Intro/Roots
Even at the young age of 5, Kenny Meeks was experiencing blues music firsthand. He had wandered away from his family during their visit with relatives in Horse Cave, Kentucky, and he had discovered a 50-something-year-old black man playing the blues out of his sharecropper shack next door. "I remember it like it was yesterday," says Kenny. "He was sitting on a kitchen chair, singing, and playing a dimestore guitar through a dimestore amp. The guitar was in an open tuning and he was using a jackknife for a slide. I'll never forget it. I still compare performers to him."

A few years later at the age of 8, Kenny was playing dixieland music on his cornet, and by 12 he was playing guitar. His influences ranged from Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones to Buddy Guy to Jimi Hendrix. "Detroit radio in the 1960s was a mix of Simon and Garfunkel, Motown, Stax, and British rock," he remembers. "I gravitated toward the guitar-based bands and realized they were really playing songs written by legendary guys like Willie Dixon and Elmore James. That was the stuff! The blues had a narcotic effect on me. It seemed to soothe the demons I fought: the inner and outer struggles of a young man, loneliness, and the passing of my mother."

In the years since, his respect for blues traditions, the music's forefathers, and its current participants has continued to grow. Kenny found himself relating to Eric Clapton--"I've always loved his voice," he says--and he lists Keb Mo, Taj Mahal, Ray Charles, Van Morrison, Junior Wells, and Rev. Gary Davis as some of his personal favorites.

Musical Experiences...When, What, Where, and With Whom
To date, Kenny Meeks has had a well-rounded experience as a musician. In the early 1980s he was playing with friends Jan Krist and Mark Covert in and around the Detroit area. After moving to Nashville in the mid-'80s, he was playing with Kim Hill and Michael Card while writing and playing solo around town. By 1994, Kenny was writing and playing music that combined country and blues idioms, music which came to be known as "alt-country." He realized that this underground genre was developing into a new format of commercial radio, and he fit right in. His first single, "I'll Be Superman (You Can Be Lois Lane)," was released to AAA and Country stations across the nation. He cites deejay Marilee Kelly and promoter Michelle Clark as two especially helpful allies at this time; despite his relative newness to the emerging alt-country scene, they were willing to play and promote the song enthusiastically.

In 1996, Kenny and friends Phil Madeira and Dave Perkins formed The Little Kings, a gritty blues-rock trio. This project took them to Holland where they performed at various live venues and on television. "We couldn't keep it together," Kenny remembers, "but it was fun while it lasted." Kenny returned to Holland with friend and Hightone Records artist Buddy Miller, playing bass in Buddy's band. "I really do enjoy playing bass and I knew a bit about how it's properly done," says Kenny. Recently Buddy and Kenny appeared on Chris Knight's self-titled debut on Decca Records. Others who appeared on the album included Richard Bennet, Kenny Greenberg, Greg Droman, Frank Liddel, and Glen Worf. "To be on a record with these guys is a big deal to me," says Kenny. "They are keeping real music alive in Nashville."

In the spring of 1997, Kenny joined the band Sixpence None the Richer on guitar. During his year-long stint playing with the band, he found kindred spirits among its members and he was continuously enriched by his experiences as both friend and bandmate. The affiliation led to appearances by Sixpence members Leigh Nash and Dale Baker on Kenny's solo debut Tell My Angel. "When I recorded [the album's title track] 'Tell My Angel,' " Kenny says, "I asked Leigh to sing on it and she did a beautiful job. She is a very soulful singer and we have much in common in that our influences vary from country to pop." Since his days with Sixpence, Kenny began his solo career in earnest, playing clubs and coffeehouses in Nashville and Franklin, Tenn., and elsewhere around the country. "I like playing festivals the best," he says. "One particular time, we played between Buckwheat Zydeco and James Brown.

Multitasking in the New Millennium
Kenny wears many hats as artist, musician, and producer. In 2000, he released his aforementioned debut album, Tell My Angel, to critical praise. Around that time he also assembled a group of blues musicians called the Southern Soul Masters, who play regularly around the Nashville area. Recently, Kenny completed work on two new solo efforts, Blue Chapel and Unfaded, both of which will be released in 2003. In addition to self-producing each of his own albums, he co-produced Jan Krist's 2001 release, Outpost of the Counterculture, and just completed work as producer of Derek Webb's 2003 solo debut, She Must and Shall Go Free. Kenny joined Webb's backing band during a spring/summer 2003 tour, playing a few of his own songs as well.