Kevin Brown

Kevin Brown

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About Kevin Brown

Kevin Brown (born 1950) is an English blues guitarist, songwriter and singer. His main genre is the blues, although he has spread out his style to incorporate country, folk, Americana and world music over an almost forty-year professional career. He has released twelve albums to date, which included collaborations with Moussa Kouyate and Gary Rudd. Performing from the main stage at the Glastonbury Festival to the bars of Texas,Mark Knopfler stated that Brown "offers far more than your average slide player". Life and career Brown was born in Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancashire, England, the son of a sign writer and schoolteacher. At the age of 14, he watched Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Muddy Waters perform on television and was inspired to follow blues music. He studied at both the Dartington College of Arts and Rolle College, Exmouth, Devon. A while later in 1970, Brown was busking on Portobello Road in London and his performance was seen by Son House, who was appearing in London at the time. Brown became friends with Son House and took some guitar intuition from him. In 1978, Brown relocated to Bath, Somerset, and worked as an art teacher before electing to pursue a career as a professional musician. In 1982, he was heard by the record producer, Joe Boyd and this association led to Brown releasing his debut album, Road Dreams on Hannibal Records. That release was followed by Rust (1988) which eventually appeared on Rykodisc following their acquisition of Hannibal. It was nominated for 'best blues album of the year' by the British Blues Foundation. The acclaim garnered by his first two albums, led Brown to sign with Chrysalis Records in 1990.Time Marches On became Brown's next album. In 1998, Brown issued an instrumental album, Sunny Side Up, by which time he was releasing material on his own record label, Doodah Records.Mojave Dust followed in 2001, before a collaboration with the Malian kora virtuoso, Moussa Kouyate saw the release of their joint effort Kora Blues (2004). Brown toured widely in the late 1990s and 2000s, having lived and worked in Austin, Texas, in the early 1980s. He also performed on the main stage at the Glastonbury Festival during those years. After the release of two solo efforts in 2010, Brown met up with fellow guitarist and bass player, Gary Rudd, forming a duo named Shackdusters. Their debut joint release was Home and Dry (2011), with Home for Christmas following the next year. In 2012, they performed at The Lichfield Festival. Brown's repertoire had by then extended from slide acoustic guitar to playing lap steel guitar and weissenborn. In November 2015, Brown released his latest album, Grit, produced by Neville Farmer.Grit, a so-called "live in the studio" album, saw a guest appearance from fellow guitarist and vocalist Andy Fairweather Low. The album included the song, "Lancashire Blood on a Texas Floor", in homage to two casualties at the Battle of the Alamo, who both hailed Brown's home town of Preston. Whilst, "The Ballad of J. J. Cale", paid tribute to another of Brown's musical inspirations, J. J. Cale. Brown now mainly appears in South West England. Biography 1950 Born in Preston Lancs son of a signwriter and schoolteacher 1957 Saw Tom Finney for the first time, football became his life. 1960 Held and stroked first guitar belonging to Ray Skags of the Dennisons a very cool outfit on the Mersey beat scene. 1964 Witnessed Muddy Waters and Sister Rosetta Tharpe on a live television broadcast from nearby Chorlton station and the die was cast. Became fully immersed in the blues, especially the early slide guitar players. 1968 Studied at Dartington College of Arts, and Rolle College Exmouth. 1970 Met Son House whilst Busking in Portobello Road. Met Dick Waterman 1972 Taught drawing and painting at Drayton Middle school in Ealing. Fell foul of the lifestyle of the London Pub Rock scene 1978 Escaped to Bath to begin a career in music, where he has since survived within the music business and still lives on the edge of town 1982 Signed by Joe Boyd to Hannibal records. 1982-83 Worked and played in Austin Texas, the chops were honed. 1984 Released debut album Road Dreams on Hannibal 1988 Follow up album 'Rust' again on Hannibal 1990 Signed to Chrysalis Records 1994 Released 'Time Marches On' 1995 Worked on Mark Knopflers first solo album 1998 Released 'Sunny Side up' commissioned by Joe Boyd 2000 Mojave Dust...first album on Doodah Records 2004 Kora Blues with Moussa Kouyate..first duet album 2006 Tin Church...second solo album 2008 Slideville ( lap steel ) 2011 Home and Dry ( Lap steel ) 2013 Home for xmas ( lap steel ) 2015 'Grit' live studio album. Kevin is currently touring and promoting 'Grit' produced by Neville Farmer, working harder than ever and enjoying every minute of it. Plenty of music yet to come. Website: Kevin Brown

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