Kevin Allen Navy (Composer, Guitarist and Lead Vocalist) Founder of Knavy and the Blues On The Run Band
"It ain't the blues if you ain't paid the dues."
And Kevin Allen Navy sure has paid his fair share.
But no litany of woes for this bluesman, though.
For Kevin, the blues are a celebration of life, an affirmation that at the end of the journey is salvation.
Born in 1953 in Houston, Texas, Kevin got his first guitar when he was 9, a gift from his mother, although he actually started playing on his second guitar because the first one, bought at an auction, was "so bad she went and smashed it."
That second guitar "I took with me everywhere I went" and started playing even before he learned how to tune it. It "kept me out of trouble."
But Kevin's epiphany came one day when "my Dad asked to borrow my guitar. Then he took a bottle and started playing slide and when I heard that, I told myself, 'Man, that's what I wanna do.' And it's what I've been doing since."
And how.
From the very first band he formed, Blues on the Run, to his incarnation in the virtual world of Second Life as solo bluesman Kelvinblue Oh, Kevin has been faithful to his music, earning him the admiring monicker of "The Real Deal" from a loyal and still growing army of fans.
It wasn't a smooth journey, as Kevin himself is the first to admit. But, as he quickly adds, "sure been a wild ride," and one he has no plan of getting off of.
Early on, he came under the spell of some of the greatest influences of his life, like Albert Brooks and, of course, Jimmi Hendrix. He also went through what he calls a "rock and roll phase," playing "Lynnyrd Skynnrd and ZZ Top-style boogie woogie."
From the early 1980s, when he moved to Breaux Bridge, La. and hooked up with Andre Espree and his band, Bo Jacque and Zydeco Hi-Rollers, with whom he recorded an album, Kevin earned a name as a guitarist of the unique Zydeco sound.
Through that decade and the next, Kevin would play guitar in several Zydeco bands, even touring England. From 1991, he spent five years with Step Rideau''s Zydeco Band, with whom he played several US cities and cutting three CDs.
Although his involvement with Zydeco lasted until near the end of the 1990s, Kevin never stopped loving and playing the blues, nurturing another dream of his until, eventually, he again formed his own band, Knavy and the Blues on the Run, playing a unique sound he cooked up, which combined Zydeco, rock and roll and the blues -- Zy-de-Rock.
However, Kevin hit another major bump in his life. His health forced him to break up his band and quit playing for a while.
But nothing could keep him for long from the music that was his life, his salvation. And salvation came, albeit from a totally and wonderfully unexpected direction.
A friend invited him to try out what was then a still little known virtual world on the Internet. "I came in but was hardly no one there, so I left," Kevin recalls.
About a year later, he decided to give it another try and returned to find Second Life becoming the bustling, hustling phenomenon it is today. The friend, known in SL as Jenzza Misfit, "helped set me up and then let me play and I've been doing so ever since."
While much about Second Life, including the live music scene, is about experimenting and pushing the limits, Kevin, or Kelvinblue Oh, and his beloved Fender Strat, Miss Blue, have proven that even in this brave new world, it is still soul that counts.
From lowdown roots blues to boogie woogie to flaming covers of his idol Hendrix, Kevin has become a real star in Second Life, which has allowed his honest performances and down home humor to instantly connect him with an international audience that knows and holds on to real talent when they see it.
So diverse is his fan base that when Kevin breaks down the Boom, Boom Boogie, it is an almost sure bet you'll hear him shout out, "We're gonna rock France, the UK, the Philippines, Taiwan, Australia and all points in between," as audience members "shout back" their locations for inclusion. And most everyone who watches him knows his many original songs by heart and "sing" along with him. It isn't unusual either for someone in the audience to say they're jamming along to Kevin on their own guitars or keyboards or some other instrument in RL or real life.
And he's moving on to even better things. Soon, Kevin Navy will be cutting another CD and yes, launching it in Second Life. And if his packed gigs and growing audiences are any indication, once the album is out, we will be looking at Kelvinblue Oh, international music star.
Check out kelvin's site's on the liks below
http://www.myspace.com/knavybluesontherun
http://www.thesixtyone.com/kevinnavy/music
http://www.reverbnation.com/kevinnavy
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