Catfish Keith (born February 9, 1962) is an American

acoustic blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as an exponent of the

resonator guitar A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by conducting string vibrations through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones (resonators), instead of to the guitar's sounding board (top). Resonator gui ...

. He has released several solo

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s, including 2001's ''A Fist Full of Riffs''. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described him as "a solo revelation" who was "breaking new ground for blues. Twice a

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

nominee for 'Best Acoustic Blues Album', he has had ten number one independent radio chart hit albums.

Early life and career

Catfish Keith was born Keith Daniel Kozacik in

East Chicago East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing act ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, and was first inspired by blues music he heard on the radio. These included songs by

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray V ...

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...

and

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

, although by the time he owned a guitar in his teenage years, he listened mostly to

Son House Edward James "Son" House Jr. (March 21, 1902His date of birth is a matter of some debate. House alleged that he was middle-aged during World War I and that he was 79 in 1965, which would make his date of birth around 1886. However, all legal re ...

. He attended high school in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

, before setting out across the United States and beyond learning to sing and play his brand of the blues. He traveled to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, where his musical education benefited from hearing Joseph Spence. His

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

originated from a diving partner in the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Croix ...

who, having seen his efforts at swimming,

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

d him "Catfish-Swimmin'-Around," and "Catfish-Steel-Guitar-Man." Catfish Keith had his debut album, ''Catfish Blues'' (1984), released by

Kicking Mule Records Kicking Mule Records was an American independent record label, founded in Berkeley, California in 1971 by guitarist Stefan Grossman and Eugene "ED" Denson, formerly co-owner of Takoma Records. The company's name comes from the country blues sexu ...

. He continued to tour constantly and picked up playing tips from watching

Jessie Mae Hemphill Jessie Mae Hemphill (October 18, 1923 – July 22, 2006) was an American electric guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist specializing in the North Mississippi hill country blues traditions of her family and regional heritage. Life and career Hemp ...

Henry Townsend Henry Townsend may refer to: *Henry Townsend (Norwich) (1626–1695), early American colonist born in Norwich, Norfolk, England *Henry Townsend (Oyster Bay) (1649–1703), American colonist born in Oyster Bay *Henry Townsend (missionary) (1815–18 ...

Johnny Shines John Ned Shines (April 26, 1915 – April 20, 1992) was an American blues singer and guitarist. Biography Shines was born in the community of Frayser, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was taught to play the guitar by his mother and spent most of h ...

and

David "Honeyboy" Edwards David "Honeyboy" Edwards (June 28, 1915 – August 29, 2011) was a Delta blues guitarist and singer from Mississippi. Biography Edwards was born in Shaw, Mississippi.

. Keith married in 1988 and founded his own

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, Fish Tail Records. 1991's ''Pepper in My Shoe'' sparked global interest in his work, and he toured both Europe and the United States. He appeared on the cover pages of the publications ''Blues Life'', ''Blueprint'', ''Block'' and ''The Guardian'', and his follow-up effort, ''Jitterbug Swing'' was nominated for a

. Further acclaim was afforded by the British magazine, ''Blues Connection'', who named him "the new slide king of the National steel guitar." ''Cherry Ball'' (1993) saw ''

Dirty Linen ''Dirty Linen'' was a bi-monthly magazine of folk and world music based in Baltimore, Maryland. The magazine ceased publication in the spring of 2010. The magazine offered extensive reviews of folk music recordings, videos, books, and concert ...

s James Jensen state "Catfish will give you goose bumps and leave you howling for more!" A further Blues Music Award nomination was generated by the release of ''Fresh Catfish'' in 1995. After ''Twist It Babe!'', his next release was ''Pony Run'' (1999). ''Sweet Pea'' (2005) was praised by ''

Living Blues ''Living Blues: The Magazine of the African American Blues Tradition'' is a bi-monthly magazine focused on blues music, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van Sin ...

'' who opined "the guitar playing is surely the main attraction here, and "Blotted Out My Mind" alone earns Catfish comparison to

Frank Hovington Franklin Hovington (January 9, 1919 – June 21, 1982), also known as Guitar Frank, was an American blues musician. He played the guitar and banjo and sang in the Piedmont blues style. He lived in the vicinity of Frederica, Delaware. Hovin ...

Elizabeth Cotten Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten ( Nevills; January 5, 1893 – June 29, 1987) was an American folk and blues musician. She was a self-taught left-handed guitarist who played a guitar strung for a right-handed player, but played it upside down. This po ...

, and other virtuoso six-stringers." In 2008, Keith was inducted into the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame. He is an endorser of

National Reso-Phonic Guitars National Reso-Phonic Guitars is a manufacturer of resonator guitars and other resonator instruments including resonator mandolins, tenor instruments, and resonator ukuleles. Catfish Keith has issued an instructional DVD entitled ''Dynamic Country Blues Guitar''. In 2019, his album, ''Reefer Hound: Viper Songs Revisited'', won acoustic album of the year honors at the Blues Blast Music Awards.

Discography

References

External links

* , his official website *
Live performance review

InterviewCatfish Keith Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2016)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Catfish 1962 births 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Electric blues musicians Living people People from East Chicago, Indiana Steel guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Guitarists from Indiana 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers Singer-songwriters from Indiana

Early life and career

Discography

See also

References

External links