How often does a blues great steal the heart of Fort Worth?  On a recent November night, Kim Wilson did just that.  Strapping harp player, renowned songwriter and vocalist, Kim Wilson and his band were heartily welcomed to the stage of J&J`s Blues Bar.  Filled with fans, including many local artists, the club was more than alive with powerful energy.  The band never let up.

Kim Wilson, being influenced by greats such as Muddy Waters, James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite and John Lee Hooker, has developed into legendary status with his soul-heartening harmonica style.  Muddy Waters has been quoted as saying that Wilson is his favorite harp player.  Kim became intrigued with the blues while in high school and soon discovered the harp.  In Austin, he shared the stage with Muddy Waters as well as many other artists.  It was in Austin during the ‘70`s that he met Jimmie Vaughn and formed the Fabulous Thunderbirds that became the house band for Antones.  They came quick to fame by recording the hits, Tuff Enuff and Wrap It Up.

On this particular night in Fort Worth, Kim Wilson`s Blues Revue consisted of the young, fiery yet refined guitarists, Kirk Fletcher and Troy Gonyea, Marty Richards on drums, Ronnie Weber on bass and Gene Taylor on his boogie-woogie Hammond.  Staying true to the blues with Kim Wilson originals such as Learn To Treat Me Right and Got To Let You Go as well as standards such as Little Walter`s Oh Baby and Bartholomew`s Ain`t Gonna Do It, the band improvised as they carried each tune past it`s limit.  The band fed off of Kim`s endless energy.  Wilson proudly stepped aside for each member`s solo and at one point told the audience, “I get to live my life vicariously through these boys now.”   

The band played until closing as the crowd screamed for more.  After the show and working his way out the back door, Kim kindly consented to an interview.  We sat for a casual conversation about his music.  Particularly, I wanted to know about his writing.

He graciously answered, “Writing is one of the hardest things to do in the blues because it`s all been done.  So, you’ve got to find a twist; add a little clever twist without being too clowny and too corny.  And I feel like in the past that I`ve made a pretty good contribution to that, and I`m not done.  I haven`t been writing as much blues these days as I used to because I got caught up in trying to write hit songs and get hooks and stuff like that and now I`m kind of getting back into that.  Writing more down stuff, more bluesy stuff.  I still get into the soul type of things, those types of beats.”

“When you say ‘down stuff`, do you mean the get down and dirty blues?”   

“Yeah, you know, like I`ve written a whole bunch of those kinds of things.  And, it`s really easier for me to write them than to go off and try to find the next flavor of the day.  I`ve got a lot of friends that I write with:  Danny, Steve Jordan, Rick Jiles, Chuck Jones in Nashville, Jerry Nicholson in Nashville.  I`ve got a few other people in Nashville that I really enjoy writing with.  Sometimes, it`s real nice when you can bounce stuff off another person.  It makes it real easy.  Sometimes it makes it a little too easy.  And you really want to stick to what you thought of in the first place. “

“You pick some awesome musicians to play with.  With the guys you`ve got tonight, it just all seems to go together so well.”

“Yeah.  And believe it or not, that band has never rehearsed one second.  We just have so much in common.  We`ve played a few shows together now and everybody kind of gets a feel for each other.  You get people that really respect music.  When I call off something on the bandstand, I feel like they should know what that is.  Anything.  It doesn`t matter what it is.  If I know it, they should know it.  And with these guys, they pretty much do.  The nice thing about that is, a lot of times I don`t tell these guys what I`m going to sing.  I just start it and that makes it real spontaneous and it makes it more different and original.  It`s just a lot of fun to do when you`ve got these kind of guys.  I`m really blessed in the amount of people that I have that say ‘yes` when I call them.  I know all the best ones in the world.  It doesn`t matter if we play at JJ`s or where.”