Tito Jackson, Kenny Neal Set Off Blues-Heavy Tour Through 2023

Tito Jackson and blues singer and multi instrumentalist Kenny Neal are taking the blues on the road on their upcoming Straight From The Heart Tour in the U.S., which will kick off on Aug. 27 with select dates through Feb. 4, 2023.

A second-generation bluesman, Kenny Neal is bringing his swamp blues roots to the tour. Kenny’s father was Baton Rouge blues mainstay and harpist Raful Neal, who was friends with Buddy Guy and Slim Harpo—the latter giving 3-year-old Kenny his first harmonica. At 13, Neal was already playing in his father’s band, and by the age 17 started playing bass for Buddy Guy.

Neal, 64, recently released his 17th album Straight from the Heart in 2022, which features collaborations with Jackson on several tracks, including “Two Timing.” The musician also received a Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy nod for this 2016 release Bloodline, which also picked up two Blues Music Awards for Best Contemporary Blues Album and Best Contemporary Male Blues Artist.

Neal recently released the documentary The Making of Mount Up On The Wings Of The King, a look behind his Straight from the Heart track of the same name, featuring Jackson, Eric O. Harper, and Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram.

Earlier in his career, Neal released four albums with Alligator Records from 1989 through 1994 and had a brief stint on Broadway in a production of Mule Bone where he performed acoustic versions of Langston Hughes’ poetry set to music by blues artists Taj Mahal.

Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with his brothers as The Jackson 5 in 1997, Jackson, 68, has crossed over multiple genres as a solo artist since his era-defining start with The Jackson 5. A love for blues, R&B, pop, and more, Jackson has collaborated with dozens of artists, songwriters and producers throughout his carer and released two solo albums, including debut Tito Time in 2016 and his most recent in 2021, Under Your Spell.

Photo: Devious Planet PR