Mean Guitar - the second CD from the houserockin', Texas Blues rock Band - Mean Gene Kelton & The Die Hards!
About Mean Gene Kelton
Gene Kelton was "born in Mississippi on the wrong side of the tracks", just as his song Too White To Play The Blues states.
In his early years, he was greatly influenced by the old black blues musicians he heard performing on the street corners, dirt floor juke joints, and on the cotton plantation just outside of Charleston, Mississippi where his grandfather was a sharecropper.
During his teenage years, his family migrated to the oil fields of Liberty, Texas where Kelton was further influenced by Texas Swing, Country, Cajun swamp-pop and zydeco music that was prevalent in the southeast Texas region. Like all teenagers, Kelton was also listening to the rock 'n roll hits of the day. He was often caught skipping school, sitting by his Mom's old record player where he "studied" everything from Chuck Berry to the Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, B.B. King, Jimmy Reed and dozens of other classic, old blues albums. "I knew what I wanted to do with my life", says Kelton, "I wanted to play music for a living!"
By the time he was 20, Kelton achieved his life's dream... he was making a living playing music, and packin' the houses all over southeast Texas. However, it was a short lived dream. In 1974, when Kelton's first wife announced that she was pregnant with their first child he gave up his dream, quit the music business and got a day job. He drove trucks, worked in the oil fields and sold everything from vacuum cleaners to cemetery plots door to door. For nearly ten years, Kelton did little more musically than write songs and occasionally get his "music fix" by performing with weekend warrior bands at local VFW's.
In 1983, Gene Kelton was laid off from his job... "for being a dreamer" as his lyrics in Mean Guitar suggest. The entire country was in a depression, and jobs in Texas were few and far between. Kelton was desperate for any kind of work to support a wife and now two young sons. "Our house was repossessed, cars were repossessed, we had our lights turned off more than once. I used to have to walk down to a gas station a half mile away just to use the pay phone... then hitchhike to whatever little job I could get".
Out of sheer desperation and economic necessity, Kelton took his old guitar out of the closet and started hitting local bars and playing for tips. "It was not much money, but at least it bought groceries and basic necessities", says Kelton.
Kelton's talent, style and "mean" guitar playing soon had the club owners paying him a decent salary, and bidding for his open dates. His calender filled up. As a result, Kelton NEVER WENT BACK TO A DAY JOB! Being asked back to perform time and time again year after year speaks for itself. The rest is history.
Today... some 20+ years, two successful CDs, and a five thousand gigs later, Mean Gene Kelton has become a veteran road warrior, and a force to be reckoned with in the music business. His bluesrock singer/songwriter, guitar-slinging style crosses the musical spectrum from down-home dirty blues to country/rock, americana, juke joint boogie-woogie, and southern fried rock 'n roll. Legions of faithful fans and a high energy stage show has put Mean Gene Kelton and his band The Die Hards in great demand at major entertainment venues, music festivals and motorcycles rallies around the country.
The "BUZZ" of being one of the most successful bands in Texas prompted a recent phone call from the Austin City Limits television show. Kelton was informed that he had been placed on "the list" of bands now being considered for next seasons tapings.
"It only took twenty years to be an overnight success", says Kelton, "but man, what an adventure it has been"!
To learn more about Mean Gene Kelton & the Die Hards, booking availability, tour schedule, references, press reviews, distribution, jukebox services, media promotion, radio play, etc... visit http://www.genekelton.com.
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