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Who:
Keb' Mo' with Corey Harris

When:
Saturday, Jan. 6 at 8 p.m.

Where:
Tennessee Theatre

How Much:$25 at Tickets Unlimited Outlets or 656-4444 to charge by phone.

The Best Policy

Grammy winner learns how to keep the music juicy

by John Sewell

As an indigenous American musical form, the blues is considered sacred. Sure, any neophyte guitarist can replicate the 12-bar, 3-chord floorplan of basic blues. But playing the blues is much more than reproducing relatively simple patterns and scales. Becoming a blues player takes years of playing, a respect for the masters and an intangible soulfulness that comes naturally—or not at all. In short, with the blues, some have it and most don't.

Los Angeles-based Keb' Mo' is surely one of the few who can truly be regarded as a modern blues master. The two-time Grammy winner has all of the requisite chops and years of dues paid by playing tiny dives and huge theaters worldwide.

Born Kevin Moore, the guitarist acquired the nickname Keb' Mo' as he was first becoming established as a musician. As is the case with all good nicknames, it is not clear exactly when Moore was first called Keb' Mo'. And what's more, it's almost better to leave that info in the shadowy realm of legend.

Moore follows the tradition of blues legends like B.B. King, but his music is actually a bit more song oriented than many blues purists. A deft guitarist, Moore chooses the tasteful path of using his musicianship to accent the songs rather than being the focus. His latest album, The Door (Sony 550 Music), presents a handful of songs that offer a glimpse of the author's worldview, usually varying a bit from the standard blues motif by using a wider palate of chord structures. Though Moore's songs often bring to mind more soulful singer/songwriters like Ritchie Havens or even James Taylor, he still prefers to be classified as a blues musician.

"Well, I would just say my music is the blues and keep walking," jokes Moore. "The blues isn't just whining and moaning—there's a whole universe of experience in the blues. I wouldn't even try to describe it. I want to get pigeonholed. So pigeonhole me. I'm not afraid of that at all. "

What Moore is afraid of is spending too much time on the music business treadmill. Though touring is necessary to sustain album sales (and reap concert revenues), Moore says that he sometimes needs time to lead a normal life. With the routine of having a home life and some personal space, he finds inspiration for his songs that is not available while living the rough and tumble existence of a troubadour.

"I need time to just sit back and take things in," he says. "And I don't mean just listening to music, either. I also need to just step back and listen to life—listening to the world and conversations even moreso than listening to music as such. I need to listen to where life is going and to the challenges that people are having. And I need to listen to myself. I'm just listening and listening and listening.

"You know, to be influenced by music is one thing. I mean, you can pick up a few notes here and there, or learn a new trick or a chord progression. But ultimately you've gotta listen to life itself to get your material. And I need time to find that inspiration—time I've gotta fight for. A lot of times your manager or your booking agent don't get it. They just want to keep the gravy train rolling constantly. And I have to tell them: If you want to keep this gravy train going you'll have to just let the meat simmer for a while."

That said, don't be under the impression that there's too much grass growing under Moore's feet. The guitarist tours around six months a year. But now that Moore is firmly established in the higher echelon of blues musicians, he plans to cut that road time down by a third in 2001.

Describing himself as "a failure at families," Moore says that his relationship with his 13-year-old son is of paramount importance. "It's really hard to be in this business and balance that with having a personal life. But I'm working on it and I'm getting better at it. At first it was really hard because I would put every energy into everything that came along. I would take every gig and every interview that was available. But after a while, I started to feel really empty. Every hotel room is the same, no matter how much it cost."

Moore says that producing "the beautiful work—the work that really moves people," is only possible by experiencing every facet of life. And now that he's established, there is a little more leeway to plot his own course and avoid the pitfalls of the show business world.

"You have to do something that is really honest, and that's what people remember," says Moore. "It's not just about being in people's face every single day. If you just keep getting up and saying, 'look people, I'm still here,' that's like calling your girlfriend every hour to tell her you love her. That's ridiculous. I mean, I'm sitting at home right now, and I just love it. I might even pick up my guitar for a little while later on."
 

January 4, 2001 * Vol. 11, No. 1
© 2001 Metro Pulse