Kenny Wayne Shepherd: The Blues Never Goes Out of Style (Part 1 of 2)

Kenny Wayne Shepherd has a keen sense of musical history. Truly inspired by some of the blues greats, the self-taught guitarist applied what he learned. And he combined that knowledge with an omnivorous approach to music that appreciates the many styles that came from the blues: rock, soul, r&b and more. He released his debut album,, the smash hit Ledbetter Heights in 1995. A major success, it might have given some the idea that Shepherd was some sort of overnight success. But as he recalled in our recent conversation, he got his start much, much earlier.

Shepherd’s 13^th and upcoming album, Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 1 is set for release in November, with live dates to follow in support of that album. Right now, he’s headlining the all-star lineup of guitarists on the Experience Hendrix tour. We talked about that, too.

One of your early breaks happened in New Orleans, when blues guitar legend Bryan Lee invited you on stage. You were only 13 years old; how did that affect the course of your life as a musician?

Well, that was important moment for me because I had never really performed in front of people. Before I walked up on that stage, I remember thinking very clearly to myself, “This is either going to go horribly wrong and I’m never going to do this again, or it’s going to go well.

He was gracious enough to let me get up on stage. He told me I could play two songs and then I had to get down, because it was his show. When I played my first guitar solo on the first song, the crowd went crazy and I got my first standing ovation. I was really nervous. But after I played the two songs and I was trying to get off the stage, he stopped me; he wouldn’t let me get off! And he kept me up for the rest of the night.

And that gave me the confidence to move forward, start putting together my own band and feel comfortable about playing in front of people. And within the next year, I was in the studio making my very first demo recordings.

What is it about the blues that has resonated so strongly with you both as a listener and then as a musician?

It’s the feeling that’s put behind every note; that’s really what drew me in at a young age. Even at a time when I couldn’t necessarily relate to the lyrics, I could feel the passion and the emotion in the music. One of the defining factors of playing blues music legitimately is playing it from your heart, putting your soul in it and conveying emotion through it.

And then you find out what an incredible platform it is to build music off of. You know, that’s how rock and roll came to be. All forms of pop music, if you trace their lineage back to the origins, you’ll inevitably find your way back to blues music. So it’s just been an incredible foundation for me.

As part of a generation of – relatively speaking – younger blues players, do you feel any kind of responsibility to help carry the blues tradition on into the future?

“Relatively speaking!” I was just talking with someone the other day about how my generation is now becoming the old generation; we’re watching the next one come up. And it’s actually very exciting and reassuring to see. It brings back a flood of memories for me, watching these young kids get their start.

I’ve been asked that question since the day I hit the scene: “How are you going to keep it alive?” But yet here we are 30 years later, and we’re still doing it. The audience is still consuming it, and there’s still new life being brought into it. Blues isn’t pop music; it’s not the most popular thing as far as music goes. It’s never been that trendy, so it never goes out of style, either.

I’ve always wanted to do whatever I could to make my contribution to the music community, out of love and appreciation for the music and the people that came before me. And as I’ve gotten older, there is a sense of responsibility. When you become successful and you have people looking to you as an example, there’s a responsibility to pass on your experience and your knowledge, to be a good example and a good influence on those people that are coming up. They’re going to pick up where you left off.

What’s the connecting between the legendary FAME Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and the upcoming two volumes of Dirt on My Diamonds?

The songs were written at FAME. We wanted to record there, but by the time we got around to actually recording the record, we were out on the road, so the recording took place in Los Angeles. I’m hoping the next time we’ll go down there; we’ll record them as they’re being written in the studio. But the songs for both albums birthed out of the same writing session that happened in FAME Studios.

Some musicians find that when they pick up a new instrument or enter a new space, it provides additional inspiration. Did you soak up some of the vibes when you were at FAME?

Yeah. The majority of the reason for going there was because everything affects everything. Your environment, who you’re writing with, the mood: all of that stuff plays a role in the end result. So we knew that FAME would have a tangible effect on the music.

But not necessarily a blatantly obvious effect. It’s not like we wrote a host of songs about Muscle Shoals, Alabama. But the vibe of the building absolutely found its way into the music that we wrote.

My original intention when recording this material was to make two separate albums. I’m always trying to do something different. Dirt on My Diamonds works well as a two-volume set for sure, but [each of them] could have stood on their own. I think it gave us an opportunity to give our fans something that they’ve never had before: two brand-new records in less than twelve months. That keeps us engaged with the audience.

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