Wednesday, September 25, 2002

WILMINGTON, NC – Two-time Grammy Award winner Keb’ Mo’ will perform at 8 p.m., Monday, Oct. 14, in UNCW’s Kenan Auditorium as part of the university’s Arts in Action Performance Series.

Born Kevin Moore, Keb’ Mo’ grew up in Compton, South Central Los Angeles. At the age of 12, he learned to play a guitar that he received from his Uncle Herman. As a teenager, he also played trumpet and French horn; and in his first band, a calypso group, he played upright bass and steel drums.

Keb’ Mo’ is known as a writer and singer who communicates with absolute sincerity. He said, “With every song, I think there has to be something real – a kind of an arm reaching out to reality.”

His performances include sweet country blues, juke-joint jive, up-tempo rhythm and blues and jazz pop, but blues underscores all of his music.

“The blues is my history, my culture,” said Keb’ Mo’. “It’s always been around me. I always wanted primarily not just to be a blues guy, but a songwriter. But the blues gave me depth.”

After playing with a Top 40 group, Moore joined Papa John C reach, violinist with Jefferson Starship, in 1973. His guitar is featured on three of Creach’s albums. Deciding to concentrate on songwriting, Moore joined A&M records as a staff writer, and by 1980, the singer-guitarist had released his first solo album Rainmaker. Three years later, after a stint with the vocal group The Rose Brothers, he began performing at the L.A. nightspot Marla’s Memory Lane with The Whodunit Band, an ensemble of ace blues players.

Concentrating on solo acoustic work, Moore traveled to Mississippi to hang out with veteran Delta bluesman Eugene Powell. Moore portrayed a Delta bluesman in the early ’90s Los Angeles Theater production Rabbit Foot and later in Spunk, an adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston’s writings. At the same time, he played club dates around L.A. During this period, he became Keb’ Mo’, a street-talk version of his own name signaling “his allegiance to the music that helped form his own.”

In 1994, he released a self-titled album that featured 11 songs that he wrote or co-wrote as well as his guitar and banjo work. His second album Just Like You earned him a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Recording, as did his 1998 release Slow Down. His newest release is The Door.

Series Continues

Keb’ Mo’ is one of eight music, dance and theater events scheduled as part of UNCW’s 2002-03 Arts in Action Performance Series. Remaining events are:

Saturday, Nov. 9

Koresh Dance Company, Philadelphia’s exhilarating contemporary dance company

Saturday, Jan. 18

William Bolcom and Joan Morris, award-winning piano duo

Thursday, Jan. 30

NC Jazz Festival Preview, Wilmington’s own jazz festival

Saturday, March 18

Eileen Ivers, star of the Irish fiddle

Friday, April 11

David Sedaris, best-selling author and satirist

Saturday, April 12

Dianne Reeves, Grammy award-winning jazz vocalist

Co-presentation with Thalian Hall

Box Office and Ticket Information

All performances are scheduled for 8 p.m. in Kenan Auditorium except for Dianne Reeves whose concert is set for Thalian Hall. Season tickets are available for the six “mainstage” performances until Oct. 7. They offer a 20 percent savings over the purchase of individual tickets as well as priority seating for all performances. A smaller “Choose-Your-Own-Series” option is available through Nov. 9. It offers a 10-percent savings over the purchase of tickets to four events. Individual tickets, on sale now, are $6 for UNCW students and children age 12 and under; $12 for UNCW faculty/staff and senior citizens; and $18 for all others.

For tickets, call the Kenan Auditorium Box Office at 910/962-3500 or 800-732-3643, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Tickets for the Dianne Reeves concert may be purchased through Thalian Hall by calling 910/343-3664. Arts in Action Performance Series information is on the Web at www.uncwil.edu/stuaff/arts.