The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: Out & About

Media Credit: COURTESY JILL GOULET North Carolina-based singer/songwriter Wink Keziah released his latest album, "Working Songs for the Drinking Class," in January. [Click to enlarge]

He watched his mother shoot his father when he was 9 years old.

Charlotte, N.C.-based country artist Wink Keziah said his life reads like a cheap C-movie, chock-full of drama.

"It was not so much my mother, it was my father," Keziah said. "He was just a hardcore alcoholic; he was a bootlegger and a card shark. He was a very dangerous guy to be around."

He said it was his father's own fault that his mother was forced to shoot him, acting out of fear.

"That's not an easy thing for a 9-year-old to watch," Keziah said. "Living in that situation, you just try to survive, and you realize drastic measures have to be taken."

With a songwriting career that truly began around age 12, Keziah is certain his childhood bleeds into his writing even now.

"I don't know that it bothers me that it happened, this many years later, but I surely can't forget it," he said.

Keziah said he tries to write about things people experience in their lives.

"People work hard; I write about working," he said. "People love hard, and love's not always easy; I write about that. People like to have a good time, blow off a little steam, and I write about that."

His latest album, "Working Songs For The Drinking Class," was released in January and represents a culmination of this writing process.

"I wanted the record to be something that the blue collar American could easily identify [with], that was very fun at times," he said.

Ken Will Morton, who will headline Saturday night's show, said he also tries to write about life experiences.

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