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

Continued from Part One…

Did you road-test any of that material before you recorded it?

No, I don’t do that. I’m not really a fan of doing that. I don’t like to perform the songs live until they’ve been released and people have an opportunity to hear the recordings of them. I wouldn’t want somebody’s first impression of a brand new song to be a random cell phone recording [of a live performance].

How has your approach to music changed in the 25 plus years since you made the original Trouble Is… album?

I wouldn’t say it’s changed a whole lot. I just follow what has worked for me from day one. At the end of the day, success is: “Are our fans still behind us and are they still showing up for our shows?” And the answer to both of those questions is yes.

But my recipe and my strategy for my music has always been to write and record the songs that I feel inspired to write and record at that time. Sometimes it takes me in a very traditional blues direction, and sometimes it takes me in a straight-ahead rock and roll direction. And sometimes it’s a hybrid of blues, rock, country, r&b and everything in between.

You can’t make everybody happy all the time. But I don’t want to be a predictable artist. I don’t want to be the kind of guy who, you had one successful record, then you just make different versions of that record for the rest of your life. Because then it becomes a situation where, “Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s got a new record out, and you already know what it’s going to sound like before you’ve even heard it.” When I put a record out, I want people to be wondering what it’s going to sound like. And hopefully, for the most part, the fans will like what they hear. They respect you more as an artist and they stick with you long term if they feel like you’re still pushing the boundaries, you’re still taking chances and you’re following the inspiration instead of trying to follow some sort of predetermined pattern.

Do you feel more at home on the stage or in the studio?

The place that I long to be the most is on stage. It’s a completely different dynamic; the studio feels a little bit more like work than playing on stage. Playing on stage is pure entertainment. When you’re in the studio, you’re not entertaining anybody. You’re in the process of trying to build something that didn’t exist before. That in itself is fascinating, but it requires a completely different skill set and a completely different approach. And sometimes that feels a lot more like work than walking out on stage in front of thousands of people and just doing what you love to do.

This Experience Hendrix tour showcases a whole bunch of top-flight musicians. How do you see your role within this live project?

I’m just another gear in the big machine. But what it represents is all of these incredible musicians who span many different styles and genres. It makes you realize the wide reach that Jimi Hendrix’s music has had. You can’t hardly pick up a guitar without having some sort of a Jimi Hendrix influence.

He wasn’t with us, making music, for that incredibly long. But the albums that he left us with are still standing the test of time. People are still excited to hear these songs played by incredibly talented musicians today. And that’s why the tour is always so much fun, and why it does so well.

What parts of Hendrix’s artistry move you the most?

The thing that I love about Hendrix is that he took chances. He didn’t allow himself to be confined to any boundaries. What’s fascinating is the limited amount of recording technology that was available to those guys back then, and how far he was able to push those limits. He would do things and create sounds that had not quite been done before.

Hendrix was the guy that I listened to who gave me permission within my own music to not allow myself to be boxed into the confines of a particular musical label. Because he did everything: he played blues music with the best of the best, and then he would literally play whatever music was coming out of him at the time. He played it the way he felt it should be and didn’t let anybody try and tell him otherwise. Witnessing that, listening to that gave me permission to follow that path, but in my own way.

What’s next for you after this run of Experience Hendrix dates wraps in October?

They’re talking about another potential run of dates next year, maybe in the spring. And I have four different albums that I’m currently working on. I have a traditional blues record that I did with blues legend Bobby Rush; that’ll come out sometime next year. And I’m doing a 30th anniversary version of my first album, Ledbetter Heights ; that’ll come out probably the end of next year. We’ll probably do a 30th anniversary tour for that album. And there are a couple of other records that I’m trying to finish up, too. There’s a rock and roll cover song album, and I’m getting ready to write some new material for another new album as well.

Over the years, you’ve worked with many of the biggest names in blues and in rock. Regarding a life in music, what was the best advice you ever got?

BB King gave me a lot of private advice that was more personal than professional. And some of those things, even though he’s not here with us, are probably better left between he and I.

But as far as musical things, Stevie Ray Vaughan wrote on my very first Stratocaster! He wrote a message on there, and he said, “Kenny, just play it with all your heart.” And that is what I try and do every time I pick up the instrument and plug it in, because that’s how I connect with people. My goal is to make people feel something through the music that I’m playing. And the best way I know how to do that is to play it straight from the heart.