On Friday (January 21), five-time GRAMMY winner Keb’ Mo’ released his new full-length, Good To Be via Rounder Records. The album release was accompanied by the official video for the single “Good to Be (Home Again),” which made its broadcast premiere on CMT Music, CMT.com, and ViacomCBS Times Square billboards. The clip was filmed in Mo’s hometown of Compton, California, and features the famed Compton Cowboys. Last week Keb’ Mo’ performed “Good To Be (Home Again)” on The Kelly Clarkson Show.
“‘Good To Be (Home Again)’ feels like the title track to my life,” explains Kevin Moore, who is best known by his stage name Keb’ Mo.’ “I’m so excited to share the experience of a day in my neighborhood with the Compton Cowboys.” Smiling, he says, “What’s great about Compton is you never know when someone’s going to come riding down the block on a horse.”
Good To Be has been praised by American Songwriter, Billboard, Wide Open Country, Guitar World, and many more. No Depression called it “…a collection of originals that defies genre pigeonholing,” while Folk Alley said, “Mo’’s mellifluous vocals sing directly to the deepest part of us, and his music creates an aura that wraps us in the warmth of that delivery.”
Good To Be was co-produced by Keb’ Mo’ alongside country music legend Vince Gill, who produced three of the album’s 13 tracks, and three-time GRAMMY winner Tom Hambridge (B.B. King, Buddy Guy). Darius Rucker, Kristin Chenoweth, and Old Crow Medicine Show all make guest appearances on the album.
The album was written between Nashville and his childhood home in Compton, which Keb’ recently purchased and renovated. He often found himself reflecting on the idea of home and contemplating what it means to belong and what it takes to stay true to yourself. “You can’t bring an attitude to Compton,” reflects Keb’. “You can’t pose. You can’t be anything but real when you’re walking down the same streets you used to ride your bike on as a kid. In a lot of ways, coming back there felt like it completed me.”