Dave Keyes in interview “it all starts with the blues”

Dave Keyes is one of the most distinctive figures in New York blues and roots rock. A flamboyant pianist, a fully committed singer and an inspired songwriter, he belongs to the great American tradition where rhythm’n’blues, rock’n’roll, gospel and soul speak to one another without borders. Born in the Bronx and trained early in classical music before diving into the blues, Dave Keyes has developed an instantly recognizable style: a powerful, often percussive piano approach, carried by a raw and deeply expressive voice.

His career took on an international dimension when he became, for several years, the regular keyboardist for Bo Diddley, one of the founding fathers of rock. That collaboration left a lasting mark on his rhythmic and stage approach: Dave Keyes learned the art of trance, pulse and relentless groove. At the same time, he accompanied and shared the stage with major artists in African-American music, including Odetta, a key figure in folk and politically engaged blues, whose artistic standards and human depth would leave a strong imprint on his path.

A highly sought-after musician, Dave Keyes has also worked with Popa Chubby, bringing his volcanic piano to an electric blues that pulls no punches. These experiences have fueled a rich personal body of work, built over the years through albums praised for their sincerity and raw energy. A prolific songwriter, he explores both the roots of the blues and the paths of urban rock, with a sharp sense of narrative and emotion. The gifted Chris Bergson is also among the musicians he loves sharing the stage with.

On stage, Dave Keyes is known for intense performances where virtuosity never overshadows feeling. Alone at the piano or backed by a band, he wins over audiences through a generous presence and total commitment. His latest album, Two Trains, is the most recent illustration of that: recorded in part with legendary drummer Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, it’s a mature, deeply personal record where blues memory, a tribute to his wife Patty, who recently passed away, reflections on contemporary America and an intact passion for living music all meet.

🎙️ Dave Keyes in interview with Marc Loison

Hello Dave Keyes. You played last September at the Blues Bender in Las Vegas. Could you say a few words to describe a concert like that?

First of all, it’s incredible. It’s three or four days of music, and it’s huge. It’s a bit like a blues cruise, except everything happens in the same place, in a hotel, and without a boat (laughs). The team is fantastic. My friend Jimmy Carpenter is the musical coordinator, and he’s also a remarkable sax player. He put together a great crew. Basically, it’s a lot of friends getting together and having a good time. And it all takes place in the room where Elvis Presley played 800 concerts!

Your reputation is now well established as a New York singer, pianist and bandleader. What do you think you owe that path and that recognition to?

Well, hard work! (laughs) I’ve been doing this for a long time. Almost 50 years, actually…

Because you started at the age of one?

Yes, something like that. I think it’s important to know how to have fun with people. I’ve had the opportunity to play with people who aren’t always the easiest for that. But I still had very good experiences with each of them. I think that helps.

I’m very open to different styles of music and I don’t say no. “Can you do this?” “Sure, I’ll try…” And then you do it. That’s what helps me.

“Odetta was an exceptional artist”

Who are the main artists you have played with? The ones who left the deepest, strongest memories?

Odetta. She was an exceptional artist. Everything she said, every word, meant something. So it made me feel that every note I play must also mean something. Among the musicians I worked with for a long time, there’s also Popa Chubby. When he’s on stage, the main thing is to make good music. Even in rehearsal, we played like that (he mimics Popa Chubby), very loud, very intense. That obviously stayed with me.

And Bo Diddley, of course. Bo Diddley was great. A legend. He’s one of the four people who invented rock’n’roll. You can name Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. Bo Diddley was first and foremost a bluesman. When he decided to play the blues, it was truly impressive. We spent a lot of time together. It was something very special.

Let’s talk about the way you play piano. You’re equally comfortable with blues, boogie, New Orleans music, and so on…

For me, everything starts with the blues. It’s like the blues is the base of the tree. And from that tree grow all the branches: the different New Orleans styles, gospel music, country music, then rock’n’roll. So if you can play a twelve-bar blues, that’s already a very good starting point. Then you have to stay open to different styles, listen as much as possible to the masters, those who are truly great musicians.

Often, when people talk about Dave Keyes, they say, “Oh yes, Dave Keyes, a man who plays piano!” But you’re also a great singer. We really felt that tonight in particular…

Thank you. I do warm-ups before every concert, about twenty minutes. I started singing very young, at school, around 16, because nobody around me knew the lyrics. I didn’t have a very good voice, but I kept going, again and again. Some people are born with an incredible voice. That wasn’t my case. So I worked, and today I’ve reached a point where I feel very comfortable singing.

Dave Keyes, your new album is titled Two Trains and includes ten new songs, nine of them original compositions. New songs by you, as well as by Mark Sameth, who has worked with Bettye LaVette among others. How did that collaboration with him go?

That collaboration was very interesting, because Mark Sameth is a hit songwriter based in Nashville. We were in high school together: he played in one band, I played in another, then we lost touch for forty or forty-five years. He later moved to Nashville and wrote songs for Loretta Lynn, Bettye LaVette, and other artists of that caliber. Then he went through a kind of disillusionment and left Nashville.

He called me three or four years ago and said: “Dave, I want to get back to basics. I’d like to write a few songs for you, and with you…” He’s very attached to the craft of songwriting. On my end, I write songs that translate what I feel, what I have in my heart, and that works for me. But he’s very precise in his approach, in his method. That helped me evolve my own creative process.

Sometimes he came in with a lyric idea, sometimes I brought him a lyrical base, and we worked together from there. Honestly, it was the easiest way of writing I’ve ever experienced. And I truly think the songs on this album are the best I’ve ever written or co-written. So yes, I’m really very excited about this release.

Two Trains includes gospel, blues, boogie and ballads. What colors did you want to give your album?

The colors of the blues. This album is important to me, because Two Trains symbolizes the good and the bad, black and white, yin and yang. Even in what may seem like the worst ordeal, there is always something to understand, something to learn.

It’s a cathartic process, very comforting, and for me it has a real healing power. There’s also the idea that, even in the most difficult situations, a positive part and a negative part always coexist. That’s what Two Trains is: two trains on the same railroad track, in a way.

You mean there’s something to learn from everything?

From everything, yes. I lost my wife two years ago. We were married for thirty-seven years and we had a wonderful marriage. She was exceptional. Then you go through a process: first grief, then the question of how to keep moving forward. Fortunately, she had a remarkable mind. She would tell me: “You’re alive, you have to live your life, you have to continue.”

She was a dancer, ran her own company, and we worked together a lot. We traveled around the world, the two of us. With all that, I had to learn how to overcome this terrible ordeal. I tried to find happiness inside the pain itself, and she helped me, in a way, to find it.

That’s exactly what Two Trains represents. All its symbolism is there. The colors are dark, yes, but the world is not black or white. It is gray. It’s that in-between zone you discover, and it’s the one that opens the way to everything else.

Dave Keyes, about what you said on stage a few minutes ago, “I apologize for what’s happening in the United States”…

Actually, I never said I was apologizing. I said I was sad. And it’s very sad, because I can’t apologize for something that is happening. Half the country voted for Trump, the other half didn’t. So I can’t apologize for that, but I feel deeply sad…

It’s very difficult, because it really is 50% versus 50%. Half doesn’t understand how the other half thinks or what it does, and vice versa. I tried to think about that… And basically, it’s part of the idea of the two trains. You have to find some common ground, something you can work on together, and from there try to understand the rest, collectively.

You recorded Two Trains with two engineers, Dave Kowalski and Kyle Castle, in New Jersey. How did those recording sessions go? How did you manage to “put it all together”?

It’s interesting, because I recorded a lot of songs in 2023 with Bernard Purdie. At that time, my wife was sick and I couldn’t really move forward. So I preferred to wait, until my mind was less clouded.

In the end, I recorded the whole set of songs in early 2025, at a different pace, because Bernard Purdie had moved to North Carolina and I couldn’t work exactly the way I wanted. But still, it worked out.

The key was having the songs. The essential thing was being able to write pieces I felt comfortable with, that meant something to me. Songs I could also explain to myself. There’s a kind of self-revelation there, around the death of my wife, conflicts in the world, and the way we can help people understand all that.

About the production of the album, you already had David Bennett. What exactly was his role?

His role was mixing, he mixed the songs. He’s the son of Tony Bennett. I met David because he was mixing albums for Peter Karp, a Canadian artist. I had taken part in sessions for David on Peter’s records about fifteen years ago. He was great, really. A great guy.

Could we have a few words about some of the people on this album. The first one, drummer Bernard Purdie, was already on your last album Rhythm Boogie & Blues… He is 86 now!

Yes, of course. Bernard Purdie is someone special. He has played on thousands of absolutely incredible albums, with major artists in blues, soul, funk, rock and pop. At that level, his résumé speaks for itself. Whether or not he played with the young Beatles early on, I wasn’t there to see it, but honestly, I believe him, because I love him and because he knows exactly what he did in his life.

What strikes me the most are the moments spent with him. I especially remember a festival in South Carolina. I went to pick him and his wife up, because he has trouble driving now because of his eyes. During the ride, he told me incredible stories, like driving Aretha Franklin to the Fillmore West. He also talked about those legendary sessions he took part in, albums that are among my favorites, tour stories, managers, and even about the death of King Curtis.

When King Curtis was killed, Bernard Purdie ended up handling a lot of things, including organizing sessions and paying musicians. Hearing all that from his own mouth, understanding how that world worked back then, was fascinating. Beyond the exceptional musician, he is also a living memory of a whole chapter of American music history.

Dave Keyes, there are other musicians on your album, including Alexis P. Suter and Vicky Bell, who sing backing vocals on four songs…

Yes, yes, yes!

Chris Bergson plays slide guitar on Trust in love and fate, a very good song… How was that song built, specifically?

The secret is to surround yourself with people who can play, who can sing, and who can approach a project with an open mind and an open heart. In this specific case, I also had a fairly clear vision of what I wanted to do. I didn’t know exactly how everything was going to take shape, but I wasn’t afraid to let the process follow its own path.

When Vicky and Alexis arrived, everything fell into place very naturally between them, and it was great.

And then there’s Chris Bergson as well. He only appears on one song, but he recorded it, we discussed it together. He’s very thorough in what he does, very thoughtful, and he plays remarkably.

“I focus on love”

So Two Trains is about love, loss and pain, and about how you live with all of that. What is, for you, the response to those emotions? How do you find the balance between joy, but also the sorrow you mention?

Love and music… Yes, love is the answer. John Lennon said it, didn’t he? So I focus on love, and I keep doing it…

You told me this was your best album so far…

Yes, absolutely. Because I wasn’t afraid. First, I think the songs are much better. The whole thing is far more coherent, more focused. It’s more accomplished, with a stronger, more fully embraced emotional dimension. But above all, I wasn’t afraid to take risks.

For example, there’s a song on the album called I’m Alright. It’s a shuffle I co-wrote with Benny Turner, the brother of Freddie King, who also got very involved in the track. I didn’t know ahead of time how we were going to do it. At one point, we break the shuffle and shift into a gospel feel. I didn’t know exactly how to get there, but I knew I had the right musicians around me. So we did it. And it worked.

For me, that was a really strong moment.

Can you say a few words about drummer Pablo Leoni, who comes from Italy?

He’s great. We met about seven to ten years ago. I did a few shows with him in Lugano. I don’t remember exactly our first meeting. We just exchanged cards, then he took me across Italy, where we did a lot of things together. I had excellent times with him. He’s a really nice person, a very good drummer, and also very friendly.

What would you say to the people listening to you today, to those wondering what the future of the blues will be?

Ah… the future of the blues is a big question. There are a lot of remarkable young artists today, like Christone Ingram. New bluesmen keep arriving all the time. The music has to evolve to reflect what’s happening in society, what people live through, what they feel.

There’s room for traditional blues. There’s room for contemporary blues. As long as it’s played well and done with heart, then it’s blues. And deep down, everybody has the blues.

One last question. What will your next project be for the coming months, in 2026?

I’m going on tour with Jimmy Carpenter for a few weeks. Then I want to get back to writing a new album at the beginning of the year. Mark Sameth and I are going to start writing together again and keep putting things in motion. That prospect really excites me.

Also, I truly appreciate everything you do. People like you, who support the music and play our songs, it means a lot to all of us.

Thank you. Thank you for your generosity, your talent and your kindness.

Thank you!

Thanks to Jacques Picard, Patty Picard, Paul Colin and the whole Backstage team for the interview conditions after the 14th Evrecy Blues Club on October 17, 2025. The 15th edition of the Evrecy Blues Club is scheduled for February 27, 2026 with Paul Benjaman and Kaz Hawkins.

🎧 Listen to Two Trains by Dave Keyes on Spotify