'O Brother' bluesman King plans intimate performance

Bluesman Chris Thomas King, who comes to town Nov. 15 for a concert at The Seasons, has been hailed as an innovator and pioneer of blending the blues with hip-hop.

But it took a role in the Coen Brothers' 2000 sepia-toned hit "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" to make King a Grammy-winning artist.

Loosely based on Homer's "The Odyssey" but set in the 1930s American South, the comedy stars George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson as three chain-gang escapees out to recover some hidden loot. King plays Tommy Johnson, a talented bluesman who's picked up at a crossroads and claims to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his guitar skills.

On screen, King performs "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" and appears as one of the Soggy Bottom Boys when they record the film's biggest hit, "Man of Constant Sorrow."

"Honestly, I was pretty certain the movie would be successful," says the 40-something King, who makes his home in Prairieville, La.

But when the film's old-timey soundtrack of bluegrass, gospel, blues and roots music topped the pop and country charts and took home the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2001, "that was way beyond my imagination," says King.

"Who would have thought that type of music would be such a phenomenon?"

Following "O Brother," King appeared in "Down from the Mountain," a concert film featuring the artists from the film's soundtrack. He also appears in the blues documentaries "The Soul of a Man" and "Lightning in a Bottle" and played Lowell Fulson in the biopic "Ray," starring Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles.

"I like movies that have music to them ... where music is a character," says King, citing such films as "The Graduate," "Super Fly" and last year's surprise hit "Once."

"I'm a big fan of those kinds of films and I've been very lucky to be a part of them," he notes, before pausing.

"I'm always going to be known as the actor from 'O Brother' -- and that's OK with me."

For King, the thrill of acting comes from becoming a different character. As for music, it comes from being up on stage.

"I get caught up in the magic of the moment," he says. "What I don't like is the other 22 hours in the day."

The son of respected Baton Rouge juke joint owner Tabby Thomas, King (who added the last part of his moniker in the late 1990s), grew up listening to blues. Also influenced by rock, soul and hip-hop, King's mix of genres -- from folky, rootsy blues to rap and hip-hop scratching -- is something he's dubbed "21st Century Blues," also the name of his own record label.

"Life's been good but sometimes bad. These old blues is all we had. And from the old school to the new, I'm going to play these blues for you," he sings on "Like Father, Like Son," from his 2000 album "Me, My Guitar and the Blues."

So exactly what can next weekend's audience expect from King? It'll be more of a singer-songwriter type of performance of his own material and songs from the screen, he says.

"It'll be a pretty intimate performance," says King. "Just me and my guitar and the blues."

If you go

WHO: Blues artist Chris Thomas King.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15.

WHERE: The Seasons, 101 N. Naches Ave.

HOW MUCH: Tickets cost $15 and are available through The Seasons box office. Call 453-1888 or visit www.seasonsmusicfestival.com.

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