Kenny Neal [and his band of brothers] LIVE!! … in Santa Barbara

 
 Kenny Neal and his band of brothers
 
 Santa Barbara has always been one of my favorite places to go and hang out. Good clean fun is what they have in SB and last Saturday night (November 5th, 2011) was no exception when Kenny Neal and fam rolled into town to light up the Warren Hall. The Santa Barbara Blues Society were the hosts of the event and let me tell you, it was first class all the way. Just like the town, the Santa Barbara Blues Society has a way of making strangers and out of towners feel right at home.
 Everyone gets the VIP ’treatment’ in Santa Barbara but it was especially nice from where I was sitting when I rolled in with the opening act Kelly’s Lot (Duo). My friends Kelly Zirbes and her hubby/guitar player Perry Robertson were first on the bill Saturday night and I was lucky enough to hitch a ride up the coast with them. For Perry and Kelly it was their second trip from LA to SB in nearly the same number of days because the Thursday night before the show, local SB blues DJ and host of ‘Leo’s Bluesland’, Leo Schumaker of KCSB FM had Kelly and Perry in the studio for a live on-air interview. Click here to listen to the on-line archives. In fact click any of the links in bold above to find out more about Kelly’s Lot, Kenny, Leo, KCSB or The Santa Barbara Blues Society.
 Kelly and Perry played a roof raising 25 minute set to warm up the already rambunctious crowd and by the time they turned things over to Kenny everyone in the place had their dancin’ shoes on. I should expect no less from Kelly and Perry, they’ve yet to disappoint me and I knew we were in for a treat after sound check when Kenny graciously invited Kelly and Perry to join him later on stage to play a song. Then, when he did just that (see photo below) the resulting jam was incredible and Kenny’s generosity as a performer was inspirational and Kelly and Perry both stepped up to the moment and put out 100%.
 Kenny comes from a rich musical heritage, his father, Raful Neal was a master of the Louisiana blues harp and taught Kenny (the oldest of his siblings) everything he knows. The following bio is taken directly from Kenny’s website:
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Kenny Neal is an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist and is widely renowned as a modern swamp-blues master. His new release, Hooked On Your Love, follows the triumph of his multi-award winning 2008 comeback album, Let Life Flow. An outstanding success, the CD raked in the accolades: three prestigious Album Of The Year awards, two Song of The Year awards for the title track, and Kenny himself garnered two Artist of the Year honors.It was clear that Kenny touched something deep in the blues community with his soulful guitar playing and uplifting songwriting, and his hot streak continues with a batch of new songs. Hooked On Your Love covers the plethora of accomplished roots styles Kenny has become known for. The tasty musical gumbo of swamp-boogie, jazz, R&B, and straight-ahead blues all swirl together on this new CD.Kenny Neal was born in 1957 in New Orleans and raised in Baton Rouge. He began playing music at a very young age, learning the basics from his father, singer and blues harmonica player, Raful Neal. Family friends like Lazy Lester, Buddy Guy and Slim Harpo also contributed to Kenny’s early musical education. In fact, it was Harpo who gave the crying three-year-old a harmonica to pacify him. Kenny stopped crying that day, and eventually learned to play the harmonica. Along the way, he also mastered the bass, trumpet, piano and guitar. At 13, he joined his father’s band and began paying his musical dues. Four years later, he was recruited and toured extensively as Buddy Guy’s bass player.Following Buddy’s advice to concentrate on his guitar playing, Kenny relocated to Toronto, and along with his brothers Raful, Jr., Noel, Larry and Ronnie – formed the Neal Brothers Band, honing his chops backing up visiting blues stars. Through the years, he has shared the stage or worked with a who’s-who list of blues and R&B greats at one time or another, including B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Muddy Waters, Aaron Neville, Buddy Guy and John Lee Hooker. Later, he fronted Canada’s Downchild Blues Band, before returning to Baton Rouge to begin his solo career.Signing with Alligator Records in 1988, Kenny began releasing a series of consistently lauded albums featuring his laid-back, Baton Rouge blues, with a modern spin on the Louisiana sound he grew up with. Throughout this period, Kenny distinguished himself as one of the brightest prospects of the contemporary blues scene, receiving great critical acclaim in the process. The Chicago Tribune pegged Kenny as “one of a mere handful of truly inventive young contemporary guitarists, Neal has something fresh to say and the chops with which to say it,” while AllMusic said his “gruff-before-their-time vocals retain their swamp sensibility, while assuming a bright contemporary feel that tabs him as a leading contender for future blues stardom.” Blues Revue agreed, calling Kenny “one of the brightest young stars on the blues horizon, and a gifted artist.”In 1991, Kenny branched out into the world of acting when he starred as the lead in the much-acclaimed musical, Mule Bone, a lost play written by the famed African-American poet Langston Hughes and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston in 1930. Featuring music written by Taj Mahal, Kenny’s performances garnered a prestigious Theater World Award for “The Most Outstanding New Talent On and Off Broadway,” and he concurrently set two Hughes poems to music on the album Walking With Fire.    After his impressive run with Alligator, Kenny switched to Telarc, and continued to release albums highlighting his developing skills as a songwriter, as well as interpreting songs from musicians as diverse as Bob Dylan, John Hiatt, and Nick Lowe. His 2004 release with Billy Branch, Double Take, garnered Kenny a W.C. Handy award for Best Album. More recently, Kenny released A Tribute to Slim Harpo and Raful Neal, which pays homage to blues harp icon Harpo as well as Kenny’s father, who passed away as the album was being completed.After relocating to the Bay Area in 2004, Kenny began hosting his own local cable TV program, “Neal’s Place.” The show features Kenny jamming and talking with the many international blues stars he has met and performed with, as well as local artists he has spotted at festivals and clubs. Filmed in front of a live studio audience, “Neal’s Place” has a relaxed, informal atmosphere that brings out the best in the artists, while giving an unscripted, improvisational edge to the performances.In 2005, health problems forced Kenny to completely stop performing and recording for a few years. And, within an eleven month span during this recovery period, Neal lost his dad, sister, and brother. In the best blues tradition, Neal took the tragedies, adversity and heartbreak of those years and turned them into great songs and performances.Writing, playing, and singing with a renewed sense of purpose and energy, he used the time to craft an inspired collection of songs that make up Let Life Flow. Released in 2008, the CD met with immediate critical success. Vintage Guitar said, “Kenny Neal’s new release is full of blues and soul music of the highest standard. While Neal’s always been one of his generation’s finest bluesmen, Let Life Flow helps push him into the upper echelon of the genre. His maturity, mastery of the music, and sheer determination show it, making this one of 2008’s best.”Living Blues magazine added, “His latest effort is a resounding affirmation of his talents as a musician, songwriter, and singer,” while About.com offered that “Kenny Neal’s Let Life Flow album should be considered a masterpiece.”
The critical acclaim and passel of awards that followed are testament to not only the album’s soulful grooves, but also to the deep, emotional resonance in Kenny’s perseverance in face of life’s trials.Kenny was able to return to the scene and the stage with a new vigor and outlook on life. With these, he entered the studio to whip up the good time gumbo of Hooked On Your Love.The new album casts that potent Neal spell of deep grooves and deep feelings that put him where he is today. With tunes like swampy Louisiana look-back “Down In The Swamp,” the funky shuffle of Memphis in his take on “Blind Crippled Or Crazy,” or the soul searching blues of “Bitter With The Sweet,” Hooked On Your Love extends the spirit of his acclaimed Let Life Flow.Take a listen and prepare to be hooked.
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The line-up Saturday when Kenny hit the stage was:

Kenny Neal - Guitar/ Harp/ Vocals

Frederick Neal - Keys

Darnell Neal – Bass

Bryan Morris - Drums
 
Guests on-stage:
 
Scott Wess – Trumpet
 
Perry Robertson – Acoustic Guitar
 
Kelly Zirbes – Vocals
 
 Bryan Morris on drums was the only band member (except for the guest performers) not related to Kenny by blood but you couldn’t tell from the way he interacted with the band, they’re as tight as any rhythm section I’ve ever heard (and that’s a LOT) and despite the fact that he (Bryan) is from Mobile Alabama, and the Neal boy’s are from Louisiana AND that the ‘Bama/ LSU game was that very night, they played flawlessly even after finding out halfway through the second set that LSU beat Bama 9-6 in overtime.
 After two scorching sets of mind blowing blues the uber friendly sold out SB audience (of at least 300 people) brought Kenny back out with a rousing ovation (there’s something about Santa Barbara people that make a guy feel good) And Kenny did not disappoint. In fact, from the opening number (A Delbert McClinton song): Better Off With The Blues which Kenny and Co funked up (in the best possible way) like I’ve haven’t heard since Delbert himself covered the Bob Marley song ‘Stir It Up’ to the last song, a Kenny Neal original with more cajun in it than a bowl of gumbo: ‘Down In The Swamp’ from his latest release (see photo and link below) ‘Hooked On Your Love’, the show was nothing less than outstanding.
Kenny’s accolades are many (see * below) and his recent induction into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and more recent BMA (Blues Music Award) nominations (see **below) are to me a mere preview of the great things we Kenny Neal fans will hear in the future about this amazing man. I know I’ll never pass up an opportunity to see him perform live and I’m already on his mailing list so I can be first to know when the next record comes out. You can catch up with Kenny on FaceBook or click any of the links to view his official website and I recommend you do.
 I sat back stage and talked with the band after the show and the more we talked, the more I liked these cats. They love their work and it really shows. Someone once said: “Blues is something you must see live to appreciate” and while my record collection certainly does not reflect that sentiment, I have to admit, the Kenny Neal Band are the proof that it’s true.
 As always the party didn’t end when the music was finished and between the tailgate parties and the after parties, by the time Me and Perry and Kelly made our way back to LA and I straggled home from Hollywood, the paperboy had been here and Sunday morning had already arrived.
 I hope you take the time to click around and become a ‘card carrying’ Kenny Neal fan as I have, he’s talented beyond words, accessible, humble and truly a great person. I plan on sitting down with Kenny very soon to get some more insight and background about him and his music in an exclusive video interview. Until then, stay tuned, and Thanks For The Ride!
 
Kenny Neal and his band of brothers, LIVE! in Santa Barbara.
Story and photos by:
Casey Reagan
For: Ameriblues.com
all rights reserved 2011
 
Special thanks to:
Leo Schumaker (Leo’s Bluesland)
KCSB 91.9 FM Santa Barbara and
 
Kenny Neal
 
Kelly Zirbes
 
The Santa Barbara Blues Society
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
*Kenny has been honored with numerous awards such as:
•2011 Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
• 2011 Jus’ Blues Music Foundation Contemporary/Traditional Blues Song Of The Year-Hooked on Your Love
• 2011 Critic’s Poll Living Blues Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album of the Year.
• 2009 Monterey Bay Blues (M.O.B.B.A.Y.) Artist of the Year Award
• 2009 BMA (Blues Music Award) Winner for Song of the Year, “Let Life Flow”
• 2009 West Coast Blues Hall of Fame Awards for Blues CD of the Year “Let Life Flow” and “Blues Band of the Year”
• 2009 Blueswax Album of the Year “Let Life Flow”
• 2009 Grammy entries for Grammy Nominations in 4 catagories
• Blues Critic Awards 2008 Readers Poll, Kenny won Blues Album of the Year “Let Life Flow” and also Contemporary Blues “Artist of the Year”
• Jus’ Blues Awards 2008 “Junior Wells Harp Award”
 
**KENNY NEAL nominated for two Blues Music Awards:
1) BB King Entertainer of the Year

2) Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year

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