Nukes group which was against the expansion of nuclear power. In 2007, the group recorded a music video of a new version of the Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth".[31][32]

Equipment

Keb' Mo' uses several types of guitars, including electric guitars, acoustic guitars and resonator guitars. He has a preference for red guitars, as he says on his website: "I have a history with red guitars. My first electric was a red guitar." He mostly plays on a red custom Fender Stratocaster that features two single-coil pickups, and one humbucker and is much modified from a regular Stratocaster model. On stage, he prefers a red Hamer guitar with Gibson P-100 pickups. Two of his electric guitars were lost in the 2010 Nashville flood: an Epiphone Sheraton and a Danelectro Selectomatic.[33]

He owns a variety of acoustic and resonator guitars, including a Gibson artist model, a guitar made for him by James Goodall, a National Style N, a National Resorocket, and a Gibson ES-335-shaped resonator guitar with a P-90 pickup that he purchased in a Nashville club and had repaired.[34]

Discography

Albums

Released Album Peak chart positions Notes
US
[35]
AUS
[36]
GER
[37]
NZ
[38]
SWI
[39]
September 9, 1980 Rainmaker Released under the name "Kevin Moore"
June 7, 1994 Keb' Mo' 88 Debut album as "Keb' Mo'"

Won W.C. Handy Award for Best Country/Acoustic Blues Album of the Year, 1995

June 18, 1996 Just Like You 197 97 78 14 39 Won Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album, 1997
August 25, 1998 Slow Down 109 89 38 6 35 Won Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album, 1999
October 10, 2000 The Door 122 50 Nominated Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album
December 4, 2000 Sessions at West 54th: Recorded Live in New York Recorded in 1997
June 5, 2001 Big Wide Grin 199 Nominated Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children
September 19, 2003 Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Keb' Mo' Part of the series, The Blues
February 10, 2004 Keep It Simple 149 93 Won Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album, 2005
September 21, 2004 Peace... Back by Popular Demand 174
June 13, 2006 Suitcase 176 Nominated Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album
October 20, 2009 Live and Mo' Six live performances and 4 new studio recordings
August 2, 2011 The Reflection 81 Nominated Grammy Award for Best Blues Album, 2012
April 22, 2014 BLUESAmericana 58 Nominated Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, 2014
April 15, 2016 Keb' Mo' Live – That Hot Pink Blues Album
May 5, 2017 TajMo 80 17 Collaboration album with Taj Mahal, won Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy 2017.
June 14, 2019 Oklahoma 41 Won the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album at the 62nd Grammy Awards.
October 18, 2019 Moonlight, Mistletoe & You Peaked #1 on the US Blues Albums (Billboard)[40]
January 21, 2022 Good to Be... 64 28

DVDs

  • Sessions at West 54th – Recorded Live in New York (1997)
  • Exploring the Guitar with Keb' Mo' (2000)
  • The Blues Guitar of Keb' Mo'' (2002)
  • Keb' Mo' & Guests (2011)

Other contributions

In 1998, Moore appeared on the album Begegnungen (the German word for "Encounters") by Peter Maffay, one of the most successful rockstars in Germany and Mid-Europe (16 Number 1 albums in the German album charts). This record is a duet album with artists from every continent. Moore and Maffay make a new version of "Am I wrong".

In 2001, Moore performed "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" on the tribute album Timeless: Hank Williams Tribute. Moore is also credited as producer on the Best Country Album, Grammy Award winner for 2001.[41]

In 2002, Moore contributed "Sonnet 35" to the compilation album, When Love Speaks (EMI Classics), which features famous actors and musicians interpreting Shakespearean sonnets and play excerpts. Two years later, he appeared on Amy Grant: Greatest Hits 1986–2004 in a duet entitled "Come Be with Me", which became a modest success on pop radio.

In 2005, Moore appeared on Buddy Guy's version of "Ain't No Sunshine", along with Moore composed one of the theme songs featured on the show, Martha Stewart Living. That same year, he appeared on Eric Clapton's album Back Home.

In 2006, Moore co-wrote the song, "I Hope", with the Dixie Chicks for their album, Taking the Long Way.

In 2006, Moore collaborated with New Orleans blues group The Subdudes, producing their most critically noteworthy album Behind the Levee, penning one cut, "Social Aid and Pleasure Club", and providing backing tracks for several other songs on the album.

In 2006, Moore appeared on the final episode of West Wing, performing "America the Beautiful" at the presidential inauguration.

Moore also provided vocals to Marcus Miller's 2007 album, Free on the track entitled "Milky Way" and again on Miller's 2008 album entitled, Marcus.

In 2008, he also appeared on Otis Taylor's album Recapturing the Banjo, contributing vocals and banjo on several songs.

Moore appeared on the June 7, 2008 broadcast of Garrison Keillor's radio program A Prairie Home Companion. He performed two songs with Bonnie Raitt: "No Getting Over You" and "There Ain't Nothin' in Ramblin'". The show was archived on the A Prairie Home Companion website.

In 2009, Moore co-wrote a song with Peach titled "It Meant Nothing". The song is yet to be released as an official audio recording, however, Peach does perform it and video recordings of live performances exist online.

Moore covered Lowen & Navarro's "If You Loved Me Like That" on Keep the Light Alive : Celebrating the Music of Lowen & Navarro. The proceeds of the album benefited The Eric Lowen Trust, ALS Association Greater Los Angeles, and Augie's Quest.

Moore sings the opening theme ("I See Love", which he co-wrote with Josh Kelley) to the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly.

Moore appeared and played as a backing musician on an episode of Memphis Beat in 2011.

Moore produced and co-wrote the song "Diggin' in the Deep Blue Sea" on the 2011 David Bromberg album Use Me. He also plays electric guitar on the track.

In 2013, Moore appears on B.J. Thomas' The Living Room Sessions, in a duet with Thomas on the single "Most of All".[42][43]

In 2017, he covered "Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good" for the Don Williams tribute album Gentle Giants: The Songs of Don Williams.

In 2017, he appeared in “Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Higher Ground” (Hallmark Mystery Movie series) as the character Gabe, and performed several songs. His music was also in the following movies in the series, scheduled to appear again in Signed, Sealed, Delivered: To the Altar on July 15, 2018.

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

References

  1. ^ Doug Henkle. "FolkLib Index – Musician's Birthdays/Bibliography". Folklib.net. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  2. ^ "Keb' Mo' – New album BLUESAmericana". Kebmo.net. June 20, 2014. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  3. ^ William, Ruhlmann. "Jefferson Starship Red Octopus". AllMusic. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  4. ^ "Jefferson Starship Red Octopus: Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  5. ^ Roger Catlin (January 12, 1995). "Blues Of Keb' Mo' Provides The 'Spunk' At Hartford Stage". Hartford Courant. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  6. ^ "Illustrated discography of various artists' early records". Wirz.de. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  7. ^ Just Like You CD sleeve
  8. ^ "CROSSROADS GUITAR FESTIVAL 2010". whereseric.com. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  9. ^ "In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues Pictures". Rolling Stone. February 22, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  10. ^ "February 24, 2012 – Howlin' For Hubert". whereseric.com. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  11. ^ "April 12, 2013 – Crossroads Guitar Festival". whereseric.com. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  12. ^ "April 13, 2013 – Crossroads Guitar Festival". whereseric.com. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  13. ^ Jewly Hight (December 24, 2014). "Keb' Mo' Completely Shocked by Grammy Nominations". Cmtedge.com. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  14. ^ "Metallica, Slash, Keb Mo added as performers to MusiCares MAP Fund concert". The Music Universe. March 18, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  15. ^ Niesel, Jeff (September 30, 2014). "Updated: Rock Hall to Honor the Everly Brothers | Scene and Heard: Scene's News Blog". Clevescene.com. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  16. ^ "Mavis 75: Bonnie Raitt, Otis Clay, Keb' Mo' and More Talk Mavis Staples'". Pastemagazine.com. November 18, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  17. ^ . Americanbluesscene.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  18. ^ "Keb´Mo´". Playing for Change. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  19. ^ "In Performance at the White House". PBS. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  20. ^ "Keb' Mo' Drops 'Keb' Mo' Live – That Hot Pink Blues Album'". Lee Bailey's EurWeb.com. March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  21. ^ "Keb' Mo' Set To Release "Keb' Mo' LIVE – That Hot Pink Blues Album" on April 15th, 2016 : Announces Nationwide Tour". TheUrbanMusicScene.com. March 23, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  22. ^ Vallon, Vanessa (March 1, 2016). "Keb' Mo' readies special live project for release". AXS. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  23. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "TajMo – Taj Mahal / Keb' Mo'". AllMusic. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  24. ^ Cunningham, Scott (March 15, 2017). "TajMo: Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo' team up for new album". Oregon Music News. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  25. ^ "Keb'Mo'". Grammy.com. November 28, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  26. ^ Grammy Winners List 2020 by Zoe Haylock, Vulture.com, January 27, 2020.
  27. ^ "Keb' Mo' on Four Decades of the Blues, Remembering African American History, Activism in Music and More -". February 5, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  28. ^ Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. pp. 129–130. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
  29. ^ "AOL.com – Netscape". Music.netscape.com. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  30. ^ Fienberg, Daniel (November 4, 2020). "'B Positive': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  31. ^ ""For What It's Worth," No Nukes Reunite After Thirty Years". Nukefree.org. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  32. ^ . Nirs.org. Archived from the original on June 9, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  33. ^ . KebMo.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  34. ^ . KebMo.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  35. ^ "Keb' Mo' Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  36. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 191.
  37. ^ "Discographie von Keb' Mo'". offiziellecharts.de (in German). Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  38. ^ "Discography Keb' Mo'". charts.nz. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  39. ^ "Keb' Mo' – Just Like You". hitparade.ch (in German). Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  40. ^ "Blues Music: Top Blues Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  41. ^ Johnson, Zac (2001). "Timeless: Hank Williams Tribute". AllMusic. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  42. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2013). "The Living Room Sessions". AllMusic. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  43. ^ "BJ Thomas with Keb' Mo'- Most of All Official Music Video". TheBJThomas YouTube Channel. May 15, 2013. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2014.

External links

  • Keb' Mo' official website
  • Keb' Mo' at IMDb
  • Keb' Mo' discography at MusicBrainz
  • Keb' Mo' Interview – NAMM Oral History Library (2016)

kevin, roosevelt, moore, born, october, 1951, known, american, blues, musician, five, time, grammy, award, winner, singer, guitarist, songwriter, living, nashville, tennessee, been, described, living, link, seminal, delta, blues, that, travelled, mississippi, . Kevin Roosevelt Moore born October 3 1951 known as Keb Mo is an American blues musician and five time Grammy Award winner He is a singer guitarist and songwriter living in Nashville Tennessee He has been described as a living link to the seminal Delta blues that travelled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America citation needed His post modern blues style is influenced by many eras and genres including folk rock jazz pop and country The moniker Keb Mo was coined by his original drummer Quentin Dennard and picked up by his record label as a street talk abbreviation of his given name Keb Mo Keb Mo with a Hamer guitar at the Crossroads Guitar Festival June 26 2010Background informationBirth nameKevin Roosevelt MooreBorn 1951 10 03 October 3 1951 age 71 South Los Angeles California U S 1 OriginCompton California U S GenresDelta blues country blues AmericanaOccupation s Singer songwriter guitaristInstrument s Vocals guitar harmonica banjo mandolin bass keyboardsYears active1970s presentLabelsChocolate City Epic Yolabelle International Kind Of Blue Music Concord Rounder Records Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Early life 1 2 Career 1 3 Film projects 1 4 Political activism 2 Equipment 3 Discography 3 1 Albums 3 2 DVDs 3 3 Other contributions 4 Awards and nominations 4 1 Grammy Awards 5 References 6 External linksBiography EditEarly life Edit From early on Keb Mo s parents who were from Louisiana and Texas instilled him with a great appreciation for the blues and gospel music By adolescence he was an accomplished guitarist 2 Career Edit Keb Mo started his musical career playing the steel drums in a calypso band He moved on to play in a variety of blues and backup bands throughout the 1970s and 1980s He first started recording in the early 1970s with Jefferson Airplane violinist Papa John Creach through an R amp B group Creach hired him when Moore was 21 years old and Moore appeared on four of Creach s albums Filthy Playing My Fiddle for You I m the Fiddle Man and Rock Father Keb Mo s first gold record was received for a song Git Fiddler which he co wrote with Creach on Jefferson Starship s Red Octopus 3 Red Octopus hit number one on the Billboard 200 in 1975 4 Moore was also a staff writer for A amp M Records and arranged demos for Almo Irving music Keb Mo s debut Rainmaker was released on Chocolate City Records a subsidiary of Casablanca Records in 1980 He was further immersed in the blues with his long stint in the Whodunit Band headed by Bobby Blue Bland producer Monk Higgins Moore jammed with Albert Collins and Big Joe Turner and emerged as an inheritor of a guarded tradition and as a genuine original Keb Mo has appeared on stage 1990 1993 in several versions of the musical Spunk by George C Wolfe an adaptation of three short stories by Zora Neale Hurston His character Guitar Man learned while he was an understudy to Chick Streetman played all the actual music in the play while performing 5 The character of Guitar Man is the foundation for his stage persona In 1994 Keb Mo released his self titled album Keb Mo which featured two Robert Johnson classics Come On In My Kitchen and Kind Hearted Woman Blues 6 In the Martin Scorsese miniseries The Blues Keb Mo states that he was greatly influenced by Johnson Keb was the runner up for Best New Blues Artist at The Long Beach Blues Festival where he was spotted by Steve LaVere who owns the publishing for the entire Robert Johnson song catalogue 1992 93 Keb Mo s self titled album was released on Okeh Records a vintage revival division of Sony Music In 1996 he released Just Like You his second album which featured 12 songs full of Delta rhythms He won his first Grammy Award for this album which featured guest appearances from Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt 7 On June 10 1997 Moore performed on the television program Sessions at West 54th He joined musicians Laval Belle on drums Reggie McBride playing bass and Joellen Friedkin on keyboards to perform 14 songs some from each of his albums Blues pianist Dr John also made a guest appearance This session known as Sessions at West 54th Recorded Live in New York was shown on television but was not released as a DVD until late 2000 In 1998 Moore was involved in the multi artist project Begegnungen Encounters by German rock musician Peter Maffay They performed together a new version of Mo s Am I Wrong on the album and some more songs in the 30 concerts at the arena tour later the same year documented on the live album Begenungen Live released in early 1999 A further guest of Maffay at the Begegnungen album and tour was Sonny Landreth and many more artists from around the world Slow Down his next album was released in 1998 and featured twelve songs It earned him a second Grammy Award The album begins with the song Muddy Water a tribute to Muddy Waters It also features a song entitled Rainmaker which had been released previously on his first album eighteen years prior His fourth album The Door was released in 2000 The same year Keb Mo released Big Wide Grin a children s album featuring many songs from Moore s own childhood along with some newer children s songs and some by Moore himself In 2001 he appeared on Sesame Street with Kermit the Frog Grover Elmo and other muppets performing the song Everybody Be Yo self The album includes an original arrangement of America the Beautiful which he performed years later on the 2006 series finale of The West Wing Tomorrow in which he appears as himself to perform the song at the inauguration of President Matt Santos In 2003 Martin Scorsese collaborated with many blues musicians including Keb Mo to put together a series of films entitled The Blues Following its release several albums were released in accordance some were compilations some new collaborations and Keb Mo released an album in the series featuring a handful of existing recordings from Keb Mo to The Door Also in 2003 Moore and Lyle Lovett released a cover of the Bob Seger song Til it Shines On February 10 2004 he released Keep It Simple which earned him a third Grammy Award again in the contemporary blues genre Later that year he released his sixth studio album Peace Back by Popular Demand Moore released Suitcase on June 13 2006 His touring band following the release included Reggie McBride on bass Les Falconer III on drums Jeff Paris on keyboards and Clayton Gibb on guitar On October 20 2009 Keb Mo released the live album Live and Mo Keb Mo performing with Dan Aykroyd at the 2013 Crossroads Guitar Festival April 12 2013 At the 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival Keb Mo performed an acoustic set with Stefan Grossman and an electric set with Vince Gill Albert Lee James Burton Earl Klugh and Sheryl Crow He joined the finale with most of the day s performers 8 On August 2 2011 Keb Mo released The Reflection Keb Mo performed at a White House event titled In Performance at the White House Red White and Blues on February 21 2012 9 On February 24 2012 many of the same performers including Keb Mo Gary Clark Jr Buddy Guy Warren Haynes Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks paid tribute to Hubert Sumlin at the Howlin For Hubert memorial concert at the Apollo Theater in New York City 10 On the first night of the 2013 Crossroads Guitar Festival Keb Mo performed a set with Booker T Jones Steve Cropper Blake Mills and Matt Guitar Murphy Keb Mo later performed two songs with emcee Dan Aykroyd 11 On the second night of the festival Keb Mo performed with Taj Mahal 12 In early 2014 he was nominated for three Grammy Awards for Best Americana Album BLUESAmericana Best American Roots Performance The Old Me Better and Best Engineered Album Non Classical BLUESAmericana 13 In May he appeared alongside Metallica at MusicCare 10th Annual MAP Fund Benefit Concert at Nokia honoring Ozzy Osbourne and Jeff Greenberg 14 In October 2014 he honored the Everly Brothers at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame s 19th annual Music Masters Series and in November he honored Mavis Staples alongside Bonnie Raitt Gregg Allman Taj Mahal and Grace Potter at Chicago s Auditorium Theatre for celebration of Staples life and career in honor of her 75th birthday 15 16 Also in late 2014 he was featured on a Jackson Browne tribute album Looking into You A Tribute to Jackson Browne In 2015 his album BLUESAmericana won the Contemporary Blues Album category at the Blues Music Awards 17 He has been supportive of charity Playing For Change since its inception and recently appeared in a video with Keith Richards singing Bob Marley s Get Up Stand Up He appeared on two tracks from the Playing For Change Songs Around The World that was released on June 17 The album had over 180 musicians from 31 countries including Keith Richards Sara Bareilles David Hidalgo Cesar Rosas and Taj Mahal He donates 5 of BLUESAmericana to the charity 18 In late 2015 he performed at a special concert hosted by Barack Obama called A Celebration of American Creativity In Performance at the White House It was shot and filmed in the East Room of the White House Other performers included Smokey Robinson James Taylor Buddy Guy Queen Latifah Usher Trombone Shorty MC Lyte Audra McDonald Esperanza Spalding Brian Stokes Mitchell and Carol Burnett It commemorated the 50th anniversary of the founding of Lyndon B Johnson s National Foundation on the Arts through the Humanities Act 19 Keb Mo released a live album Keb Mo Live That Hot Pink Blues Album on April 15 on Kind of Blue Music RED Distribution 20 21 22 Keb Mo partnered up with Taj Mahal to release a joint album TajMo on May 5 2017 23 The album has guest appearances by Bonnie Raitt Joe Walsh Sheila E and Lizz Wright and has six original compositions and five covers from artists and bands like John Mayer and The Who 24 The album won the 2018 Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album 25 Keb Mo performs in 2020 In June 2019 Keb Mo released a studio album Oklahoma with guest contributions from Rosanne Cash Jaci Velasquez Robert Randolph and Taj Mahal with a duet with Robbie Brooks Moore his wife Keb Mo played the Glastonbury Festival in June 2019 followed by UK and European dates in July 2019 Keb Mo performed at the 2019 Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum concert and induction ceremony Keb Mo won the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album in 2020 for Oklahoma 26 He was one of the headliners at the 2020 Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai India 27 Film projects Edit In 1998 he portrayed Robert Johnson in a documentary film Can t You Hear the Wind Howl 28 In 1997 Keb Mo portrayed the character Isaac the Angel of Music in the episode Inherit the Wind and again in 1999 in Then Sings My Soul of the television series Touched by an Angel He performed Hand It Over from his 1996 release Just Like You in the 1997 episode and again in the 2002 episode Remembering Me Part 2 He also appeared as J D Winslow in the 2001 episode Shallow Water where he performed his song God Trying to Get Your Attention from his album Slow Down In January 2007 he performed at the Sundance Film Festival 29 He played the role of the mischievous spirit Possum in the 2007 John Sayles movie Honeydripper Keb Mo provided additional music for Mike and Molly He has co written the opening music for B Positive with executive producer Chuck Lorre 30 In 2019 Ke Mo featured as a guest artist on the PBS concert series Bluegrass Underground now re branded as The Caverns Sessions Political activism Edit In 2004 he participated in the politically motivated Vote for Change tour alongside Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne with whom he originally recorded the title track from the album Just Like You Keb Mo is part of the No Nukes group which was against the expansion of nuclear power In 2007 the group recorded a music video of a new version of the Buffalo Springfield song For What It s Worth 31 32 Equipment EditKeb Mo uses several types of guitars including electric guitars acoustic guitars and resonator guitars He has a preference for red guitars as he says on his website I have a history with red guitars My first electric was a red guitar He mostly plays on a red custom Fender Stratocaster that features two single coil pickups and one humbucker and is much modified from a regular Stratocaster model On stage he prefers a red Hamer guitar with Gibson P 100 pickups Two of his electric guitars were lost in the 2010 Nashville flood an Epiphone Sheraton and a Danelectro Selectomatic 33 He owns a variety of acoustic and resonator guitars including a Gibson artist model a guitar made for him by James Goodall a National Style N a National Resorocket and a Gibson ES 335 shaped resonator guitar with a P 90 pickup that he purchased in a Nashville club and had repaired 34 Discography EditAlbums Edit Released Album Peak chart positions NotesUS 35 AUS 36 GER 37 NZ 38 SWI 39 September 9 1980 Rainmaker Released under the name Kevin Moore June 7 1994 Keb Mo 88 Debut album as Keb Mo Won W C Handy Award for Best Country Acoustic Blues Album of the Year 1995June 18 1996 Just Like You 197 97 78 14 39 Won Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album 1997August 25 1998 Slow Down 109 89 38 6 35 Won Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album 1999October 10 2000 The Door 122 50 Nominated Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues AlbumDecember 4 2000 Sessions at West 54th Recorded Live in New York Recorded in 1997June 5 2001 Big Wide Grin 199 Nominated Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for ChildrenSeptember 19 2003 Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues Keb Mo Part of the series The BluesFebruary 10 2004 Keep It Simple 149 93 Won Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album 2005September 21 2004 Peace Back by Popular Demand 174 June 13 2006 Suitcase 176 Nominated Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues AlbumOctober 20 2009 Live and Mo Six live performances and 4 new studio recordingsAugust 2 2011 The Reflection 81 Nominated Grammy Award for Best Blues Album 2012April 22 2014 BLUESAmericana 58 Nominated Grammy Award for Best Americana Album 2014April 15 2016 Keb Mo Live That Hot Pink Blues Album May 5 2017 TajMo 80 17 Collaboration album with Taj Mahal won Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy 2017 June 14 2019 Oklahoma 41 Won the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album at the 62nd Grammy Awards October 18 2019 Moonlight Mistletoe amp You Peaked 1 on the US Blues Albums Billboard 40 January 21 2022 Good to Be 64 28DVDs Edit Sessions at West 54th Recorded Live in New York 1997 Exploring the Guitar with Keb Mo 2000 The Blues Guitar of Keb Mo 2002 Keb Mo amp Guests 2011 Other contributions Edit In 1998 Moore appeared on the album Begegnungen the German word for Encounters by Peter Maffay one of the most successful rockstars in Germany and Mid Europe 16 Number 1 albums in the German album charts This record is a duet album with artists from every continent Moore and Maffay make a new version of Am I wrong In 2001 Moore performed I m So Lonesome I Could Cry on the tribute album Timeless Hank Williams Tribute Moore is also credited as producer on the Best Country Album Grammy Award winner for 2001 41 In 2002 Moore contributed Sonnet 35 to the compilation album When Love Speaks EMI Classics which features famous actors and musicians interpreting Shakespearean sonnets and play excerpts Two years later he appeared on Amy Grant Greatest Hits 1986 2004 in a duet entitled Come Be with Me which became a modest success on pop radio In 2005 Moore appeared on Buddy Guy s version of Ain t No Sunshine along with Moore composed one of the theme songs featured on the show Martha Stewart Living That same year he appeared on Eric Clapton s album Back Home In 2006 Moore co wrote the song I Hope with the Dixie Chicks for their album Taking the Long Way In 2006 Moore collaborated with New Orleans blues group The Subdudes producing their most critically noteworthy album Behind the Levee penning one cut Social Aid and Pleasure Club and providing backing tracks for several other songs on the album In 2006 Moore appeared on the final episode of West Wing performing America the Beautiful at the presidential inauguration Moore also provided vocals to Marcus Miller s 2007 album Free on the track entitled Milky Way and again on Miller s 2008 album entitled Marcus In 2008 he also appeared on Otis Taylor s album Recapturing the Banjo contributing vocals and banjo on several songs Moore appeared on the June 7 2008 broadcast of Garrison Keillor s radio program A Prairie Home Companion He performed two songs with Bonnie Raitt No Getting Over You and There Ain t Nothin in Ramblin The show was archived on the A Prairie Home Companion website In 2009 Moore co wrote a song with Peach titled It Meant Nothing The song is yet to be released as an official audio recording however Peach does perform it and video recordings of live performances exist online Moore covered Lowen amp Navarro s If You Loved Me Like That on Keep the Light Alive Celebrating the Music of Lowen amp Navarro The proceeds of the album benefited The Eric Lowen Trust ALS Association Greater Los Angeles and Augie s Quest Moore sings the opening theme I See Love which he co wrote with Josh Kelley to the CBS sitcom Mike amp Molly Moore appeared and played as a backing musician on an episode of Memphis Beat in 2011 Moore produced and co wrote the song Diggin in the Deep Blue Sea on the 2011 David Bromberg album Use Me He also plays electric guitar on the track In 2013 Moore appears on B J Thomas The Living Room Sessions in a duet with Thomas on the single Most of All 42 43 In 2017 he covered Lord I Hope This Day Is Good for the Don Williams tribute album Gentle Giants The Songs of Don Williams In 2017 he appeared in Signed Sealed Delivered Higher Ground Hallmark Mystery Movie series as the character Gabe and performed several songs His music was also in the following movies in the series scheduled to appear again in Signed Sealed Delivered To the Altar on July 15 2018 Awards and nominations EditGrammy Awards Edit Grammy AwardsYear Nominee work Award Result1996 Just like You Best Contemporary Blues Album Won1998 Slow Down Won2001 The Door Nominated Big Wide Grin Best Musical Album for Children Nominated2004 Keep It Simple Best Contemporary Blues Album Won2005 I Hope Best Country Song Nominated2006 Suitcase Best Contemporary Blues Album Nominated2011 The Reflection Best Blues Album Nominated2014 BLUESAmericana Best Americana Album Nominated Old Me Better Best American Roots Song Nominated2017 TajMo with Taj Mahal Best Contemporary Blues Album Won2020 Oklahoma Best Americana Album WonReferences Edit Doug Henkle FolkLib Index Musician s Birthdays Bibliography Folklib net Retrieved May 18 2015 Keb Mo New album BLUESAmericana Kebmo net June 20 2014 Retrieved May 18 2015 William Ruhlmann Jefferson Starship Red Octopus AllMusic Retrieved December 8 2014 Jefferson Starship Red Octopus Awards AllMusic Retrieved December 8 2014 Roger Catlin January 12 1995 Blues Of Keb Mo Provides The Spunk At Hartford Stage Hartford Courant Retrieved January 17 2016 Illustrated discography of various artists early records Wirz de Retrieved May 18 2015 Just Like You CD sleeve CROSSROADS GUITAR FESTIVAL 2010 whereseric com Retrieved September 15 2015 In Performance at the White House Red White and Blues Pictures Rolling Stone February 22 2012 Retrieved September 15 2015 February 24 2012 Howlin For Hubert whereseric com Retrieved September 15 2015 April 12 2013 Crossroads Guitar Festival whereseric com Retrieved September 15 2015 April 13 2013 Crossroads Guitar Festival whereseric com Retrieved September 15 2015 Jewly Hight December 24 2014 Keb Mo Completely Shocked by Grammy Nominations Cmtedge com Retrieved October 26 2016 Metallica Slash Keb Mo added as performers to MusiCares MAP Fund concert The Music Universe March 18 2014 Retrieved October 26 2016 Niesel Jeff September 30 2014 Updated Rock Hall to Honor the Everly Brothers Scene and Heard Scene s News Blog Clevescene com Retrieved October 26 2016 Mavis 75 Bonnie Raitt Otis Clay Keb Mo and More Talk Mavis Staples Pastemagazine com November 18 2014 Retrieved October 26 2016 2015 Blues Music Awards Winners Americanbluesscene com Archived from the original on May 19 2015 Retrieved May 18 2015 Keb Mo Playing for Change Retrieved October 26 2016 In Performance at the White House PBS Retrieved October 26 2016 Keb Mo Drops Keb Mo Live That Hot Pink Blues Album Lee Bailey s EurWeb com March 6 2016 Retrieved March 30 2016 Keb Mo Set To Release Keb Mo LIVE That Hot Pink Blues Album on April 15th 2016 Announces Nationwide Tour TheUrbanMusicScene com March 23 2016 Retrieved March 30 2016 Vallon Vanessa March 1 2016 Keb Mo readies special live project for release AXS Retrieved March 30 2016 Erlewine Stephen Thomas TajMo Taj Mahal Keb Mo AllMusic Retrieved May 8 2017 Cunningham Scott March 15 2017 TajMo Taj Mahal and Keb Mo team up for new album Oregon Music News Retrieved May 8 2017 Keb Mo Grammy com November 28 2017 Retrieved January 29 2018 Grammy Winners List 2020 by Zoe Haylock Vulture com January 27 2020 Keb Mo on Four Decades of the Blues Remembering African American History Activism in Music and More February 5 2020 Retrieved February 26 2020 Russell Tony 1997 The Blues From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray Dubai Carlton Books Limited pp 129 130 ISBN 1 85868 255 X AOL com Netscape Music netscape com Retrieved May 18 2015 Fienberg Daniel November 4 2020 B Positive TV Review The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved December 13 2020 For What It s Worth No Nukes Reunite After Thirty Years Nukefree org Retrieved May 18 2015 Nuclear Information and Resource Service Nirs org Archived from the original on June 9 2015 Retrieved May 18 2015 The Guitars KebMo com Archived from the original on June 15 2013 Retrieved October 11 2015 The Guitars p 2 KebMo com Archived from the original on August 19 2013 Retrieved October 11 2015 Keb Mo Chart History Billboard 200 Billboard Retrieved August 29 2022 Ryan Gavin 2011 Australia s Music Charts 1988 2010 PDF ed Mt Martha Victoria Australia Moonlight Publishing p 191 Discographie von Keb Mo offiziellecharts de in German Retrieved August 29 2022 Discography Keb Mo charts nz Retrieved August 29 2022 Keb Mo Just Like You hitparade ch in German Retrieved August 29 2022 Blues Music Top Blues Albums Chart Billboard Retrieved August 10 2020 Johnson Zac 2001 Timeless Hank Williams Tribute AllMusic Retrieved August 12 2014 Erlewine Stephen Thomas 2013 The Living Room Sessions AllMusic Retrieved August 12 2014 BJ Thomas with Keb Mo Most of All Official Music Video TheBJThomas YouTube Channel May 15 2013 Archived from the original on December 21 2021 Retrieved August 12 2014 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Keb Mo Keb Mo official website Keb Mo at IMDb Keb Mo discography at MusicBrainz Keb Mo Interview NAMM Oral History Library 2016 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Keb 27 Mo 27 amp oldid 1132102669, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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