Keb' Mo'

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=203524" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=125 BGCOLOR="#AAAAAA" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03c467d1euxmic.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Kristi Singer</b></FONT><B>     </b><B>|     </b><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kristi Singer"><U><B>home</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id166.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kansas"><U>Kansas</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id183.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Karyn Rochelle"><U>Karyn Rochelle</U></A>   |   <B>Keb' Mo'</b>   |   <A HREF="id204.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kansas"><U>Kansas</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id207.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="KC and the Sunshine Band"><U>KC and the Sunshine Band</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id226.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kenny Chesney"><U>Kenny Chesney</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Writing Samples"><U><B>Back to Articles</b></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=355 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Keb' Mo'</div> <div> <B>Keb' Mo' brings blues to town</b></div> <div> By Kristi Singer</div> <div> <I>Star-News Correspondent</I></div> <div> October 11, 2002</div> <div>  </div> <div> The University of North Carolina at Wilmington's Arts in Action Series brings two-time Grammy Award-winning blues artist Keb' Mo' to Kenan Auditorium on Monday.</div> <bR> <div> The Epic recording artist, known for his unique blues style, will perform a mix of his award-winning compositions from 1994's Keb' Mo', 1996's Just Like You, 1998's Slow Down, 2000's The Door and 2001's children's record, Big Wide Grin.</div> <bR> <div> Keb' Mo' (the moniker is a street-talk version of his name, Kevin Moore) is careful to maintain creative integrity when recording his music.</div> <bR> <div> "With every song, I think there has to be something real – a kind of an arm reaching out to reality," Mr. Moore said in an Epic release.</div> <bR> <div> His first family album, Big Wide Grin, is based on what family is – love, conflict, silliness and romance, Mr. Moore told Billboard.</div> <bR> <div> The diverse album includes covers of the O'Jays' Love Train and Stevie Wonder's Isn't She Lovely. Mr. Moore's son, Kevin Jr., who was 13 at the time, sings with his father on a cover of Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi.</div> <bR> <div> The idea to record a family album was presented to Mr. Moore by his label.</div> <bR> <div> "I realized that doing this record would give me the opportunity to express myself in another kind of way," Mr. Moore told Billboard.</div> <bR> <div> Mr. Moore also recently released a DVD titled Sessions at West 54th, a live concert in front of 200 fans taped on June 10, 1997, in a New York City studio.</div> <bR> <div> The Door, produced by Russ Titelman (who's worked with Eric Clapton, James Taylor, Paul Simon), touches on the emotions of forgiveness, guilt, spiritual release and love. The album is different than previous releases because the content reflects a certain point in Mr. Moore's life.</div> <bR> <div> "It's a different expression of a different time of the music that comes through my life. It comes from the same emotional archive, but as I live and experience different things, I like to write about different things -- I meet new people, I meet new collaborators, and my new album is a continuation of my expression of self in the period of now," Mr. Moore said in a Barnes & Noble online chat.</div> <bR> <div> The Los Angeles native began playing guitar at 12 years old. As a teenager, he learned the trumpet, French horn, upright bass and steel drums. He played with a Top 40 group and, in 1973, with Papa John Creach. He also performed with The Whodunit Band, which included Monk Higgins and "Charlie Tuna," one of Mr. Moore's early inspirations.</div> <bR> <div> After leaving the Whodunit Band, Mr. Moore concentrated on developing his own blues style. He adopted his new blues name, Keb' Mo', and in 1994 released his self-titled debut on Okeh.</div> <bR> <div> Two years later, he won his first Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album for Just Like You. Two years after that, he took home his second Grammy for Slow Down.</div> <bR> <div> In addition to his original style of fusing blues with folk, country, gospel, pop and soul, Mr. Moore's success also could be attributed to his desire to create a sense of community with his music.</div> <bR> <div> "This music is made so that people who come around it all kind of have something in common," Mr. Moore said.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>