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At that time, Kenny had already toured with Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy
Waters. Kenny was just 13 years old when he toured with Buddy Guy, and to him, Buddy was just
his dad’s friend. He didn’t realize Buddy’s star power until one night in London, Kenny stepped
onto stage to play guitar with Buddy, and there were 10,000 people in the audience. Kenny
looked at Buddy and said, “Who is the headline act all these people have come to see?” Buddy
looked annoyed and said, “I am, kid.”
Last Friday I talked to Kenny while he was waiting for a flight to Chicago. He had been
caught-up in the chaos that was created when American Airlines took most of their planes out
of service for an inspection they didn’t carry out on schedule. So, we chatted for about thirty
minutes. Since I last crossed paths with Kenny, he had gone through four years of illness and
tragedy that would put any person down. But, his positive attitude and strong will to survive
saved him.
{ }
“ I discovered I had liver cancer. It was quite a
shock, but I kept a positive attitude and fought
it… After a long recovery, I was ready to crank
up a full time touring schedule.”
“I’ve been off the road for a year and a half recovering from liver cancer. But for the last four
years I’ve gone through hell. First, my dad, Raful died of bone cancer. Then, my brother died of
liver cancer. A short time later, my sister was murdered in her beauty salon by a stalker…Given
the obvious genetic predisposition for cancer in my family, I got checked out and I discovered
I had liver cancer. It was quite a shock, but I kept a positive attitude and fought it…After a long
recovery, I was ready to crank up a full time touring schedule. But I didn’t rush back into work.
I wanted to make sure I was ready. The brilliant oncologists at Stafford University Hospital took
great care of me with the latest cutting edge treatments.”
“During my convalescence, I worked on writing a book of all my years playing with legends,
titled I Remember When. I also began the tedious task of editing 80 hours of video footage
of my various concerts with Buddy, Muddy, and John Lee. During my down time, I produced
my own TV show on which I interviewed blues artists. So, although I was tired from all the
treatments, I didn’t waste the time. I hope to launch the book and DVD together as a package
deal in September. I’m doing surprisingly well selling my CDs, and merchandise on my website,
kennyneal.net. Now, I’m looking forward to touring again…After so long at home, I missed the
contact with live audiences. I have a new CD titled Let Life Flow.”
music | eujacksonville.com | MAY 2008
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