Keb' Mo' Biography
Birth Name: Kevin Moore
Born: 1951/10/03
Birth Place: Compton, California, United States
Died: NULL
Years Active: 1980–1982, 1993–present
Genres: Delta Blues, Country Blues, Blues
Born: 1951/10/03
Birth Place: Compton, California, United States
Died: NULL
Years Active: 1980–1982, 1993–present
Genres: Delta Blues, Country Blues, Blues
Keb' Mo' (born Kevin Moore, October 3, 1951) is an American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter currently living in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. From early on he had an appreciation for the blues and gospel music. By adolescence he was already an accomplished guitarist.
Keb' Mo' started his musical career playing the steel drums and upright bass 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 just 21 years old. Moore appeared on four of Creach's albums, “Filthy!,” “Playing My Fiddle for You,” “I'm the Fiddle Man” and “Rock Father.”
Around that time Moore was also a staff writer for A&M Records, and arranged demos for Almo - Irving music. Keb' Mo's early 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.
In 1994, Keb' Mo' released his self-titled debut album, “Keb' Mo',” which featured two Robert Johnson covers, “Come On In My Kitchen” and “Kind Hearted Woman Blues.” In the Martin Scorsese miniseries “The Blues,” Keb' Mo' states that he was greatly influenced by Johnson.
In 1996 he released “Just Like You,” his second album, which featured twelve songs full of Delta rhythms. He won his first Grammy Award for this album, which featured guest appearances from Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.
“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 featured a song entitled “Rainmaker,” which had been released previously on his first album, 18 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 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.”
In February 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.”
Keb' Mo' released “Suitcase,” in June 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. In October 2009, Keb' Mo' released the live album, “Live & Mo'.”
Keb' Mo' started his musical career playing the steel drums and upright bass 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 just 21 years old. Moore appeared on four of Creach's albums, “Filthy!,” “Playing My Fiddle for You,” “I'm the Fiddle Man” and “Rock Father.”
Around that time Moore was also a staff writer for A&M Records, and arranged demos for Almo - Irving music. Keb' Mo's early 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.
In 1994, Keb' Mo' released his self-titled debut album, “Keb' Mo',” which featured two Robert Johnson covers, “Come On In My Kitchen” and “Kind Hearted Woman Blues.” In the Martin Scorsese miniseries “The Blues,” Keb' Mo' states that he was greatly influenced by Johnson.
In 1996 he released “Just Like You,” his second album, which featured twelve songs full of Delta rhythms. He won his first Grammy Award for this album, which featured guest appearances from Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.
“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 featured a song entitled “Rainmaker,” which had been released previously on his first album, 18 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 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.”
In February 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.”
Keb' Mo' released “Suitcase,” in June 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. In October 2009, Keb' Mo' released the live album, “Live & Mo'.”
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