Keb' Mo' | |
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Keb' Mo' in 2016
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Background information | |
Birth name | Kevin Roosevelt Moore |
Born |
South Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
October 3, 1951
Origin | Compton, California, U.S. |
Genres | Delta blues, country blues, blues americana |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, guitarist |
Instruments | Vocals, guitar, harmonica, banjo, mandolin, bass, keyboards |
Years active | 1980–present |
Labels | Chocolate City, Epic, Yolabelle International, Kind Of Blue Music |
Kevin Roosevelt Moore (born October 3, 1951), known as Keb' Mo', is a three-time American Grammy Award-winning blues musician. He is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as "a living link to the seminal Delta blues that travelled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America". His post-modern blues style is influenced by many eras and genres, including folk, rock, jazz and pop. The moniker "Keb Mo" was coined by his original drummer, Quentin Dennard, and picked up by his record label as a "street talk" abbreviation of his given name.
From early on, his parents, who were from Louisiana and Texas, instilled him with a great 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. Keb Mo's first gold record was received for a song, "Git Fiddler", which he co-wrote with Papa John on Jefferson Starship's Red Octopus.Red Octopus hit number one on the Billboard 200 in 1975.