Keb’ Mo’@Pepperdine University 01.17.09
By George W. Harris

Presenting the real deal in rural blues before a well healed audience
in fashionable Malibu (“This is definitely the best smelling audience
I’ve played before,” he quipped), guitarist/vocalist Keb Mo delivered a
solid 2 hour set of every type of real American music that is in our
collective dna. Surrounded by a myriad of various guitars for different
moods, Mo and accompanist Susan Werner went through dobros, steel
guitars, acoustic guitars, mandolins and electric guitars to present
the wide ranges of colors from the palate of indigo. His thick molasses
voice and lanky delivery went from country blues like “Folsom Prison”
to deep delta blues (“Hole in the Bucket”) and with minstral-type blues
(“Gov’t Cheese”) in between. Even love songs like “Angelina” and church
picnic-like “Life Is Beautiful” were draped with back porch strumming
that went down as easy as cool lemonade on a summer day. Cheery tunes
like “Brand New America” were juxtaposed with the pleading “Just Like
You” showing the full house that blues have many shades and hues. Mo’
made the audience feel like one of the neighbors on this wet and windy
January night.