![]() ![]() In 1998, Neal moved from Alligator to the blues division of the jazz-based Telarc Records, releasing three albums for the label: Blues Fallin’ Down Like Rain (1998), What You Got (2000), and One Step Closer (2001). It was his first album for Cleopatra Records, which also issued his critically acclaimed release, Bloodline in 2016. In 2015, Neal released his first holiday-themed album, I’ll Be Home for Christmas. In 2017, Kenny enhanced the band with a horn section. Longtime drummer and friend, Bryan Morris has been with the band since 2005. You can bet on seeing Kenny Neal and his band of Brothers (Darnell Neal on Bass and Fred Neal on Keys) back on the road and better than ever in 2017. In the last few years, Kenny has relocated back to Baton Rouge and has spent much of his time around home with Family, writing songs, riding horses and working on his collection of vintage cars, but has come to realize that life on the road is his life. Kenny Neal, a true living blues Legend is THE REAL DEAL and more poised than ever to deliver the blues like no one else can! Kenny’s 2016 release, Bloodline, was nomimated for a 2017 Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album and also won two 2017 BMAs (Blues Music Awards) one for Best Contemporary Blues Album and the other for Best Contemporary Male Blues Artist. An acclaimed 1991 stint on Broadway in a production of Mule Bone found him performing acoustic versions of Langston Hughes’ poetry set to music by Taj Mahal. ![]() Neal’s sizzling guitar work, sturdy harp, and gravelly, aged-beyond-his-years vocals served him well, and he cut four albums for Alligator Records between 19. The following year, Alligator Records signed Neal and reissued the debut under the title Big News from Baton Rouge!! Young Neal was on his way. In 1987, Kenny Neal cut his debut LP for Florida producer Bob Greenlee, an updated swamp feast initially released by Kingsnake Records as Bio on the Bayou. The guitarist recruited some of his talented siblings to form the Neal Brothers Blues Band up in Toronto (brother Noel later played bass behind James Cotton five other Neal brothers also play in various bands) before returning stateside. His dad, harpist Raful Neal, was a Baton Rouge blues mainstay whose pals included Buddy Guy and Slim Harpo (the latter gave three-year-old Kenny his first harmonica).Īt age 13, Neal was playing in his father’s band, and at 17, landed a job playing bass for Buddy Guy. One of the strongest modern proponents of Baton Rouge swamp blues, Kenny Neal is a second-generation southern Louisiana bluesman who is cognizant of the region’s venerable blues tradition and imaginative enough to steer it in fresh directions. If you want to experience the “Real Deal”, take time out to find Kenny Neal.
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