Catchin’ Up with Keb’ Mo’
If there’s a predictable biography for a Blues musician, Keb’ Mo’ doesn’t fit it.
Born Kevin Moore in Compton, California, he had an uncle who was a folk singer. The uncle taught him how to play guitar, and Kevin began gigging around Los Angeles. One of his drummers dubbed him Keb’ Mo. Kevin, now Keb’, went on to work with blues, soul, rock, and West Indian musicians. He starred in movies and in theater and on television. He even wrote a TV theme song. Then, little by little, he was drawn to the blues because he realized that everything else came from there.
Pretty soon, Keb’ didn’t want to listen to modern blues at all because he’d gotten into the first-generation players. Then he began putting his own spin on that old Delta music.
Now, one hundred years after the first Delta blues records were made, Keb’ is still rooted in the Delta sound, even as he ponders his place in the AI age.
We checked in with him at his home just outside Nashville.
You grew up in Compton. We don’t associate California with the blues, but it had a scene going back to the nineteen-twenties, right?
Sure, and I grew up knowing the last of those blues singers that came to California from the Southwest. Pee Wee Crayton, Big Joe Turner, Albert Collins, and so on. We had the whole Southern culture in Los Angeles. The food, the music, the attitude. It all came from the Southwest.
There are more than two hundred music channels on Sirius alone. Where do you see blues fitting into the musical landscape these days?
For myself, I just ask myself how I personally fit in and remain relevant. The blues is always there. If you’re going to play music, the blues is a language you have to know. Now AI is opening up different horizons, just like the camera did to painting. There are new Americana artists who literally do not exist. The history of R&B and blues has been fed into their algorithm. So just as real artists are looking for record deals and tour support, they have to compete with Ingarose, who’s really good, but doesn’t exist, as you and I think of existence.
Well, everyone on-board –guests and artists—will be real. AI and holograms can’t replace THAT.
I’m not afraid of AI or tech in general. Just wondering how I fit into it. The blues is going nowhere. It’s classic American music. Raw emotion. The Black Southern American experience. Now it’s universal. It’s everybody’s experience.
Back in the Seventies, you worked some tours with veteran Black violinist Papa John Creach. He was part of Jefferson Airplane’s show for many years and bridged two worlds just as you’ve done. Did he pass anything along to you about how to adapt and embrace?
He’d say, “Look ‘em in the eye, and connect.” Whatever the room, he owned it. Good advice.
You also worked in theater: a play adapted from Zora Neale Hurston’s short stories. What did you pick up from her work?
She was unapologetic about anything to do with Black people and their culture. Like, “No shit I’m wonderful.” She was like Nina Simone in that regard.
You made a couple of appearances at the White House. Do you wish the music’s originators could have been there and accorded that honor?
A few got to visit. Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Gary Clark. But I felt the others, like Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, were there in presence if not in fact. People got a piece of them through me.
This Fall, you’re doing another tour with Taj Mahal. Was he an inspiration to you in showing how the blues can work in so many settings?
Oh yeah. The thing about Taj is that you can never pin him down. He moves around a lot more artistically than I do.
Tell us about your new album coming this Fall.
It’s a solo record. Just me and the guitar. Two guests—both of them ensembles. No cover songs.
This will be your second appearance on The Big Easy Cruise, we’re excited to have you back.
I’m really looking forward to being back. Engage and see. Relax. Meet up with friends. Meet the fans. The great food and vibes. And January in the Caribbean, too. I’m real excited. Really am!
- Colin Escott © 2025
Born in England, Colin wrote the definitive biography of Hank Williams, subsequently adapted into a movie starring Tom Hiddleston. He also wrote Good Rockin’ Tonight—Sun Records and the Birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll. His work has appeared in many magazines, and he has won two Grammys for historical sets. He also cowrote the hit Broadway show Million Dollar Quartet.