Somewhere between Rock, Gospel, and Country lies a genre that we collectively call “Americana.” That moniker can mean a host of things, depending on with whom you’re talking. Artists like Taj Mahal, Bobby McFerrin, Michael Franti & Spearhead, and Keb’ Mo’ fall into the category, combining Delta Blues, Country, Gospel, and good old-fashioned Rock. Add in a bit of harmonica, Steel-Drum and slide guitar and you get a mashup that both defines genre as well as defies the conventions of any one of those single categories. And that’s not a dig at the roots of this branding; the music is uplifting and fulfilling in a way that much music today simply isn’t. Irony, double-entendre, or cynicism won’t be found in any of these tunes.
Last night’s show at the Mimi Ohio Theater drew a diverse crowd of attendees, old and young, black and white, to hear Keb’ Mo’s ninety-minute drive down an old country road, with the top down, breeze in your hair, and the smell of magnolia sweetly wafting on the breeze. That’s the evocation that his tunes have: it’s, for lack of a better term, happy music.
There’s no mention of politics, other than the repartee between a man and a woman vying for the upper hand in a relationship (“Old Me Better”), or a man defining his place in the world.
He took the stage at 8:45 and played until about 10:15, going through many of his most-well-known songs from an illustrious fifty-year career. On tour in support of his newest album, Good To Be, the 74-year-old Los Angeles native stopped at Playhouse Square on a twenty-plus set of solo stops into late this month.
Opening was Anthony D’Amato, a young singer-songwriter who played a thirty minute set of originals. Here’s all the action we caught.
