Keri Leigh

In 1989 she helped found the Oklahoma Blues Society and during one of their local jam sessions she was encouraged to sing again. She quickly discovered that she still had it, and she joined the local Brownston Blues Band. During this time Leigh met her future husband, guitarist Mark Lyon. The two moved to Austin in 1990 and joined the hotbed of blues activity going on there at the time. The pair formed Keri Leigh and the Blue Devils and soon found themselves a regular at Antone’s blues club. During this time Leigh was also working with guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan on his autobiography. When Vaughan was killed in a helicopter crash in 1990, Leigh took over the project and published Stevie Ray Vaughan: Soul to Soul in 1993.

After releasing two records on the local Amazing Records, Leigh’s contract and masters were purchased by the Malaco subsidiary Waldoxy Records in 1994. Her record Arrival was recorded at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and includes seven tracks written by she and Lyons, as well as cuts from Sugar Pie DeSanto, Sly Stone, Gregg Allman and Koko Taylor. Released in 1995 this album displays Keri Leigh’s powerful, Janis Joplin–like vocals at their finest.

—Brett J. Bonner