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I first saw Catfish Keith perform in 1997 at the St David's Concert Hall in Cardiff. He was the opening act of a travelling Blues review consisting of some of today's finest performers including fellow traditionalists and a few representatives of the electric Chicago scene who in my Blues Brothers tinted eyes, were the main attraction. It's funny that out of all the acts I saw and enjoyed that night, the Catfish (a nickname derived from his unorthodox swimming technique) made the biggest impression. When I heard he was coming to York, I knew immediately where I'd be spending my Thursday night.
Catfish Keith is a skinny white guy - not someone who fits the stereotypical image of a blues singer
There was great energy in the venue with the local blues milieu out in force. As the main man entered the stage in customary Blues garb - a trilby hat with a dark, pinstripe suit and a long skinny tie - it was hard not to think of him as one of the jurors from Twelve Angry Men. Drawing his bottleneck, laying down a solid 4/4 beat he was off. Catfish Keith is a skinny, sinewy white guy with medium length straggly hair: not someone who fits the stereotypical image of a blues singer. But when he starts singing, it's as if something crawls inside him and possesses him; the madness of Buddy Bolden or the spirit of Robert Johnson, the Blues prodigy who sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads in return for his musical powers.
The Catfish sound is rough, raw, and physical - dredged straight from the bottom of the Mississippi. With one chord his guitar makes sounds that are beyond the entire capability of many guitarists, finger bleeding bends and complex, melodic leaps and stretches, all to the accompaniment of a rock steady left foot stamp. He uses the bottleneck to great effect (although less frequently than I remember), sliding it across the strings creating a sound which sends shivers down your spine. The intertwining melodic lines are played so effortlessly that at times it feels like you are watching a guitar trio.
His guitar playing is so good that it's easy to forget his abilities as a vocalist. His range is huge, going from a low down, gravelly growl to a tormented falsetto in the space of a few notes, grinning like a demented Cheshire Cat the whole time. In terms of repertoire, he specialises in old blues obscurities by performers such as Son House and Blind Lemon Jefferson (so obscure, in fact, that I didn't recognise any of them!), although they are reworked and remodelled with touches of folk, country and traditional jazz, creating a style of music that is all at once captivating and rollicking.
I left even more convinced than when I arrived that Catfish Keith is a top class performer. The Delta Blues sound generally takes time to get into, but if ever there was ever anyone who could convert you in a night it's this guy. He tours the UK regularly (this latest one is apparently his 29th spin) and I can't think of anything better that you could be doing with your evening.
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