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The Indiana Daily Student

arts

?Keb’ Mo’ band coming to the Buskirk-Chumley

Three-time Grammy winner and roots-music storyteller Keb’ Mo’ will take the Buskirk-Chumley Theater stage at 8 p.m. Jan. 27.

His international tour will take him through Fort Lauderdale, Fla., before arriving in Bloomington for his concert Tuesday.

The tour coincides with the April release of his new album “BLUESAmericana.”

The album, at its core, focuses on love and understanding, according to Mo’s website. Mo’ plays most of the guitars on the album, as well as bass, keyboards and several other instruments.

“I didn’t want other musicians to influence the direction of the songs,” Mo’ said on his website. “I ?wanted everything on the album to be as pure a statement from me as possible. ”

This album is a musical representation of the second time Mo’ went through a personal transformation, according to his website. The first was in 1984 in Los Angeles, his hometown, where he’d worked to establish himself as a studio musician with record and publishing deals.

Those efforts failed.

“I was convinced my career was over and that if I was lucky I’d be able to play blues gigs for $40 or $50 a night ... if I was lucky,” he said. Then he met Charles “Charlie Tuna” Dennis, who today plays rhythm six-string behind B.B. King.

From there, Mo’ launched himself into a ?career path that brought him a reputation as a modern master of American roots music, according to his website.

Mo’ has been recorded by B.B. King, Buddy Guy, the Dixie Chicks, Joe Cocker and Robert Palmer. His playing inspired instrument-maker Gibson Brands to release the Keb’ Mo’ Signature Bluesmaster acoustic guitar.

“I never set out to be a ‘blues guy,’” he said. “But the blues is very powerful and ?fuels what I do. ”

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