Blues is a cause for celebration and a form of art for much-honored performer Keb’ Mo’.

It is no accident that 10 of Keb’ Mo’s 14 albums have been nominated for Grammys. It’s even less of a surprise that four of them won – in the Best Contemporary Blues Album category in 1997, 1999, 2005 and 2018.

Many have called him genre-defying, when in fact he is more of a genre-celebrating musician. He admits being profoundly influenced by Delta blues great Robert Johnson, and if you were blindfolded, his cover, vocals, slide guitar and harp soloing on the Muddy Waters classicHoochie Coochie Man would make you think ol’ Muddy was back in the flesh. Mo’s execution, whether playing traditional or contemporary blues, is as flawless singing vocals as he is as a songwriter, whether playing guitar, harmonica, banjo, mandolin, bass or keyboards. He even garnered a nomination in 2005 for Best Country Song for “I Hope,” which he co-wrote with the Dixie Chicks.

His visit to Monterey this weekend is part of the first leg of a trek in support of his latest,Oklahoma, which will drop June 14. The session pushes his boundaries even further, addressing current events issues like immigration, depression, pollution, love and female empowerment in his lyrics.

“When you are in a certain part of your life, the concept of an album is woven into the process,” Mo’ says. “All of these songs stem from important issues and topics worldwide that really resonated with me during the time we were recording the project.”

Born Kevin Roosevelt Moore in 1951, the name Keb’ Mo’ is an abbreviation – a bit of street talk by his original drummer Quentin Dennard. He first emerged in the early 1970s, recording with legendary Jefferson Airplane violinist Papa John Creach, who hired Moore when he was just 21.

Moore appeared on four of Creach’s albums as a sideman during that decade, and then releasedRainmaker, his own debut as Kevin Moore in 1980.

It would be 14 years before he released another disc, his eponymous second studio effort as Keb’ Mo’, and finally it all started to take off for him beginning in 1994. The record won a W. C. Handy award for Best Country/Acoustic Blues Album of the Year in 1995, planting him firmly in the contemporary blues scene.

A steady string of studio releases ensued, sometimes two in a year, garnering awards and critical acclaim across the roots, Americana, country and blues genres, culminating in his landmark 2017 collaboration with the Taj Mahal for the Grammy-winning session TajMo.

KEB’ MO’ 8pm Saturday, May 11. Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St., Monterey. $53-$168. 649-1070, goldenstatetheatre.com