Kenny Wayne Shepherd
(born Kenny Wayne Brobst
, on June 12, 1977, Shreveport, Louisiana [1]) is an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He has released several studio albums and experienced a rare level of commercial success both as a blues artist and a young musician. [2] In 1997, Guitar World
ranked Shepherd #3 after B.B.King and Eric Clapton on their list of popular blues artists. [3]
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KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD TICKETS
| EVENT | DATE | AVAILABILITY |
|---|
| Kenny Wayne Shepherd Tickets 2/2 | Feb 02, 2025
Sun, 7:00 PM |  | | Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band Tickets 2/4 | Feb 04, 2025
Tue, 8:00 PM | | | Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band Tickets 2/5 | Feb 05, 2025
Wed, 7:30 PM | | | Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band Tickets 2/7 | Feb 07, 2025
Fri, 8:00 PM | | | Kenny Wayne Shepherd & Bobby Rush Tickets 4/25 | Apr 25, 2025
Fri, 8:00 PM | |
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Biography
Shepherd attended
Caddo Magnet High School in
Shreveport, Louisiana. Self-taught, he began playing at age seven, learning
Muddy Waters licks from his father's record collection. At the age of thirteen, Shepherd was invited onstage by the
New Orleans bluesman
Bryan Lee. After proving his abilities, he decided on music as a career. Demo tapes were made and a two camera video was shot at Shepherd's first performance at the Red River Revel Arts Festival in Shreveport. It was this video performance that impressed Giant Records chief Irving Azoff enough to sign Shepherd to a multiple album record deal.
Shepherd took six
singles into the top 10 and holds the record for the longest running album on the Billboard Blues Charts with
Trouble Is...
. He has been nominated for four
Grammy Awards, received two Billboard Music Awards and two Orville Gibson awards, and has sold millions of CDs.
In September 2008, Fender Musical Instruments Corp. released the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Signature Series Stratocaster, designed exclusively by Shepherd. Most recently, he developed a unique DVD/CD project,
10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads
. This documents Shepherd as he travels the country to jam with and interview the last of the authentic blues musicians. As they tour the backroads, Shepherd, with members of the Double Trouble Band, play with a host of blues greats including Clarence "Gatemouth Brown" and
Bryan Lee, Buddy Flett (with whom he jams at
Leadbelly's grave), the great
B.B. King, blues harp master
Jerry "Boogie" McCain, Cootie Stark, Neil Pattman, John Dee Holeman,
Etta Baker,
Henry Townsend with
Honeyboy Edwards, and a concert session with the surviving members of
Muddy Waters' and
Howlin' Wolf's bands.
Personal life
Shepherd married actor
Mel Gibson's only daughter, Hannah Gibson, on September 16, 2006,
[4] and they now have two children, the oldest child being a girl (born October 10, 2007).
[5]
[6]
Live performances
- Shepherd made a trip of ten days in the U.S. to meet and play with his idols: B. B. King, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, Henry Townsend, Honeyboy Edwards, Cootie Stark, Neal Pattman, Etta Baker, Jerry "Boogie" McCain, Buddy Flett, Bryan Lee, John Dee Holeman, The Howlin' Wolf and the Muddy Waters Band.
- Shepherd and Bryan Lee appeared as the musical guest on The Tonight Show
with Jay Leno on February 14, 2007.
- On July 24, 2007, he opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Orange County Fair.
- Opening act for the Rolling Stones during a stint of their 1999 No Security tour.
- Shepherd performed some of his songs including a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" at the Dutch Mason Blues Festival in 2007 and 2009.
- Has also opened for Aerosmith, Bob Dylan, The Eagles and Van Halen.
Discography
Albums
| Year
| Album
| Chart Positions
| RIAA [7]
|
| US [8]
| SE [9]
|
| 1995
| Ledbetter Heights
| 108
| -
| Platinum
|
| 1997
| Trouble Is...
| 74
| -
| Platinum
|
| 1999
| Live On
| 52
| -
| Platinum
|
| 2004
| The Place You're In
| 101
| -
| -
|
| 2007
| 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads
| -
| 52
| -
|
Singles
| Year
| Single
| Chart Positions [10]
| Album
|
| Hot 100
| Mainstream Rock
|
| 1995
| "Deja Voodoo"
| -
| 9
| Ledbetter Heights
|
| 1996
| "Born With A Broken Heart"
| -
| 15
| Ledbetter Heights
|
| 1996
| "Aberdeen"
| -
| 23
| Ledbetter Heights
|
| 1997
| "Slow Ride"
| -
| 3
| Trouble Is...
|
| 1998
| "Somehow, Somewhere, Someway"
| -
| 3
| Trouble Is...
|
| 1998
| "Blue on Black"
| 78
| 1
| Trouble Is...
|
| 1999
| "Everything Is Broken"
| -
| 10
| Trouble Is...
|
| 1999
| "In 2 Deep"
| -
| 5
| Live On
|
| 2000
| "Was"
| -
| 9
| Live On
|
| 2000
| "Last Goodbye"
| -
| 14
| Live On
|
| 2004
| "Alive"
| -
| 13
| The Place You're In
|
| 2005
| "The Place You're In"
| -
| 30
| The Place You're In
|