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CATFISH KEITH - KEEPING US HOOKED WITH “BLUES
AT MIDNIGHT”
By Lawrence Lebo

American acoustic blues singer/songwriter Keith Daniel Kozacik,
better known as Catfish Keith, was a childhood finger picking
guitar prodigy who grew up to also be a master of six-string,
bottle-neck slide and of the resonator guitar. If that’s not
enough, he’s a master storyteller as well! Steeped in tradition,
his foot-stomping delta-blues and American roots music has
captivated audiences world-wide. No surprise he’s released just
a few—18—chart-topping albums as well!

A four-time Blues Music Award nominee for Best Acoustic Blues Album, Catfish took

home that award in 2019. He’s been nominated thirteen times for a Grammy, and was inducted into
the IA Blues Hall of Fame in 2008. At present Catfish is nominated for a 2020 Blues Blast Award
and a 2020 Blues Music Award, both in the Best Acoustic Blues Album category.

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Catfish Keith’s 19 album titled Blues At
Midnight is a collection of all original
tunes that Keith wrote over the span of his
decades long career. The album is packed full
of nostalgic complex finger picking, joyous slide
playing and well-crafted storytelling … all tugging
deep at the heart and soul of traditional blues and
roots music. I’ll take the bait! Hook, line and sinker.

I asked Catfish Keith to tell us a bit about himself
and his new release Blues At Midnight. This is what
he told me…

LL: So, 40 years and 19 albums later we should
know all about you, but let’s pretend we don’t!
Would you please talk about growing up in Indiana
and Iowa, your parents and family, and what kind of
music you were exposed to in your home?

CK: Hi Lawrence! Thanks, great to be here and talk
to you today. I was born on February 9th, 1962, in
East Chicago, Indiana, also known as Indiana
Harbor. It’s an old steel mill town. I remember it as a place that had seen better days. It was home,
though!

First memories are from my grandma’s house. That is my father’s mother. She was pure Polish;
Grandpa was pure Slovak. East Chicago had lots of European immigrants of every persuasion, and
African Americans, Latin Americans. Many people worked at Inland Steel. Grandpa was a railroad
engineer, Uncle Harry worked in the open hearth at the steel-mill. Grandma was a telephone
operator for Indiana Bell. We’d go to Grandma’s every Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. She
was a great person, I sure loved her. For 64 years she lived in that same house on Pulaski Street in
East Chicago.