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Kenny Wayne Shepherd began his professional music career at age 13. The spirits of past and present blues greats flow through the fingertips of the now 28 year old guitar hero. His first album, "Ledbetter Heights", was recorded in 1995 while Kenny was still in high school. His 1997 release "Trouble" garnered a grammy nomination and spawned two of his better known hits, "Slow Ride" and "Blue On Black". His latest release "The Place You're In" has the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band venturing into a more rock oriented genre, as well as Kenny himself telling his tales not only with his fingers, but with his voice as well.

Kenny took a moment to share some insights with Musicpix.net...we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

“If it wasn’t for the Blues, there wouldn’t be a Kenny Wayne Shepherd”
-KWS

MusicPix: You revere great blues artists as evidenced by your support of the Blues Documentary featured at the top of some your shows. How did you develop that deep respect and reverence for those artists? and why do you feel so compelled to be the spokesman for this piece?

KWS: If it wasn’t for musicians featured on the Blues Documentary, there wouldn’t be a place for people like me. These kind of people, this kind of music- (this genre being the blues) that’s my first musical love. Listening to the Blues and people who inspired me to pick up the instrument like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Muddy Waters and BB King… that’s what motivated me to pursue music. For me as a musician, it’s for pure satisfaction in the first place. Then it just so happened that I’m blessed to have a career in music. But it was because of these kinds of people that I found my calling if you will. So now, I’m at the point in my career where I have the opportunity to help some other people. And some of these people on this project maybe haven’t had the kind of opportunities that I’ve had. Some of them are very amazing musicians in the own right- great songwriters. But for whatever reason, they didn’t have the kinds of opportunities that I’ve been presented with. So it’s kind of my way of giving back.

MusicPix: It’s a great way to complete the circle isn’t it?

KWS: Absolutely. One of the amazing things you learn from the Blues is to give credit where credit is due. I learned that from Stevie Ray Vaughn- he always gave credit to the people who came before him. The people that inspired him to do what he did. That’s just the honesty of the people who do this kind of music. It’s not like I’m trying to say that I haven’t been anything. But without these people, there may not be a Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

MusicPix: There’s an old saying, ‘You have to live the Blues to play the Blues…’ Have you lived the Blues?

KWS: I’ve lived my fair share of it. I mean, look I’m 28 years old now so nobody can accuse me of being a child anymore. I’ve been doing this professionally since I was 13 years old. In the past 15 years, I’ve gone through some stuff…some of it self-inflicted. A lot of guitar players, especially that do the Blues, feel that in order to play the Blues, you’ve got to lives the Blues. If not, you’ve got to create it. So, I did a little bit of that as well. Luckily, I wasn’t so hard on myself that I wound up dead somewhere…but I made it through to the other side. I’ve had my fair share of terrible relationships. Women always seem to be the best source of creativity for me. They never cease to amaze me.

MusicPix: You’ve been quoted as saying that you’ve always known that music was your destiny. Could you talk a bit about that ‘knowingness’ and how you harness that feeling?

KWS: Looking back at the time, it was kind of weird …you don’t really realize what’s going on. But looking back at the thing, now that my life has taken the direction that it has, some of my earliest memories are of songs. Songs on the radio. My girlfriend is like, ‘how do you know that song?’ …some written before she was even born. I can remember melodies. I can remember lyrics. I can remember TV shows that my parents watched all the time. I just had an ear for it you know? I just took to music. I just gravitated toward it. I memorized so many things about music whether it was voluntary or not. A lot of it was involuntary, let me tell you! When I was 4 years old, my grandmother got me one of these toy plastic guitars. They had these grocery stores (back in the day) when they would give you green stamps for how much groceries you bought. You’d fill up these books and you could come back and get stuff for free. They had these toy plastic guitars and I’d go through them like they were going out of style. So that was probably my first encounter with the instrument. But not many years later, I had my first real guitar.

MusicPix: What kind of music education/musical training have you had to complement your gifted ear?

KWS: I had none whatsoever to be honest. I play by ear. I can’t read music. I took a guitar class in middle school but I would just sound everything out by ear and memorize it. Then I could just go in and put the music in front of me like I was reading it, but I wasn’t really. It was an easy A for me in middle school. I already knew how to play guitar better than anyone in class. I took one formal guitar lesson, but it wasn’t for me. I was better off on my own.

MusicPix: You started your career at such an early age. How is Kenny Wayne Shepherd different now from ten years ago?

KWS: I’d say I’ve matured as a musician and as a performer. Back in the day, it used to be just full-on… like how hard and how fast can I go. Now it’s about how tasty I can be. It’s not about running from one side of the stage to the next…jumping up and down…throwing the guitar around… It’s now about the music and having a good time enjoying what I’m doing…playing from the heart.

MusicPix: You’ve talked about singing for a long time. What was the deciding factor that pushed you over the edge? Does it make you feel different on stage now that you’re a vocalist?

KWS: It makes me a little more self-aware because I have a little more responsibility than just guitar playing now. The guitar playing is just second nature to me and now a lot of effort goes into singing. The real defining moment was when I had a vision of just doing it. I was kind of daydreaming. I just saw myself on stage singing a song and I honestly felt what it would feel like- to sing and put all of this passion and emotion into the lyrics of the song. In return, it would influence my guitar playing and that they would play off of each other. It really all came to a head though when I started writing this latest album, “The Place You’re In.” Because start to finish, it documents my life for the past four years and a lot of it is very very personal to me. Some of them (songs) so personal, that it didn’t seem right for someone else to sing these songs.

MusicPix: One of the things that amazed me after seeing you perform is your ability to cover well known hits and make them your own. How do you decide what to cover?

KWS: First of all, it has to be somebody’s work that I respect. Normally, it was somebody who was an influence of mine in one way or another…from Bob Dylan to Jimi Hendrix to Howlin Wolf. So, it starts with somebody that I have a lot of respect for. As a listener and a music fan over the years, because my Dad worked at a radio station, I was exposed to all different kinds of music from the day I was born. I got to hear everything and I got to hear a lot of people do cover songs. One thing that always translated well to me was when somebody covered a song; they kept some very true elements to the song. They stayed true to the hard core elements that make the song what it is. But at the same time, they put their own unique twist on it. That way, you knew when you heard that song, you knew that it was them playing it. So that’s what I try to do. I try to stay true to the original, but I also try to put in my own personality and my own influence on the song…just make it my own.

MusicPix: We ask the following series of questions to every artist:

The MusicPix Six:

MusicPix: What is the first musical instrument you played and at what age?

KWS: Piano… and not very well I might add. We had a piano around the house and my Mom taught me a few chords because she would play a little bit of piano but not a whole lot. I messed around a little bit but lost interest and found the guitar. Probably around 5 or 6…

MusicPix: What artist/performer influenced you the most?

KWS: Stevie Ray Vaughn

MusicPix: If you weren’t in your current band, what band would you like to play in?

KWS: There’s this band, this guy’s a friend of mine- a band called Government Mule.

MusicPix: What are your 3 ‘desert island’ albums?

KWS: Stevie Ray Vaughn- In Step…Muddy Waters-Hard Again, and BB King- Live at the Cook County Jail.

MusicPix: Who do you think is the most over-rated in the music industry?

KWS: That’s a toss up man. Just about any total pop star or boy band- anybody that doesn’t have their own band and gets up there and just sings to tracks. It’s like, let’s get some musical ability goin’…

MusicPix: What’s your ‘perfect world?’

KWS: Life on the road- playing to my fans. But at the same time, also having the ability to go home and spend time with my family and to just relax….

Notes from Show:

Touring in support of his latest release, “The Place You’re In,” Kenny Wayne Shepherd steps up to the mic, a new twist in the history of KWS. Seemingly comfortable in his new role, KWS sang the title track, The Place You’re In, with soulful confidence. Later in the set, he spoke about his affinity for writing love songs and said there’s no better way to say I love you…

Opening with In Too Deep, the band delivered many hits from his prior releases such as Somehow, Deja Voodoo, True Lies, and Blue on Black. Mid-set, Noah announced that they were doing something a bit different of this leg of the tour- an acoustic mini-set. “It’s really not un-plugged, it’s just turned-down” Noah said as smiles were exchanged on stage. Kenny stays electric.

Show Set List-The Vogue, Indianapolis, IN- July 10, 2005:

In Too Deep
King’s Highway
Somehow
The Place You’re In
Deja Voodoo
I’m Leaving You
Let Go
Slow Blues
I Don’t Live Today
True Lies
Alive
Oh Well
Blue on Black
Slow Ride
Shotgun Blues
Voodoo Chile

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Discography

Ledbetter Heigths-1995
Trouble Is-1997
Live On-1999
The Place You’re In-2004

Tour Dates:

Jordan, MN-July 14, 2005
Sioux Falls, SD-July 16, 2005
San Diego, CA-August 3, 2005
Universal City, CA-August 8, 2005
Jacksonville, OR- August 11, 2005
Seattle, WA- August 12/13, 2005
Goldendale, WA- August 14, 2005
Englewood, CO August 16, 2005
Gilford, NH-August 30, 2005
Memphis, TN- September 28, 2005
Shreveport, LA-October 1, 2005
Arlington, TX- October 2, 2005
Tulsa, OK-October 8, 2005

By:
Gwyn Tyme