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Kenny Wayne Shepherd | |
|---|---|
 Shepherd performing at theLeverkusener Jazztage in 2019 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Kenny Wayne Brobst (1977-06-12)June 12, 1977 (age 48)[1] Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instrument | Guitar |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels | |
| Member of |
|
| Formerly of | G3 |
| Website | kennywayneshepherd |
Kenny Wayne Shepherd (bornKenneth Wayne Brobst; June 12, 1977) is an American guitarist. He has released several studio albums and experienced significant commercial success as ablues rock artist.[4]
Shepherd was born inShreveport, Louisiana.[5] He graduated fromCaddo Magnet High School in Shreveport. He is "completely self-taught",[6] and does not read music. Growing up, Shepherd's father (Ken Shepherd) was a local radio personality and part-time concert promoter, and had a vast collection of music. Kenny received his first "guitar" at the age of three or four, when his grandmother purchased a series of several plastic guitars for him withS&H Green Stamps, which he has said he would "go through like candy".[6]
Shepherd stated in a 2011 interview that he began playing guitar in earnest at age seven, about six months after meeting and being "pretty mesmerized"[6] byStevie Ray Vaughan, Labor Day weekend in 1984, at one of his father's promoted concerts. His self-taught method employed a process of learning one note at a time, playing and rewinding cassette tapes, using "a cheap Yamaha wanna-be Stratocaster ... made out of plywood, basically",[6] and learning to play by following along with material from his father's record collection.[6]
Blues musicianBryan Lee invited the then-13-year-old Shepherd to play guitar onstage. He subsequently made demo tapes, and a video was shot at Shepherd's first performance at theRed River Revel Arts Festival in Shreveport. It was this video performance that impressedGiant Records chiefIrving Azoff enough to sign Shepherd to a multiple album record deal.
Beginning in 1995, Shepherd took seven singles into the Top 10, and holds the record for the longest-running album on theBillboard Blues Charts withTrouble Is.... In 1996, Shepherd began a longtime collaboration with vocalist Noah Hunt, who provided the vocals for Shepherd's signature song, "Blue on Black". Shepherd has been nominated for fiveGrammy Awards, and has received twoBillboard Music Awards, twoBlues Music Awards, and two Orville H. Gibson Awards.
In 2000, Shepherd played guitar on the end title theme for the animated featureBatman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
In 2007, he released a critically acclaimed and two-time Grammy nominated DVD–CD project,10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads. This documents Shepherd as he travels the country tojam with and interview the last of the authentic blues musicians. As they tour the back-roads, Shepherd, with members of theDouble Trouble Band, play with a host of blues greats includingClarence "Gatemouth" Brown and Bryan Lee, Buddy Flett (with whom he jams atLead Belly's grave),B. B. King, blues harp masterJerry "Boogie" McCain,Cootie Stark,Neal Pattman,John Dee Holeman,Etta Baker,Henry Townsend withHoneyboy Edwards, and a concert session with the surviving members of Muddy Waters' andHowlin' Wolf's bands, includingHubert Sumlin,Willie "Big Eyes" Smith andPinetop Perkins.
In September 2008, Fender Musical Instruments Corp. released the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Signature Series Stratocaster, designed exclusively by Shepherd. In 2010, Shepherd was nominated for a Grammy forLive in Chicago, which featured performances with Hubert Sumlin, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Buddy Flett, and Bryan Lee. In 2011, Shepherd released his seventh CD, titledHow I Go, on Roadrunner Records.
In 2014, he released "Goin Home" on Mascot Label Group in Europe, and on Concord Records in the US and the rest of the world. In 2015, Shepherd released "Something from the Road Vol. 1", a live special release for Record Store Day in the U.S.
In January 2017, the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band went into the studio with producerMarshall Altman to record a new album of all newly written songs, titledLay It On Down, and released the album on August 4 (July 21 in Europe viaMascot Label Group).Lay It On Down is the eighth record by the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band to debut at No. 1 on theBillboard Blues Chart.
Shepherd made his Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival debut on July 16, 2019.[7] On May 31, 2019, Shepherd releasedThe Traveler onConcord Records andMascot Label Group in Europe. The album, like the previous releaseLay It On Down, was co-produced byMarshall Altman.The Traveler was chosen as a Favorite Blues Album byAllMusic.[8] Shepherd headlined the 2020 Mahindra Blues Festival, along withBuddy Guy,Larkin Poe andKeb Mo.[9]
In March 2021, theBlues Foundation revoked Kenny Wayne Shepherd's 2021 Blues Music Awards nomination for Best Blues/Rock Artist. According to a statement from the organization, the decision was made over Confederate flag imagery displayed on Shepherd'sThe Dukes of Hazzard "General Lee" car replica. Shepherd acknowledged the offensiveness of the flag on his car and said he had permanently covered it some time ago. "Years ago I put that car in permanent storage and some time ago, I made the decision to permanently cover the flag on my car because it was completely against my values and offensive to the African American community which created the music I love so much and I apologize to anyone that I have unintentionally hurt because of it." The organization also asked Shepherd's father, Ken Shepherd, to step down as a member of its board of directors. Ken Shepherd declined to comment on being asked to step down.[10]
On December 2, 2022, Shepherd releasedTrouble Is... 25, a complete re-recording of his second album for its 25th anniversary. The album includes a never-before-heard cover ofBob Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man."[11]
In 2013, Shepherd, along withStephen Stills (Crosby, Stills & Nash) andBarry Goldberg (The Electric Flag), formedThe Rides. They released their debut albumCan't Get Enough on August 27, 2013. Stills refers to the band as "the blues band of my dreams." The band toured the US in 2013, supporting their debut record, culminating with an appearance onThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The three reunited in 2015 for a follow-up album,Pierced Arrow (2016), released on 429 Records and Mascot Label Group in Europe.
Shepherd married Hannah Gibson, the eldest daughter of actorMel Gibson, on September 16, 2006.[12]
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| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [16] | US Blues [17] | AUS [18] | NZ [19] | SWE [20] | SWI [21] | UK [22][23] | |||||
| Ledbetter Heights | 108 | 1 | — | 25 | — | — | — | ||||
| Trouble Is... |
| 74 | 1 | 57 | 36 | — | — | — |
| ||
| Live On |
| 52 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| ||
| The Place You're In |
| 101 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads |
| 164 | 1 | — | — | 52 | — | — |
| ||
| How I Go |
| 52 | 1 | — | — | — | 86 | 92 | |||
| Goin' Home |
| 25 | 1 | — | — | — | 77 | 82 | |||
| Lay It On Down | 34 [26] | 1 | — | — | — | 27 | 100 | ||||
| The Traveler |
| 103 | 1 | — | — | — | 12 | 94 | |||
| Trouble Is... 25 |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 1 |
| — | — | — | — | — | 44 | — | |||
| Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 2 |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | |||||||||||
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [16] | US Blues [16] | US Rock [16] | ||
| Live! in Chicago |
| 114 | 1 | 42 |
| Straight to You: Live |
| — | — | — |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | ||||
| Title | EP details |
|---|---|
| King's Highway EP |
|
| Year | Song | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [16] | US Main. Rock [16] | |||||||
| 1995 | "Déjà Voodoo" | — | 9 | Ledbetter Heights | ||||
| 1996 | "Born with a Broken Heart" | — | 15 | |||||
| "Aberdeen" | — | 23 | ||||||
| 1997 | "Slow Ride" | — | 3 | Trouble Is... | ||||
| 1998 | "Somehow, Somewhere, Someway" | — | 3 | |||||
| "Blue on Black" | 78 | 1 | ||||||
| "Everything Is Broken" | — | 10 | ||||||
| 1999 | "In 2 Deep" | — | 5 | Live On | ||||
| 2000 | "Was" | — | 9 | |||||
| "Last Goodbye" | — | 14 | ||||||
| 2004 | "Alive" | — | 13 | The Place You're In | ||||
| 2005 | "The Place You're In" | — | 30 | |||||
| 2011 | "Never Lookin' Back" | — | 36 | How I Go | ||||
| "Come on Over" | — | — | ||||||
| 2014 | "You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover" | — | — | Goin' Home | ||||
| 2020 | "Christmas Must Be Tonight" | — | — | Non-album singles | ||||
| "Cool Yule" | — | — | ||||||
| "Zat You Santa Claus" | — | — | ||||||
| 2021 | "Hit 'Em Back" (with Shemekia Copeland featuring Robert Randolph and Tony Coleman) | — | — | |||||
| 2022 | "True Lies" | — | — | Trouble Is... 25 | ||||
| "Ballad of a Thin Man" | — | — | ||||||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | ||||||||
| International | |
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| National | |
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