April 3, 2001 – "I know that life and family is not always easy, so I have tried my best to represent family life musically with as many variations and feelings as I could come up with," explains Keb' Mo' in an open letter from the liner notes of Big Wide Grin.

"I wanted to depict family life as it really is, not as some ideal that no one really ever achieves," says Keb'.

In addition to offering a lyrically adept approach to communicating with kids and adults, Big Wide Grin has a lot of fun. The frantic skat pace of "Flat Fleet Floogie" (featuring the background vocals of actress Camryn Mannheim) and playful chorus of "Don't Say No" invoke images of laughing children jumping and singing along. "Everybody got a high, everybody got a low/Everybody gotta be yoself, no matter where you go," suggests Keb' in the chorus of "Everybody Be Yoself," an uplifting track with a universal message that Keb' recently performed on an episode of "Sesame Street" scheduled to run March 15, June 14, September 13, and December 13.

"I think kids are always struggling with self identity. Some things never change," says Keb'. "But there's so much more information nowadays to take in. There's so much more to learn than when I was coming up. I always tell my son, 'You don't have to learn all this stuff. Just do what you love, do your best in school, and you'll catch what you catch. You take those tools into the world and do what you love, and you'll be fine."

Keb's rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" is possibly only upstaged by his work on "America the Beautiful" -- with soulful voice and acoustic slide guitar, Keb' delivers an inspired back porch blues rendition of the traditional tune.

After the June 5th release of Big Wide Grin, Keb' will play a few U.S. shows before heading to Europe for a round of summer festivals through June and July. Back in the U.S. in August, Keb' will co-headline with Bela Fleck at a number of outdoor, all ages shows.