Keb’ Mo’ evidently had the state of the union on his mind when he was putting together his new album, “Live and Mo’,” which was just released in late October.

Indeed, in many ways, the album is a commentary on the state of America, the economic hardships many Americans are presently grappling with, and “the times we are living in,” he says. But he adds that wasn’t his intention before doing the new songs.

“No, it wasn’t until after the fact, after I had written and recorded them, that I realized there was this connecting thread between several of the songs,” says Keb’ Mo’ — whose real name, as most of his fans know, is Kevin Moore, and who comes to the Michigan Theater, accompanied by his three-piece band, on Wednesday.

In fact, one of the socially conscious songs, “Victims of Comfort,” dates back to 1994, and is one of several older songs on what is essentially a “hybrid album” — it consists of six live tracks that find Moore and his band reinterpreting older songs, and four studio tracks.

The cautionary “Victims of Comfort” was on the first album he released as Keb’ Mo’. In its original version, Moore gave it a solo-acoustic-guitar-and-vocal treatment. But for the new disc, Moore and his band re-recorded it and fleshed it out considerably — giving it a sultry, funky, blues-pop imprint that has become Moore’s trademark over the years.

It’s also the lead-off track, setting the theme he explores in other songs.

“I think it’s one of my most important songs,” says Moore during a recent phone interview. “It’s about the society we live in, and all of the comforts we enjoy, but which may be having a negative impact on the environment, or on the world as a whole. We have nice cars with gasoline engines, and enjoy the comfort of riding around in them, but we’re poisoning the air.

“And we’re doing other things for our comfort that are hurting us, and harming the planet. We’ve got toxic waste buried under the ground, we’ve got chemicals leaking into our water source, and as a result, we’ve got people getting cancer and other diseases.”

A newer song, the lilting, slow-burn “A Brand New America” ponders a new role for America in a world that is now a very different one than the one that existed just 20 or 30 years ago.

“I wanted to convey a shift in American consciousness on that song,” says Moore — “a shift toward not being a selfish nation, and to not always trying to be the big hero. I was thinking that maybe it’s time America became more humble, and more kind, and aspire to a simpler worldview. Because, ultimately, I don’t think what happens to the stock market that day is as important as the more day-to-day things, like how we treat each other, and how we as a nation treat other people in other countries, or people from other cultures.”

Perhaps the most emotionally stirring and compelling track is “Government Cheese,” which sounds like it could have been written during the Depression — or, for that matter, during the ‘50s, or the ‘70s.

It’s a moody but insinuatingly funky track, with its burbling electric piano, subtle-but-punchy horns, and a sinuous guitar solo that wouldn’t sound out of place on a mid-‘70s Steely Dan album. In the song, Moore sings: “It’s late in the evening, and I’m on my knees / ‘Cause I’m oh, so grateful, for my government cheese….It’s a bad situation….First thing tomorrow, I’m gonna find me a full-time job / I’m gonna make my own paycheck / I will not steal, and I will not rob.”

Even though Moore’s work is not “classic blues” — his music has always drawn equally on pop, soul, and the singer-songwriter tradition — the subject matter here is definitely in the blues tradition of singing about hardship in a way that can be cathartic or redemptive. And given the brutal economic realities that have battered many Americans over the last year — and many Michiganians for the last seven years — the song is a salient, relevant one that conjures a situation that is unfortunately all too common at the moment.

“I wanted to look at the idea that, here’s this guy, it’s a charity case, he doesn’t have a job at the moment, so he’s accepted a hand-out from the government, but he’s still able to find some dignity in his situation. He knows that he and his woman don’t have much, but he’s grateful that they at least have that, which will give him sustenance, so that he can go out and get that new job, and make his own way.

“And I do remember, as a kid, the government cheese coming through my neighborhood,” says Moore, now 58.

And “Hole in the Bucket” probes similarly spartan circumstances, as the singer doesn’t quite know how he reached his hour of need, but puts his faith in a better future. Over a scruffy blues-shuffle groove, prodded by a crying National Steel guitar, Moore sings: “Working all day long, working my fingers to the bone / There’s a hole in the bucket, but I keep on keepin’ on / Martha, don’t you cry, I know we’ll get by / There’s a hole in the bucket, but I don’t know the reason why.”

Meanwhile, the live tracks are recent, lively performances of such Mo’-fan faves as “Shave Yo’ Legs,” “One Friend, “More Than One Way Home,” “Change” and “Perpetual Blues Machine.” Like “Victims of Comfort,” the latter song was originally done in spare, stripped-down fashion, but here it gets the sleek, funky, full-band treatment.

The new record label that Moore created is called Yolabelle — a “fancied-up version of ‘Yo’ Label,’ since this is my own label,” says Moore.

“The music industry has been in its own recession for a while,” observes Moore accurately. (CD sales have dropped by 50 percent in the last five years or so.) “And my contract with Sony was up, and they didn’t invite me to re-sign — because, these days, I guess they think it isn’t profitable to have artists who aren’t hitting home runs (in terms of mega-sales to the mainstream audience) every time out.

“So I thought I would put a record out on my own, to see if that’s the way I want to go in the future. It’s been a good experience, to find out where I am on the musical food chain, and learn what it costs to promote and market a record. So, if I decide not to sign with another label for my next record, now I know what it takes to do it on my own.”

Kevin Ransom, a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com, first interviewed Keb’ Mo’ in 1995. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.

PREVIEW Keb’ Mo’ Who: Entertaining, charismatic singer-songwriter. With Kristina Train. What: A lively mix of blues, soul, funk, pop, rock and folk. Where: Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty St. When: Wednesday, Nov. 11, 7:30 p.m. How much: $26, $36, $50 Details: 734-668-8397, 734-763-TKTS, or Michigan Theater web site.