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BIO

One of the strongest modern proponents of Baton Rouge swamp blues, Kenny Neal is a second-generation southern Louisiana bluesman who is cognizant of the region’s venerable blues tradition and imaginative enough to steer it in fresh directions.

Neal was born on October 14, 1957 in New Orleans. His dad, harpist Raful Neal, was a Baton Rouge blues mainstay whose pals included Buddy Guy and Slim Harpo (the latter gave three-year-old Kenny his first harmonica). At age 13, Neal was playing in his father’s band, and at 17, landed a job playing bass for Buddy Guy.

The guitarist recruited some of his talented siblings to form the Neal Brothers Blues Band up in Toronto (brother Noel later played bass behind James Cotton; five other Neal brothers also play in various bands) before returning stateside. In 1987, Kenny Neal cut his debut LP for Florida producer Bob Greenlee, an updated swamp feast initially released by Kingsnake Records as Bio on the Bayou. The following year, Alligator Records signed Neal and reissued the debut under the title Big News from Baton Rouge!! Young Neal was on his way.

Neal’s sizzling guitar work, sturdy harp, and gravelly, aged-beyond-his-years vocals served him well, and he cut four albums for Alligator Records between 1989 and 1994. An acclaimed 1991 stint on Broadway in a production of Mule Bone found him performing acoustic versions of Langston Hughes’ poetry set to music by Taj Mahal.

TOUR DATES

Date City Venue
04/05/25 Baton Rouge, LA Baton Rouge Blues Festival
Admission: FREE!.
04/25/25 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
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05/21/25 Orlando, FL Judson’s Live @ The Dr Philips Center
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05/22/25 The Villages, FL The Villages Blues Society
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05/23/25 Boca Raton, FL Funky Biscuit
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05/24/25 Bonita Springs, FL Centers For The Performing Arts
05/25/25 Sebastian, FL Earls Hideaway
06/21/25 Biloxi, MS Ground Zero Blues Club
Time: 7:00pm. Buy Tickets
06/27/25 Salt Lake City, UT Utah Blues Festival
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07/12/25 Rockland, ME North Atlantic Blues Festival
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New Release

Kenny Neal
Straight From The Heart
Release Date: May 22, 2022

  1. Blues Keep Chasing Me
  2. Mount Up On The Wings
  3. I’ll Play The Blues For You
  4. Two Timing
  5. Louise Ana
  6. It Don’t Cost Nothing
  7. Bon Temp Rouler
  8. It’s Been So Long
  9. Someone Somewhere
  10. I’ve Got To Tell Somebody
  11. New Orleans

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