Bringing Blues, Folk and Cajun Around the World and Home Again

Over the past two decades, Dave Keyes has played around the world to hundreds of thousands of blues and roots music fans as the bassist for Willy DeVille and the Mink DeVille band.     

At 8 p.m. Friday, the Franklin Lakes resident will once again plug in and perform the genres that shaped American music, only this time he won’t be leaving his hometown.     

Keyes, performing under the banner of Blues-Folk, will play several sets of blues, cajun and folk music at the Endless Vine wine shop and cocktail lounge at the Urban Farms Shopping Center.     

“We want to keep good music alive in our little town,” Keyes said during a phone interview last week. “[Roots music] really is a performance art. It’s best seen when it’s performed live.”    

Keyes will switch from bass to guitar on Friday night. Patrons can expect to see several styles of playing, including finger picking and slide guitar. The Illinois native will be joined by his wife, Marilyn, on the accordion on several of the original compositions and cover tunes that will make up the eclectic set.     

Friday also happens to be Keyes' 56th birthday, and he said he looks forward to spending his birthday doing what he loves best: performing live.      

Keyes said the intimate hometown show is an opportunity to introduce people to early American music and experiment with and shape his own work.     

“As a musician you need to break it down and get in front of a few people and try new things once in a while,” Keyes said. “It gives me a chance to just relax and try these new styles and develop my ability.”   

Keyes made his name with DeVille’s band. Led by the late, charismatic frontman and guitarist, Willy DeVille and the Mink DeVille Band played across the world, performing a mix of at times mournful and celebratory blues and traditional American music before DeVille died in 2009.   

“We wrote a lot of his last studio record right here on my back porch,” Keyes said. “We spent a lot of time together talking about the history of music and his influences, which I was really interested in.”     

Keyes played for the Mink DeVille Band from 1992 to 2007, when he was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that attacks the body’s muscle system and can affect several organs. He has undergone operations and bi-weekly chemotherapy treatments to fight the disease over the past four years.   

Finding strength in his determination to continue playing the music he loves, Keyes has kept a busy schedule despite his illness. Last week he performed with an ensemble for injured soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C.      

“It was quite an event and I was very proud to be a part of it,” Keyes said. “There were a lot of smiles on the soldiers’ faces. At times it was very emotional.”    

Keyes will perform with Tommy James and the Shondells at the Bethel Woods Music and Arts Festival in upstate New York on Aug. 14, and at a Willy DeVille memorial show at B.B. King Blues club in Manhattan on Aug. 31.    

Keyes also plays with the progressive rock and folk band Renaissance, which performs at the New York Society for Ethical Culture in New York City on Sept. 17 and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark on Sept. 24.    

“Music has given me a chance to see the world and enjoy incredible times,” Keyes said. “Music, along with our incredible friends and family, is helping me through this formidable health challenge and keepsus moving forward.  After all these years I still love playing, and always will.”    

To learn more about Blues-Folk, find out when and where they’re playing, or to book the duo, email bluesfolk@live.com.