Catfish Keith

Catfish Keith (born February 9, 1962) is an American acoustic blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as an exponent of the resonator guitar. He has released several solo albums, including 2001's A Fist Full of Riffs.

The Guardian described him as "a solo revelation" who was "breaking new ground for blues. Twice a Blues Music Award nominee for 'Best Acoustic Blues Album', he has had ten number one independent radio chart hit albums.

Early life and career Catfish Keith was born Keith Daniel Kozacik in East Chicago, Indiana, and was first inspired by blues music he heard on the radio. These included songs by Buddy Guy, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, although by the time he owned a guitar in his teenage years, he listened mostly to Son House. He attended high school in Davenport, Iowa, before setting out across the United States and beyond learning to sing and play his brand of the blues. He traveled to the Caribbean, where his musical education benefited from hearing Joseph Spence.

His stage name originated from a diving partner in the Virgin Islands who, having seen his efforts at swimming, nicknamed him "Catfish-Swimmin'-Around," and "Catfish-Steel-Guitar-Man." Catfish Keith had his debut album, Catfish Blues (1984), released by Kicking Mule Records. He continued to tour constantly and picked up playing tips from watching Jessie Mae Hemphill, Henry Townsend, Johnny Shines and David "Honeyboy" Edwards.

Keith married in 1988 and founded his own record label, Fish Tail Records. 1991's Pepper in My Shoe sparked global interest in his work, and he toured both Europe and the United States. He appeared on the cover pages of the publications Blues Life, Blueprint, Block and The Guardian, and his follow-up effort, Jitterbug Swing was nominated for a Blues Music Award. Further acclaim was afforded by the British magazine, Blues Connection, who named him "the new slide king of the National steel guitar."

Cherry Ball (1993) saw Dirty Linen'''s James Jensen state "Catfish will give you goose bumps and leave you howling for more!" A further Blues Music Award nomination was generated by the release of Fresh Catfish in 1995.

After Twist It Babe!, his next release was Pony Run (1999). Sweet Pea (2005) was praised by Living Blues who opined "the guitar playing is surely the main attraction here, and "Blotted Out My Mind" alone earns Catfish comparison to Frank Hovington, Elizabeth Cotten, and other virtuoso six-stringers."

In 2008, Keith was inducted into the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame.

He is an endorser of National Reso-Phonic Guitars. Catfish Keith has issued an instructional DVD entitled Dynamic Country Blues Guitar.

In 2019, his album, Reefer Hound: Viper Songs Revisited'', won Acoustic Album of the Year honors at the Blues Blast Music Awards.

Discography Year Title Record label 1984 Catfish Blues Kicking Mule Records 1991 Pepper in My Shoe Orchard Records 1992 Jitterbug Swing Orchard Records 1993 Cherry Ball Fish Tail Records 1995 Fresh CatfishOrchard Records 1997 Twist It Babe! Orchard Records 1999 Pony Run Orchard Records 2001 A Fist Full of Riffs Solid Air Records 2003 Rolling SeaFish Tail Records 2005 Sweet PeaFish Tail Records 2007 If I Could HollerFish Tail Records 2008 Live at the Half MoonCD Baby 2011 A True Friend is Hard To Hard – A Gospel Retrospective CD Baby 2011 Put on a BuzzCD Baby 2013 Honey HoleFish Tail Records 2017 Mississippi River BluesFish Tail Records 2018 Reefer Hound: Viper Songs RevisitedFish Tail Records 2019 Catfish CrawlFish Tail Records 2020 Blues at MidnightFish Tail Records 2024 Shake Me UpCD Baby

Catfish Keith

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