Kenny Neal (born October 14, 1957), is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

player,

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and band member. Neal was born in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, the son of

Raful Neal Raful Neal (June 6, 1936 – September 1, 2004)Biography '' AllMusic'' was an American Louisiana blues singer, harmonicist and songwriter from the United States. Neal was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, and reared by his aunt ...

, and he comes from a musical family. He has often performed with his brothers in his band.

Career

Neal preserves the blues sound of his native south Louisiana, as befits someone who learned from

Slim Harpo Slim Harpo (born James Isaac Moore; January 11, 1924 – January 31, 1970) was an American blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spiri ...

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 ...

, and his father, harmonica player Raful Neal. In 1987, Neal cut his debut

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 ...

for the

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Bob Greenlee — an updated swamp feast initially marketed on King Snake Records as ''Bio on the Bayou''.

Alligator Records Alligator Records is an American, Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Iglauer was also one of the founders of the ''Living Blues'' magazine in Chicago in 1970. History Iglauer started the label using hi ...

picked it up the following year, retitling it ''Big News from Baton Rouge!!'' In 1991, he proved to be a talented actor in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production of the

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

Mule Bone ''Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life'' is a 1930 play (theatre), play by American authors Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. The process of writing the play led Hughes and Hurston, who had been close friends, to sever their relationship. ''Mu ...

'' (by

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

and

Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and published research on Hoodoo (spirituality), hoodoo. The most ...

), singing numbers written by

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

. Neal has played with blues stars including

Lucky Peterson Judge Kenneth Peterson (December 13, 1964 – May 17, 2020), known professionally as Lucky Peterson, was an American musician who played contemporary blues, fusing soul, R&B, gospel and rock and roll. He played guitar and keyboards Keyboard ma ...

and

Lazy Lester Leslie Johnson (June 20, 1933 – August 22, 2018), better known as Lazy Lester, was an American blues musician who sang and played the harmonica and guitar. In a career spanning the 1950s to 2018, he pioneered swamp blues, and also played ha ...

, and was at one time a member of The

Downchild Blues Band The Downchild Blues Band is a Canadian blues band, described by one reviewer as "the premier blues band in Canada". The band is still commonly known as the Downchild Blues Band, though the actual band name was shortened to "Downchild" in the ea ...

, during a period of relocation to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, Canada. In September 2006, Neal announced he was taking a year's break from

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

and performing, due to an undisclosed illness. He returned to the public eye at the Monterey Blues Festival in June 2007. He has children named Kenny, Syreeta, and Micah. In 2010, he was touring with the Efes Pilsen Blues Festival. In 2016, Neal's album ''Bloodline'' received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Neal recorded ''Bloodline'' in Nashville, Los Angeles and Baton Rouge. He co-produced it with Buddy Guy’s Grammy-winning producer,

Tom Hambridge Thomas Jay Hambridge (born December 20, 1960) is an American rock, country, and blues, producer, songwriter, musician and vocalist. Hambridge has received two Grammy Awards, an ASCAP award, seven Grammy nominations, seven Boston Music Awards, a ...

Awards

Honors * 2011 - Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame * 2005 - Official Statement to Kenny Neal, by the Governor of Louisiana * 1993 - Washington, D.C., USIA Certificate of Appreciation for representing the U.S. with Kenny Neal's Blues Band for tour in Africa Winner * 2019 -

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, " ...

for Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year * 2011 - Jus' Blues Music Foundation Contemporary/Traditional Blues Song Of The Year for "Hooked on Your Love" * 2011 - Critic's Poll Living Blues Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album of the Year * 2009 - Monterey Bay Blues (M.O.B.B.A.Y.) Artist of the Year Award * 2009 -

winner for Song of the Year, "Let Life Flow" * 2009 - West Coast Blues Hall of Fame Awards for Blues CD of the Year "Let Life Flow" and Blues Band of the Year * 2009 - Blueswax Album of the Year "Let Life Flow" * 2008 - Blues Critic Awards Readers Poll, Blues Album of the Year "Let Life Flow" and also Contemporary Blues Artist of the Year * 2008 - Jus' Blues Awards "Junior Wells Harp Award" * 2008 - Hometown Video Awards, Entertainment Talk Show * 2007 - W.A.V.E. Award, Talk Show-Entertainment/Pro * 2005 - W.C. Handy Blues Awards - Acoustic Blues Album * 2003 - Slim Harpo Award in Baton Rouge * 1994 - Theatre World Award "Outstanding New Talent" on Broadway * 1989 - Big Bill Broonzy Award in Paris * 1989 - JD Miller Award "Outstanding Performance" Nominated * 2016 - Grammy Nomination for ''Bloodline'' - "Best Contemporary Blues Album" * 2009 - Grammy nominations in four categories * 1999 - Grammy Nomination for ''Tribute to Howlin' Wolf'' - "Best Traditional Blues Album"

References

External links

* kennyneal.net Official Home Page NB: ''serves toxic web page'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neal, Kenny 1957 births Living people Blues musicians from New Orleans American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers American male singers Swamp blues musicians Singers from Louisiana Guitarists from Louisiana 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Blind Pig Records artists Cleopatra Records artists

Career

Awards

See also

References

External links