By Dave Gil de RubioTime flies when you’re having fun. It’s hard to believe that when Kenny WayneShepherd released “Ledbetter Heights” in 1996, he was an 18-year-old guitarist on thecusp of rejiggering the blues zeitgeist. Fast forward three decades later and the now 48-year-old musician is not only preparing to hit the road to commemorate this milestoneanniversary, but is set to release an entirely re-recorded track-by-track version of thosesongs in May. Audiences will be getting a taste of all this when he swings throughHuntington. When asked what he remembers about those heady times, Shepherdadmits it was the newness of the entire enterprise.“I remember it was a lot of first-time experiences,” he recalled. “It was my first timemaking a whole project for a record company. It was my first time writing songs like that.It was a lot of first-time experiences and I was very much a sponge figuring out how allthis stuff works. The biggest thing I remember was when it was done–handing over thealbum to the record company. You put all this work into this record and then you give itto these people and it’s out of your hands at this point and you really don’t what toexpect.”He added, “It could have gone either way. Obviously, it went very well for us. But it couldeasily have been a situation where nobody cared and you had no control over that. Youjust put the record out, hope for the best and hope that what you did [excites] people.”What did happen was the Shreveport, LA native blew up. Not only did his debut chartgold that same year (eventually going platinum by 2004), it also spent 20 weeks toppingBillboard’s blues charts. Shepherd even wound up behind B.B. King and Eric Clapton inGuitar World’s list of blues guitarists.For the current tour, Shepherd is looking to play two sets, but the final decision of how itwill be delivered is still being hammered out (“I don’t know if we’re going to take anintermission or if we’re going to blow through from one into the other. We’re not justdoing the Ledbetter Heights album because that wouldn’t be enough music.”)In looking back at when Shepherd’s debut was released, Stevie Ray Vaughan hadperished in a helicopter crash six years prior and a number of up-and-coming guitaristsincluding Shepherd, Jonny Lang, Joe Bonamassa and Eric Gales were being posited asthe blues guitar equivalent of being the “next Bob Dylan.” While some detractors tried topaint Shepherd as an SRV-wannabe at the time, the fact was that the young axe wieldernot only counted the late Texas guitarist as an influence, but personally knew him.When it came to those supposed criticisms, Shepherd did and continues to embrace hisold mentor’s legacy.“At that time, it was a catch-22,” he said. “A lot of people saw the comparisons that werebeing made to me. Other artists made the decision to not want to engage in talkingabout Stevie Ray Vaughan because they didn’t want to get that comparison. To me, I
felt like I couldn’t pretend that he didn’t inspire me the way that he did. It would havebeen doing him a disservice. He was literally responsible for lighting a fire inside of meto play guitar the way that I do. You’re going to hear the influence and continue to hear itto this day. I owe it to him. If it were not for Stevie Ray Vaughan, there would not be aKenny Wayne Shepherd.”Aside from the stylistic nuances he picked up from SRV, Shepherd’s other similarity tothe late guitar great is a reverence and appreciation for the blues icons that camebefore him. Last year saw Shepherd go into the studio with nonagenarian vocalistBobby Rush to cut Young Fashioned Ways followed by a subsequent tour. That outingearned the duo a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues recording. Buddy Guywound up winning for Ain’t Done With the Blues in a category rounded out by MariaMuldaur, Keb’ Mo and Taj Mahal, and Charlie Musselwhite. Despite losing the Grammy,Shepherd was thrilled by the experience and plans include recording more new materialwith Rush that ideally sees release by year’s end.“That was a great record and while we didn’t win, it was all good because it’s great to benominated,” Shepherd said. “There was stiff competition this year, but it just goes toshow that there’s still really great music being made in the genre.”Kenny Wayne Shepherd will be appearing on March 8 at The Paramount, 370 NewYork Ave., Huntington. For more information, visit www.theparamountny.com orcall 631-673-7300.
Source: LI Press
