Between the Notes: Keb’ Mo’ — Finding hope on the other side of 'The Breakdown'

In the Grammy Museum’s 200-seat Clive Davis Theater in Los Angeles, the five-time Grammy winner recently introduced his new album, "The Breakdown," with conversation and a few songs. Born Kevin Moore, he spoke with humor and humility about a career that took years to find its direction.

The people with the most to brag about are often the least inclined to do it, and Moore fits the pattern. Along with those Grammys, he holds 14 Blues Foundation Awards and an Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement award. He has topped the Billboard Blues Chart eight times and played everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the White House. Artists as varied as B.B. King and BTS have recorded or sampled his songs, and he has appeared as himself in Martin Scorsese’s "The Blues," on "The West Wing" and even on "Sesame Street."

One of his earliest inspirations was Taj Mahal, whom he first saw perform during his senior year at Compton High School. Moore was just beginning to play guitar, but the encounter stayed with him. “I couldn’t unsee that,” he recalled.

That hit me, because a month earlier I had watched the two of them play together at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Austin, Texas. Amid all that electric firepower, two acoustic guitars were enough to hold the arena. Their “Diving Duck Blues,” one of my favorites, was raw and relaxed. Listening to him describe that high school concert, I kept picturing the two of them sharing a stage more than half a century later.

Moore’s own path was hardly direct. His first professional job, around age 20, was with violinist Papa John Creach of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship. Moore even played on a platinum-selling record long before anyone knew his name.

His 1980 album under his own name did not bring the breakthrough he wanted. Fourteen years later, his self-titled "Keb’ Mo’" album did. Even the name came through an odd phone call. Someone asked to speak to an artist called Keb’ Mo’, not realizing Kevin Moore was that musician. Moore liked it and kept it.

Los Angeles gave him a broad musical education. He absorbed blues, rock, soul and pop while working around studios and session players, picking up the arranging and songwriting skills that later shaped his blues records. “It was all just music to me,” he said.

That openness carries into his songwriting. He likes collaborating because another writer will push back on an idea and help him finish it. He talked about longtime partners Colin Linden and John Lewis Parker, and about the surprising songwriting chops of television producer Chuck Lorre. To him, collaboration is a creative system of checks and balances.

"The Breakdown" comes from harder lessons. It is a set of intimate solo acoustic performances that drift between folk, blues, jazz and soul, and much of it deals with getting older and accepting change. Moore talked about “Every Step of the Way,” a song whose lyrics had him stuck for a while. Once he explained what he wanted to say, collaborator Lauren Lucas helped him find the words. The song is about being grateful for the journey even when the road gets rough, and that feeling runs through the whole album.

Questions from the Grammy Museum audience brought out his playful side. “She Just Wants to Dance,” he explained, came from watching women who wanted to enjoy the dance floor without being bothered. He also talked about “Louder,” which encourages young people to make themselves heard. A former schoolmate asked about Moore’s first steel band, and for a minute the museum felt like a class reunion.

When I asked what he still hoped to accomplish, his answer was humble. “I’ve already overachieved everything that I thought I could do,” he said. Now, he just wants to keep connecting with people through his music. Therapists spend years helping clients reach that kind of peace. Moore seems to have found it with a guitar in his hands.

When he played songs from the new album, the small room suited him. His voice is warm, his playing is easy and, by the second verse, a song feels like he is talking to you.

Few of us get the life we planned. On "The Breakdown," Keb’ Mo’ sounds like a man who kept playing anyway and is grateful for every step of the way.