In Conversation With Colin: Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Soon to visit the UK for live dates, including Cardiff’s Tramshed on July 19^th, five time Grammy nominated singer/songwriter/guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd has united with blues legend Bobby Rush and released a very special collection of songs titled ‘Young Fashioned Ways’. As the two musicians prepare to embark on a UK tour Newport City Radio’s Colin Palmer caught up with Kenny Wayne to discuss the new album and the collaboration with Bobby Rush for ‘The Rock Vault’ radio show. 

Kenny Wayne Shepherd seemed destined for glory since first appearing on the blues-rock scene at the age of thirteen.  Within two years he had formed his own band, pairing his undeniable guitar talent with the vocal supremacy of Noah Hunt.  He also participated in a project with Stephen Stills and Barry Goldberg, forming a super-group known as ‘The Rides’.  Kenny, a five-time Grammy Award nominee has released seventeen albums and, like Bobby Rush, these past few years have also been a very busy time for Kenny.  He recently released the second volume of his ‘Dirt on My Diamonds’ album and, in addition to touring with his own band, he has appeared in the Experience Hendrix Tour, featuring a star-studded combination of guitar virtuosos honouring the memory of the great Jimi Hendrix.  

The Louisiana born axeman and songsmith has sold millions of albums in a twenty plus year recording career and has established himself as an immensely popular recording artist, a consistently in-demand live act and an influential force in a worldwide resurgence of interest in the blues.  

“Blues music is responsible for me becoming the artist that I am, because it’s always been the foundation of my music,” explains Shepherd. “Historically over the course of my career, several times I’ve been lucky enough to do some really interesting and very special traditional blues type projects and albums, and this is certainly one of those, it’s definitely one of the highlights.”

Born forty four years apart, Rush and Shepherd collaborated in Memphis, Tennessee for the recording sessions and at 91 years of age Rush is an inspirational figure as Kenny Wayne explains. “Bobby Rush is one of the last real direct links to a generation of blues musicians that really helped shape and mould the sound of that genre. We can try as we might to do a straight up blues record but there’s a level of authenticity that comes with doing it with a guy like him that’s just not obtainable otherwise.”

Their paths first crossed when Shepherd invited Rush to play at one of his Backroads Blues Festival in the States on the same bill as Joe Bonamassa. “Chemistry is something that cannot be manufactured, it either exists between people or it doesn’t,” he explains. “I didn’t know until he got up on stage, but the moment that he joined us on stage and we started playing the chemistry between he and I was immediately apparent. So as soon as we got off stage that night I walked right up to him and I told him I think we need to do a record together, and he told me he was thinking the same thing.”

They named the ensuing album ‘Young Fashioned Ways’ culminating from their mutual admiration of blues legend Muddy Waters, and the apparent youthfulness of their pairing despite the wide age group. One song is unusually titled Uncle Esau as Kenny Wayne explains. “This song is really interesting because it brings together all the components and this is one of the most filled out songs on the record as far as instrumentation goes. It has a horn section and full band, everything is there but the arrangement is a real nod to both Bobby and my Louisiana upbringing and our history and being influenced by the sounds and music in the State of Louisiana.”

Shepherd adopts a keen hands-on approach with regard to every aspect of his career including the production of his records. “In all my records I’m involved in the production and the mixing and the mastering. I’m involved in every aspect of my career and it’s just what I do. I like to see something where you start with almost nothing, which is exactly what we started with on this record with Bobby when we walked into the studio. I didn’t know one single song that we were going to record when I walked in the door.

“You literally are starting with nothing except two talented people and those two talents are going to collide and you’re just waiting to see what’s going to come from that. I love watching the process and then coming out the other side with the finished product.”

Excerpts of this interview broadcast on ‘The Rock Vault’ July 15^th.

Written by Col Palmer