All songs ©Kevin Centlivre unless indicated. Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and part comic, Kevin comes from a family with a long musical heritage; both of his grandparents were in Vaudeville. His mother (their daughter) was always playing an eclectic selection of recorded music at home and singing along in her soulful voice. Safe to say, Kevin grew up in a musical household. He has been singing “as long as I can remember,” he says, and began to teach himself guitar at age 13. Bit by the showbiz bug, Kevin and friends Riley and Crager Couger created impromptu comedy cassette tapes of fictional radio station T-BOP to play for their friends. “We actually played it live a couple times for some youth groups. We made up these stupid, politically incorrect songs!“ They began to make movies with a Bell and Howell Filmosound 8 along with friend Jon Clark, and won an Honorable Mention in the Kodak Teenage Movie Awards of 1970.
Raised near Kansas City, the “heart of America,” Kevin was exposed to the sounds of blues and jazz synonymous with the area and soon found himself immersed in the “Kansas City tradition.”
In 1978, Kevin and friend Craig McKinney met and befriended Clarence Christian, elder brother of the legendary jazz guitarist Charlie Christian. Clarence gave them a personal history of the family and a firm foundation in the roots of jazz. They are two of the few authorized biographers of the Christian family (they know the other one) and he calls the experience “one of the most important of my life.” In 2009, Kevin and Craig found Charles' real gravesite in Bonham, Texas, which previously was incorrectly marked by a fan. While studying jazz and Charlie Christian he heard his first Chess Records and other blues greats from friend Gary Lloyd and later from Dave Gleue and Stephane Dal Zoto. It was a sound he became enamored with, and found himself learning and performing blues standards as well.
In 1998-1999, he traveled to Eastern France and began performing blues and jazz with local artists, many who remain in contact with him to this day.
In 2010, he had an unsuccessful neck fusion surgery. The surgeon admitted he failed and did a second surgery. This time he was coded on the operating table. His larynx was crushed during the procedures and lost his ability to sing. A week later, he lost the use of his hands. He had to teach himself to play as the strength returned as well as to sing over again. He constantly sang to achieve the level he was accustomed to, but was never satisfied. In 2014, after relearning guitar, he broke his left hand. He never actively pursued performing after this.
He tries as often as possible to share his music he recorded over the years with those who are appreciative of it. He hopes you enjoy what he has shared here.
The cover photo is Kevin in 2009 with two long-time musical partners, Steve Wilde, left and Tim Eddy, right. Steve passed in 2011 and Tim in 2013. They are greatly missed.
