Kevin Brown

Kevin Brown is a British slide guitarist, singer and songwriter born in Preston, Lancashire, in 1950. He is based in Bath, Somerset, and works mainly in blues, while also drawing on country, folk, Americana and world music. Over a long career he performs slide acoustic guitar, lap steel guitar and Weissenborn.

Early life and influences

Brown grows up in Bamber Bridge, Preston, as the son of a signwriter and a schoolteacher. He is inspired towards blues music after seeing Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Muddy Waters on television in the 1960s. As a teenager he also encounters the guitar playing of Ray Skaggs of the Dennisons, and this helps shape his interest in the instrument.

He studies at Dartington College of Arts and Rolle College in Exmouth. In 1970 he is busking on Portobello Road in London when Son House sees him perform. Brown becomes friendly with Son House and absorbs some of his approach to guitar playing.

Career

Brown works as an art teacher before deciding to pursue music full time. In 1978 he moves to Bath, where he continues to live and work. He also spends time in Austin, Texas, in the early 1980s, and later describes this period as important in developing his playing.

In 1982 record producer Joe Boyd hears him and this leads to a recording deal with Hannibal Records. His debut album, Road Dreams, follows on Hannibal in 1984. Rust appears in 1988, later coming out on Rykodisc after Hannibal is acquired. That album receives a nomination from the British Blues Foundation for best blues album of the year.

The early releases lead to a contract with Chrysalis Records in 1990. Brown then releases Time Marches On in 1994. He also works with Mark Knopfler on Knopfler’s first solo album in 1995.

By 1998 Brown is issuing music on his own label, Doodah Records. His instrumental album Sunny Side Up appears that year, followed by Mojave Dust in 2000. In 2004 he releases Kora Blues, a collaboration with Malian kora player Moussa Kouyate. He also releases Tin Church in 2006.

Brown tours widely in the late 1990s and 2000s, performing from the main stage at Glastonbury Festival and in venues in Texas. Mark Knopfler says Brown offers more than a typical slide player.

Shackdusters and later work

After releasing two solo records in 2010, Brown forms the duo Shackdusters with guitarist and bass player Gary Rudd. Their first release is Home and Dry in 2011, followed by Home for Christmas the next year. The duo performs at Lichfield Festival in 2012.

Brown’s 2013 release Slideville and the later Shackdusters recordings show his move further into lap steel playing. His album Grit appears in 2015 and is produced by Neville Farmer. It is recorded as a live-in-the-studio album and includes guest vocals and guitar from Andy Fairweather Low.

Recordings and style

Brown has released twelve albums in all. His writing includes songs such as “Lancashire Blood on a Texas Floor”, which refers to two casualties of the Battle of the Alamo who came from Preston, and “The Ballad of J. J. Cale”, which pays tribute to J. J. Cale, one of his musical influences.