Keb' Mo' Profile

By Reverend Keith A. Gordon, About.com Guide

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Bluesman Keb' Mo'

Photo courtesy Yolabelle International

Born: October 3, 1951 in Los Angeles CA

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Keb' Mo' has found a modicum of commercial success with his distinctive musical fusion. Using blues music as a jumping off point for a larger, more expansive musical vision, Mo' incorporates influences as diverse as rock, jazz, funk, pop, and soul music in the creation of something entirely fresh and original. Although Mo's creative whims have often put him at odds with blues purists, he remains wildly popular with the general blues audience, and has earned multiple W.C. Handy Awards as "Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year" (six, from 1997-2002).

Apprentice To The Blues

Born Kevin Moore in Los Angeles, his family's Southern roots exposed the future musician to gospel and blues music at a young age. Moore's first steps towards a career in music came by playing steel drums and upright bass in a calypso band, eventually picking up the guitar. Moore later landed with the R&B band Zulu that was subsequently hired to back-up former Jefferson Airplane fiddle player Papa John Creach. Moore performed on four of Creach's mid-1970s solo recordings, and broadened his musical horizons through tours opening for folks like the Jefferson Starship and Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Moore continued his musical education through session work, as a staff songwriter for A&M Records, and as a solo R&B artist. Moore recorded the soul-oriented Rainmaker for an imprint of Casablanca Records in 1980. When the album went nowhere and the label folded, Moore joined the Whodunit Band, fronted by bluesman Monk Higgins. After a decade of touring and performing with various bands, Mo' tried his hand at acting, taking on the role of Delta blues legend Robert Johnson in the film Can't You Hear The Wind Howl?

Becoming Keb' Mo'

Inspired by the examples of McKinley Morganfield and Henry St. Clair Fredericks, who became known as Muddy Waters and Taj Mahal, respectively, Moore took on the professional name of Keb' Mo'. Fashioning himself as a Delta-influenced acoustic bluesman, Mo' signed with Sony Records' revived Okeh imprint, releasing his self-titled debut album in 1994. Featuring eleven original country styled blues songs, and a pair of Robert Johnson covers, Keb' Mo' would win Mo' his first W.C. Handy Award.

Mo's sophomore album, 1996's Just Like Me, would expand upon his acoustic blues sound by including elements of rock and jazz music, and the use of a full band on several cuts. Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne lent their vocals to Just Like Me, which provided Mo' with an introduction to the mainstream rock audience, and although the album barely scraped into the Billboard magazine Top 200 chart, it would win Mo' his first Grammy™ Award for "Contemporary Blues Album."

Award-Winning Bluesman

Mo's winning streak would continue with 1998's Slow Down, his third album, which would earn him a second Grammy™ Award and would top the Billboard blues chart while climbing up to #109 on the magazine's Top 200 chart. With guest musicians like guitarists Anders Osborne and Colin Linden, Slow Down would incorporate more R&B into Mo's folk-blues sound. While 2000's The Door would tread water, artistically and commercially, Mo's 2004 release, Keep It Simple, which featured guests like Robert Cray and Robben Ford, would again top the Blues chart and earn Mo' his third Grammy™.

Like his musical idol Taj Mahal, Mo' recorded an album of children's songs, Big Wide Grin, in 2001, and would follow 2004's Keep It Simple later that year with Peace…Back By Popular Demand, a collection of protest and peace-oriented covers of songs by artists like John Lennon, Marvin Gaye, and Bob Dylan. With 2006's Suitcase, reunited with producer Jon Porter – who helped craft his debut album – Mo' brought an even greater soul-jazz sound to his songs. The album would provide a further increase to the guitarist's popularity, topping the Blues chart and ensuring enthusiastic crowds at his frequent live performances. In 2009, Mo' left Sony to launch his own Yolabelle International Records label, releasing the stopgap Live & Mo', a collection of six live and three new studio tracks, to hold fans over until his next full-length release.

Recommended Albums: The self-titled debut album showcases Mo's pursuit of the acoustic folk-blues sound and features some of his most inspired slide-guitar and banjo work, while his sophomore effort, Just Like You, provides a look towards Mo's future musical innovation.

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