There is an instrument at the center of Kevin Spears' music that most people have never heard played this way, and may never hear played this way again. The kalimba, a traditional African folk instrument, becomes in Spears' hands something he has spent a lifetime reimagining: not a curiosity, not a novelty, but a complete sonic world. As a young and quiet child, Kevin began applying his musical abilities and heart expression to speak through the kalimba, a range of emotions, dreams, and visions he found difficult to verbally communicate. Over time it became his loyal companion and refuge. The instrument didn't choose him so much as recognize him.
With a lifelong fascination with electronics and science fiction, it was perhaps inevitable that Spears would incorporate these passions in an Afrofuturistic way, weaving horns, bass, violins, synths, drums, and world percussion into a one-man folk-world-funk ensemble that feels less like a performance and more like a transmission. He builds some of his own instruments. He plays kalimba through guitar effects and modern electronics, bending the ancient and the futuristic into a single continuous voice.
AfroPop Worldwide has said that Spears "utilizes the traditional African instrument and tweaks it to create a soulful, funky sound," and the musical director of Cirque du Soleil has described his performances as drawing audiences "into his unique yet universal world." He has shared stages with Victor Wooten, India.Arie, Karen Briggs, Roy "Futureman" Wooten, Rising Appalachia, and Toubab Krewe, among many others. He has been featured at TED-X, Musikmesse in Frankfurt, Music China in Shanghai, The NAMM Show, and the Jazz Funk Africa Festival in Yokohama, Japan.