Kenny Neal Profile:
Born: October 14, 1957 in New Orleans LA
For Kenny Neal, there was never any question that he'd be playing the blues. The son of blues harpist Raful Neal, a familiar figure on the Baton Rouge blues scene, Kenny was given his first harmonica by family friend Slim Harpo. He later mastered piano, guitar, and bass. After years of apprenticeship spent honing his own unique individual sound, Neal launched his solo career in 1987. Over the past 20+ years, Neal has made a name for himself as a talented young bluesman, mixing Louisiana swamp blues with Chicago blues and Memphis soul influences.
A Blues Prodigy
Neal first performed as a pianist with his father's band at the tender age of six. By age thirteen, Kenny had joined Raful's band as its bass player, and a few years later he toured with blues legend Buddy Guy. Taking Guy's advice to focus on his rapidly improving guitar playing, Neal moved to Toronto and formed the Neal Brothers Band with four of his brothers, playing behind visiting blues stars. Neal returned to Louisiana in the mid-1980s to pursue his solo career.
Going Solo
Working with producer and musician Bob Greenlee, Neal recorded his solo debut, Bio on the Bayou, in 1987 for King Snake Records. Signing with Alligator Records a year later, the label reissued the album as Big News from Baton Rouge! Neal would record four more albums for Alligator before moving to Telarc Records in 1998, and has since recorded for other independent blues labels.
Neal's 2004 collaboration with harpist Billy Branch, Double Take, won the artist a W.C. Handy Award for "Best Album." In 2005 Neal was finally able to release A Tribute to Slim Harpo and Raful Neal, which began as a tribute to an old family friend with his father on vocals, but was later expanded to include Raful after his death.
Through the years, Neal has worked in a number of other venues outside of the blues. In 1991, he starred in the lead role of Mule Bone, a critically-acclaimed musical that earned Neal a Theater World Award. In 2004, after moving to San Francisco, Kenny launched his own local TV show called Neal's Place. Filmed in front of a live studio audience, the show features Neal performing with and interviewing fellow blues musicians.
Recommended Albums: Deluxe Edition is a fine compilation that showcases some of Neal's best work for the Alligator label, while 2008's Let Life Flow exhibits a renewed sense of purpose after a life-threatening illness.
