March 2004
STRAIGHT TALK
How would you describe your new album?
I'd say it's a labor of love, and it's a set of songs made to heal and massage your soul.
Why the title?
I think it's a great metaphor for life. It's a very simple feeling, when you hear your calling. Life is not complicated or difficult. It's easy.
You're a constant presence on Billboard's Top Blues Albums chart. Would you call yourself a bluesman?
No. I'm just a guy who loves to play, who loves and respects the blues. I went and saw B. B. King last night—now he's a bluesman.
What do you think is so compelling about the blues?
God, if I could answer that! I think it's realness. That's what I believe.
How often do you come through Texas?
Every chance I get. I love Texas.
Any Texas memories that you'd like to share?
Back in 1992 I did a play called Spunk at the Dallas Theater Center. I played the part of a guitar man. And after the show, this woman came up to me and said, "You're good. Do you have a tape to sell, or do you have something that we can buy?" She was really adamant about it. And I said, "Well . . . no." But I had been working on a recording of some songs, and I had brought a tape with me. So I found a sound person who had a tape deck, and I played the recording for her. After that, I went to the studio and picked out eight of those songs, and I made a recording called Kevin Moore a.k.a. Keb' Mo'. It's only available on cassette tape. I made a hundred tapes, and I sold them, and that was the start of my new recording career.
That's a great story.
That tape was the basis of my first record. All those songs, except for one, were the songs that I put on my first CD, Keb' Mo'. So it's true; my recording debut was right there in Texas. I had been recording songs before that, because that's what I do, but that woman really inspired me. She lit a real Texas fire under me. (See Austin: Music/Dance.)
