Keb' Mo' brings The Breakdown to the Clyde Theatre on Nov. 18

The bluesman's first Fort Wayne show in our records comes behind a stripped-down, voice-and-guitar album made after a health scare that nearly ended his career.

Two years ago Keb' Mo' was on tour with Slash and started having trouble breathing. The health scare that followed nearly ended his career. On Wednesday, Nov. 18, he's on stage at the Clyde.

Keb' Mo' plays the Clyde Theatre on Wednesday, November 18, with an 8 p.m. start. Tickets are through eTix. It's his first Fort Wayne date in our records, and it comes at the end of a Midwest run: Chicago on Nov. 16, Akron on the 17th, then here.

He's touring behind The Breakdown, released Aug. 21 on Concord Records. The idea is simple: it strips things back to his voice and guitar. It's also his first solo album since 2021's Grammy-nominated Good To Be…, and given what came between those two records, a bare, close-up album makes sense. Songs including "Fussing and Fighting," "Hand It Over" and "One Day Away" were released ahead of the album, so some of the new material may already be familiar.

After the health scare that nearly ended his career, Keb' Mo' came back with just his voice and a guitar.

That's the main reason to go. Keb' Mo' has long been as much a songwriter as a blues guitarist, and a voice-and-guitar record puts the songwriting front and center. You can hear every word and every bit of the picking hand. Hearing those songs live, months after the record came out and with a tour's worth of shows behind them, is the best way to hear them.

The Clyde Theatre holds about 2,150, which is a big room for a record this intimate. The good news is that a theatre that size lets a lot of Fort Wayne fit in, and a Wednesday-night blues crowd tends to listen closely. Expect a quiet room for the slow ones.

A few things to know. It's a weeknight with an 8 p.m. start, so you'll be home at a reasonable hour for Thursday. Tickets are through eTix via the Clyde. The listing doesn't give a door time, so check the venue's page closer to the date. If you haven't heard The Breakdown yet, play it on the drive over. It's the sort of record that rewards knowing the words before the show.

Not every touring act puts Fort Wayne on a fall run, and not every artist comes back from a scare like his. This one did both. Go on a Wednesday and listen.

Sources: JamBase: Keb' Mo' at Clyde Theatre (jambase.com); Grateful Web: Keb' Mo' announces new album The Breakdown (gratefulweb.com); Bluestown Music: Keb' Mo' – The Breakdown (bluestownmusic.nl)