Year : 2024
Style : Blues Rock
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + front
Size : 72 mb
Bio:
Kenny Wayne Shepherd (born Kenny Wayne Brobst; June 12, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He has released several studio albums and experienced significant commercial success as a blues artist.In an era when rap and alternative music ruled the airwaves of America, a young guitarist from Louisiana stormed the stage with a blazing blusey style reminiscent of the masters of the Mississippi Delta and a technical virtuosity seldom witnessed before. Kenny Wayne Shepherd has been described as a blues prodigy, much like Stevie Ray Vaughn, who was one of Shepherd's mentors and earliest influences. Chris Layton, the drummer for Vaughn's band Double Trouble, remarked to Guitar Player's Rusty Russell that "Kenny can nail the style of about any great blues artist you can name, but he's very much his own guy. A young artist takes pieces from all his influencs, puts them together, and develops his own thing. I saw Stevie go through it, and I can see the same thing happening with Kenny." On his record label website, Shepherd remarked that "I'm a purist myself. I've been listening to blues since I was very young. I've researched it. But what I bring to it is a young person's approach to the blues. It's free flowing and wide open." He further commented to Russell that "if you're a kid and you're playing the blues, it's hard to prove yourself to those guys {the blues masters and legends}. They want to know you're not just messing around with it before they take you seriously."Shepherd, the Shreveport, Louisiana, native, was born in the late 1970s and at a very young age developed an avid interest in blues music which has influenced him ever since. He recalled being taken by his father, who was affiliated with the radio industry, to a music festival when he was only seven years old. The guitar virtuoso Vaughn was there performing with his band at the festival as well. Thanks to his father's intervention, Shepherd was able to meet Vaughn. Vaughn allowed the young Shepherd to sit on the side of the stage and watch the show from there.Around the same time, his father had noted that Shepherd was nosing through his father's blues records and trying to teach himself the riffs from a Muddy Waters song. Shepherd was hooked on the blues from then on. He then begged his parents to buy him a guitar so that he could learn the playing styles and techniques of Vaughn, BB King, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Albert Collins, and Albert King. Shepherd then proceeded to teach himself how to play guitar by copying what he heard off the records. The younger Shepherd continued to practice the guitar in his bedroom until he was 13. By that time, he had become something of a local phenomenon.Not long after this, Shepherd went with his family on a vacation to New Orleans. While there, he met the blind blues player Brian Lee. After much coaxing and persuading, Lee allowed Shepherd to play with him on stage one night. His debut public performance blew away not only Lee but much of the crowd as well. The impromptu gig with Lee not only cemented the relationship between him and Shepherd but it signaled the start of an inspired friendship between the two musicians. The show with Lee also proved to Shepherd that his plans for the future should include performing his beloved blues music.Shepherd he next few years spent honing and refining his craft through performances with other musicians and gigs at various radio conventions. He eventually formed his own blues band. In 1993, Shepherd was signed by Irving Azoff to Giant Records, which became Revolution Records. The following year saw the release of Jewel Spotlights the Blues Volume I and its companion Jewel Spotlights the Blues Volume II. Both of the albums featured tracks by Willie Dixon featuring some guitar over-dub work performed by Shepherd.With his backing band, Shepherd began to work on the sessions and songs that were to comprise his debut album, Ledbetter Heights. Ledbetter Heights was released in 1995 and almost immediately caused a quite a stir. Shortly after the sessions for the album were completed, Shepherd and his band were asked to open for the Eagles at their Austin, Texas, concert. Requests for their services as an opening act also came from Bob Dylan. Azoff remarked on one of the Shepherd websites that "he is truly a phenomenon. He plays like someone who's lived a lot longer than he has. You don't learn what he has, it's given to you." What was also given to Shepherd was additional accolades from the likes of blues legend BB King who was quoted on one of Shepherd's websites as saying that "if he continues to grow, he'll be fantastic."Ledbetter Heights garnered Shepherd a number of prestigious honors. It spawned three top ten singles on the rock charts including the smash hit "Deja Voodoo." Ledbetter Heights also received gold certification. The album had a lock on the number one spot on the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart for an amazing period of five months straight.The following year, Shepherd contributed a track for the motion picture soundtrack for Michael. He also began work on his sophomore album, Trouble Is. Trouble Is was released in 1997, and according to Shepherd it highlighted a more mature and greatly improved style of playing and writing than was evident on its highly acclaimed predecessor. In commenting on Trouble Is, Shepherd told James Rotondi of Guitar Player that "the real challenge on the fast tempo stuff is to avoid the temptation to play fast myself. The goal is to make just a few notes sound right and fit in.... My chops have gotten so much better from playing nearly every night, not to mention from the maturity that comes from playing for two years on a professional level. If I were to do Ledbetter Heights today, it would sound a lot better. I know I've progressed, that I've stepped up a level or two. I don't think I'm guilty of overplaying much any more, and I can hear that my rhythm work has gotten a lot tastier."After the release of Trouble Is, Shepherd took to the road to promote the new album. A support slot on Dylan's 1998 tour further helped to bring Shepherd's new bluesy revival to the masses and was yet another way Shepherd sought to educate, enlighten, and inform the newest members of the blues community. He related on one of his websites that, "I don't want people to just listen to my music. I want them to hear it. Having people appreciate what I do is the ultimate satisfaction for me. I think there's a big explosion in blues-based music and it's very exciting. I'm glad to be a part of it. I want to turn my generation on to it. I want to help keep it alive for them."
Album:
After KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD 2023’s critically acclaimed, #1 Billboard Blues Chart release – ‘Dirt On My Diamonds Vol 1’- the singer / guitarist is about to release next September 20th the highly anticipated follow-up; “Dirt On My Diamonds, Volume 2“.With the acclaimed Vol 1 released only last November, Shepherd’s fans are still poring over that first slug of stellar material (“There’s no denying the impact,” wrote Classic Rock, “when he lets the blues off the leash”). But the Louisiana-born bandleader always had a bigger plan.Holding back a second set of songs birthed at the same writing sessions at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, he now presents a follow-up record that is a very different animal, with shared DNA.“When I started writing all of these songs, I started to see two individual identities emerge,” explains Shepherd of Dirt On My Diamonds Vol 2. “You’ll hear the same spirit across both albums, but the songs, sounds and grooves are very different. Because of the way that people live and consume music now, we decided to stagger the releases – but it’s essentially a double album. We had creative momentum on our side, so we just wanted to keep it rolling.”Kenny Wayne Shepherd really needs no introduction as he had been one of those artists that has been so consistent in what he does. As a guitarist he has an understanding of his instrument like no other of modern times. There is an old blues soul to his approach to song writing and arrangements. Every performer on this record has delivered in spades it really is an exceptional collaboration of musicianship.While it would have made sense to have released both Volumes 1 & 2 together as one album, there is a lot of logic to doing things the way Kenny Wayne Shepherd has. The simplest way to break it down is that the collection of songs had such depth. There is a live energy captured in this recording that wasn’t there on Vol.1.It also allows a new touring cycle that will introduce these songs to the live set where I believe they will take on a whole other life.“Dirt On My Diamonds” Vol.1 hinted at what was to come on Vol.2 in tracks like ‘Bad Intentions’ but the way this album hits, things are different this time – ‘supercharged’ is the best way to put it. There is a dynamic and power in every performance I didn’t get from Vol.1. I do know that the songs from both volumes were written at the same time, it’s just something in the way they have been put together and recorded that gives Vol.2 a vibrance that wasn’t there previously.‘I Got A Woman’ is the first single from the album is and is a tell-tale sign of what is to come. It is an all-out attack on the senses. That gritty signature guitar sound that we have come to love from Shepherd is prominent and the lush layers of brass and organ sits beautifully over a groove that is infectious. It’s a feel-good groove that just incites a singalong chorus and instant ear worm.While you still haven’t had a chance to pick up your jaw, ‘The Middle’ takes hold and is another slice of feelgood funky perfection, soul tinted and that ‘woah-oh-oah’ chorus is much like its predecessor sticks in your mind and haunts you, visiting you when you least expect it. The wah-infused solo simply sings.‘My Guitar Is Crying’ is the albums only moment where things come down a notch. From the warmth of the vocal to its soulful bite at country music. It has that highly polished 80’s production where it’s fluffy and light but in the best of ways. It is a hybrid tune that is perfect in every essence. The stellar solo and licks that weave in and out of the vocal lines are pure emotion. Vocally it’s a beautiful tale of sadness and loss.On ‘Long Way Down’ the brass parts on this track are simply dripping with goodness. The solo again is perfect, raw, dynamic and super powerful. Don’t get me started on the main riff, it’s monstrous, dirty, bluesy and oh so good.A favourite moment on the album comes from ‘Never Made It To Memphis’. Initially reminds of a classic Tom Petty riff and tone. Then you have that catchy as hell chorus crosses the line into modern country rock territory but does it with a dirt and grit. The female harmonies in the chorus lift this song, the simplicity of the ‘woo-oooh-hoo’ backing vocal lines just pull you in. This is one hell of a tasty track and needs to be a single; radio will love it.The hallmark Kenny Wayne Shepherd dirty guitars kick ‘Watch You Go’ off. It’s a slick track that just screams to be played loud. Its full of swagger and good times. The vocal performance has a grit to it that reminds me of classic blues storytelling the lyrical hook of “I hate to see you leaving, but I sure do love to watch you go” is a thing of beauty.‘Pressure’ is a journey in storytelling. It’s the lyrics that caught me first with this one as the story sits over a wall of exquisite groove and guitar licks. It has a funky backbone that swings and sways. The solo is thick and driving, in fact the guitar playing on this track is a definite highlight. It’s probably the slowest track to grow on me, however it’s a creeper that sits so well in this collection.‘She Loves My Automobile’ is a full tilt, straight forward blues rocker that just swings and sways effortlessly and beautifully. It has a boogie ZZ Top would be proud of to it and ends the album so well, in fact it segways back into the opening track so effortlessly.In what seems to be the blink of an eye this album is over. As they say time flies when you are having fun and this record is nothing but fun, engaging and has you hitting repeat over again and again.After playing both volumes back-to-back it is evident that there is a certain magic to this album that was slightly missing on Vol.1. While I really enjoyed the first installment, “Dirt On My Diamonds Vol.2” is simply on another level.It hits differently, there is a magic to these songs that simply stick better. Choruses and grooves come back at the most unexpected times and I have found myself either singing a chorus or humming a melody from the album. For me that is the sign of a great album.
Line-Up:
Kenny Wayne Shepherd – guitars, vocals
Chris Layton – drums
Reese Wynans – keyboards
Kevin McCormick – bass
Noah Hunt – vocals
Tracklist:
01. I Got A Woman
02. The Middle
03. My Guitar Is Crying
04. Long Way Down
05. Never Made It To Memphis
06. Watch You Go
07. Pressure
08. She Loves My Automobile
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