PLAIN FOLK

by Donna Robinson
Keb' Mo': Music that's not about the money!

Editor's note: Donna recently visited New Orleans for its exotic sights, but mainly sounds. For the next three weeks she will share her experiences!

Laissez les bons temps roulez! Keb' Mo' in the House of Blues in the middle of the French Quarter! What a fantastic kick-off to our New Orleans music tour!

After a long day of traveling, we lined up early for good seats to see this contemporary blues icon. But there was no seating this evening - mainly because there were no chairs! (Business/physics fusion: squeeze double the people into your venue by standing them vertically.) We stood rooted through a long warm-up act until, finally, Keb' Mo' arrived. Some of our group gave up and left, but I was determined. Even if I couldn't see him through the crowd, I wanted to connect with his simple, pure, blues songs.

Foiled again! The sound was pathetic. People who had likely never even heard of Keb' Mo' were crushed against the stage, yelling, waving their drinks, and giving the rock salute.

About half an hour into this exercise in frustration, a thought struck me. I came to New Orleans to experience the ultimate blues musician play in the ultimate blues venue only to find that we do it better at home! You can't put a great musician in the wrong venue. HOB should stay away from the sensitive singer-songwriter acts and stick to loud and rowdy. (Is KISS still touring?) If "the blues had a baby and they called it rock and roll," HOB should be charged with patricide.

Which leads us to an interesting question: do musicians perform just for the money? I don't think so. Although artists like Keb' Mo' are sometimes seduced by the money, it's really about the love. It's a participatory exchange. We give them our loving attention and they give us their love through their music. When one of these “givers” is missing, the performance is lacking and unsatisfying to both parties. MHFMC knows this. We not only try to choose musicians that we respect and admire (OK, “adore,” “venerate,” “worship….”), we treat them with great respect. In return, we get their best. It's a win-win situation.

Back to Keb' Mo' (which is street-speak for his original name - Kevin Moore). Heard in the proper venue, his blues music is uplifting, spirit-filling, transforming. It comes, as he says, from the heart and the earth - like folk music. It is this meld of “upbeat blues” that I love.

In his short 10 year career, he's won Grammys for 3 CDs: Keep it Simple, Just Like You and Slow Down. He's released 6 other CDs between 1997 and 2004: Peace, Back By Popular Demand, Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Keb' Mo', Big Wide Grin, The Door, Sessions at West 54th (Live), and Keb Mo'. Check out www.kebmo.com.

Next column, read about the Rebirth Brass Band at the venerable Maple Leaf Bar.