Page 106 - Classic Rock (February 2020)

Keb’ Mo’
“We greet
people when
they arrive,
and say
goodbye as
they leave.
We’ll even
valet-park
for you.”
Damian Wilson
& Adam Wakeman
What will the shows be like? Your guess is as good as ours – and theirs.
ormer Threshold singer
Damian Wilson and keyboard
Fplayer Adam Wakeman
(Ozzy Osbourne, Yes, Strawbs and
many more) preview their latest
collaborative tour.
When did you two first meet?
Adam Wakeman: We were in
a band together called Jeronimo
Road during the nineties, and ever
since we’ve looked for any excuse
to work together again.
Damian Wilson: This wouldn’t
have worked had we tried it back in
the nineties, we were just too dumb. Although you’ve made two
Adam: It was actually my dad
[Rick] who suggested that we try
a duo show.
Although the format of
an evening based upon
musicianship, banter and
anecdotes is simple, the joy of
these shows is that nobody has an
inkling of what might happen.
Adam: Us included. We travel to
the gigs together and we include
what we talk about in the show.
Damian: That spontaneity is vital.
We greet people when they arrive,
and say goodbye as they leave.
106 CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM
Adam: We’ll even valet-park for
you as part of the ticket price.
A couple of years back, during
a gig in a church somebody
threw a bra at Damian, who
responded by putting it on.
Damian: Yes. Prog magazine
printed a photo of me throwing
the horns wearing a brassiere in
front of the tabernacle.
Adam: It was a little too small for
him. Maybe you could let people
know that Damian’s cup size is 36DD? he’s got some ideas, so we’ll get
very strong records together,
you don’t force them down the
audience’s throats.
Adam: And we’ve been mildly
criticised for not playing more
Wilson-Wakeman stuff. But our
show is more about what we feel
like sharing on the night.
Do these kinds of tours you’re
doing have a shelf-life?
Adam: As long as nobody gets tired
with it, we’ll continue.
Damian: C’mon, we’re the musical
equivalent of Ant and Dec. Nobody
gets tired of them, do they?
Adam, will you be playing
keyboards on Ozzy’s next
world tour?
Adam: Yes. It’s been a pretty
terrible year for Ozzy, but it’s all on
again from May onwards, which is
great news.
Will you ever manage to make
a new record from your ‘main’
band, Headspace?
Adam: Funnily enough, a few days
ago Pete Rinaldi [guitarist] told me
together in a room quite soon.
Damian: That’s three of us. Are the
other guys still alive?
Adam: So far as I know.
Can you each tell us a secret
about the other one?
Damian: Adam’s a terrible cook,
despite the fact that he’s appeared
in a cook book.
Adam: Damian is a passionate
reader of Motor Home Monthly.
Damian: I have to be, as I’m
sleeping in a van outside Adam’s
house after my houseboat sank. DL
The dates wrap in Walton-on-Thames
on January 19.
Three Mo’ chances to catch
him live, in January.
Ton telling stories, keeping politics out
he multiple-Grammy-winning US
blues singer, guitarist and songwriter
of his music, and the power of love.
How do we address you: Keb, Kevin or
[Laughs] Well, my friends call me Keb, so
Mister Moore?
let’s go with that.
You’ve been called “a living link to the
original Delta blues” yet despite affiliation
to that church you’re also a whole separate
entity. How did you find that niche?
I didn’t find the niche, I am the niche. I do
what I do. I am the product of my influences
and of my life; it wasn’t some calculated plan.
Did your love of telling stories, taking
the listener on a journey, come from
your childhood?
I don’t know where it came from, except
my best efforts to craft a good song. I like to
engage the listener and say something that
is of relevance to life.
You performed for Barack Obama at the
White House in 2012, but you try to keep
politics out of your music.
I do try, but they seep in every once in
a while. People are divided enough, so I try
to step in in a way that might make people
think, or to open a door of understanding.
Having been part of 2004’s Vote For
Change tour, presumably you are
more keen than ever to encourage
electoral activity?
Vote For Change was very important
because the Bush administration had
involved us in another unnecessary war
– in the Middle-East. Because I come
from the Vietnam era, I’m extremely
sensitive to the whole stupidity of that.
You try to provoke thought rather
than preach. Are you trying to convey
a message of any kind?
Just to trust love and healing. Laughter
is very important. I’m about opening up
that space in your mind that causes you
to consider the bigger picture.
You once said of the blues: “It’s like weeds
growing; you just cannot stop it.”
Thanks to fantastic artists like Christone
‘Kingfish’ Ingram and Gary Clarke Jr,
the blues will be around for as long as
there’s civilisation. DL
The tour begins in London on January 22.