Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Encyclopedia
Kenny Wayne Shepherd is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

, singer, and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

. He has released several studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

s and experienced a rare level of commercial success both as a blues artist and a young musician.

Biography

Shepherd graduated Caddo Magnet High School
Caddo Magnet High School
Caddo Parish Magnet High School, or simply "Magnet" as it is known by its students, is located in Shreveport, Louisiana at 1601 Viking Drive. Its motto is, "In our hands we hold today; in our minds we hold tomorrow." Its goal is stated, "To share what we know, what we have, and what we are with...

 in Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

. The guitarist is "completely self taught",
and does not read music. Growing up, Shepherd's father (Ken Shepherd) was a local radio personality and some-time concert promoter, and had a vast collection of music. Shepherd got his first "guitar" at the age of three or four, when his grandmother purchased a series of several plastic guitars for him with S&H Green Stamps
S&H Green Stamps
S&H Green Stamps were trading stamps popular in the United States from the 1930s until the late 1980s. They were distributed as part of a rewards program operated by the Sperry and Hutchinson company , founded in 1896 by Thomas Sperry and Shelly Hutchinson...

, which Shepherd has said he would "go through like candy".

Shepherd stated in a 2010 interview that he began playing guitar in earnest at age seven, about six months after meeting and being "pretty mesmerized" by Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...

, in June 1984, at one of his father's promoted concerts. His self-taught method employed a process of learning one note at a time, playing and rewinding cassette tapes, utilizing "a cheap Yamaha wanna-be Stratocaster...made out of plywood, basically", learning Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...

, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Albert Lee
Albert Lee
Albert William Lee, born 21 December 1943 in Leominster, Herefordshire, England, is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked both in the studio and on tour with some of the most famous musicians which stretch through a very wide of genres...

 licks from his father's vast music collection.

At the age of 13, Shepherd was invited on stage by the New Orleans bluesman Bryan Lee
Bryan Lee
Bryan Lee is an American blues guitarist and singer based in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also known by the nickname braille blues daddy and has been a fixture on Bourbon Street scene since the 1980s....

. 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
Red River Revel
The Red River Revel is a festival of food, culture, art and music that takes place in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, annually in the month of October. The Revel began in 1976 as a bicentennial celebration, sponsored by The Junior League of Shreveport...

 Arts Festival in Shreveport. It was this video performance that impressed Giant Records
Giant Records
Giant Records was launched in 1990 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. Records and Irving Azoff, who had sold his companies to MCA Records for $15.7 million. Azoff initially intended for the label to be called Big Records, but that name had been taken....

 chief Irving Azoff
Irving Azoff
Irving Azoff is an American personal manager, representing recording artists in the music industry such as Christina Aguilera, Journey, Jewel, the Eagles, X Japan, Bush, REO Speedwagon, Seal, David Archuleta, Alter Bridge, Van Halen, 30 Seconds to Mars, Neil Diamond, New Kids on the Block, Steely...

 enough to sign Shepherd to a multiple album record deal.

From 1995 on, Shepherd took seven single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

s into the Top 10, and holds the record for the longest-running album on the Billboard Blues Charts with Trouble Is...
Trouble Is...
Trouble Is ... is the second album by American blues solo artist Kenny Wayne Shepherd. It features the #1 Mainstream Rock Tracks hit "Blue on Black". The album also spawned three further hits including "Slow Ride", "Somehow, Somewhere, Someway", and "Everything is Broken", a Bob Dylan cover. It...

. In 1996, Shepherd began a longtime collaboration with vocalist Noah Hunt, who provided the vocals for Shepherd's signature song, "Blue on Black
Blue on Black
"Blue on Black" is a song by American blues band Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band and is the lead single from their second studio album, Trouble Is.... Released on April 7, 1997, the track rose to #1 on the US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and remained there for 6 non-consecutive weeks...

". Shepherd has been nominated for five Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

s, and has received two Billboard Music Award
Billboard Music Award
The Billboard Music Award is an honor given by Billboard magazine, the preeminent publication covering the music business. The Billboard Music Awards show had been held annually in December until it went dormant in 2007, but it returned in May 2011...

s, two Blues Music Awards and two Orville H. Gibson Awards.

In September 2008, Fender Musical Instruments Corp. released the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Signature Series Stratocaster, designed exclusively by Shepherd. Most recently, he developed a DVD–CD project, 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads. This documents Shepherd as he travels the country to jam
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...

 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 Lead Belly's grave), B. B. King
B. B. King
Riley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...

, blues harp master Jerry "Boogie" McCain
Jerry McCain
Jerry McCain, often billed as Jerry "Boogie" McCain , is an American electric blues musician, best known as a harmonica player. One of five children of a poor family, many of his siblings became involved in music as well, most notably his brother, Walter, who played drums on some early recordings...

, Cootie Stark
Cootie Stark
Cootie Stark was an American Piedmont blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His best remembered recordings were "Metal Bottoms" and "Sandyland." Stark was known as the 'King of the Piedmont blues.'-Biography:...

, Neal Pattman
Neal Pattman
Neal Pattman was an American electric blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. Sometimes billed as Big Daddy Pattman, he is best known for his self-penned tracks, "Prison Blues" and "Goin' Back To Georgia"...

, John Dee Holeman
John Dee Holeman
John Dee Holeman is an American Piedmont blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His music includes elements of Texas blues, R&B and jazz. In his younger days he was also known for his proficiency as a 'buckdancer'.-Biography:...

, Etta Baker
Etta Baker
Etta Baker was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer from North Carolina, United States.-Biography:...

, Henry Townsend
Henry Townsend (musician)
Henry 'Mule' Townsend was an American blues singer, guitarist and pianist.-Career:Townsend was born in Shelby, Mississippi and grew up in Cairo, Illinois. He left home at the age of nine because of an abusive father and hoboed his way to St. Louis, Missouri...

 with Honeyboy Edwards, and a concert session with the surviving members of Muddy Waters' and Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....

's bands.

Personal life

Shepherd married actor Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...

's oldest daughter, Hannah Gibson, on September 16, 2006, and they now have three children, a daughter born October 10, 2007, first son born in 2009, and a second son born March 12, 2011.

Live performances

  • Shepherd made a trip of ten days in the U.S.
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

     to meet and play with his idols: B.B. King, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Hubert Sumlin
    Hubert Sumlin
    Hubert Sumlin is an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist and singer, best known for his celebrated work, from 1955, as guitarist in Howlin' Wolf's band. His singular playing is characterized by "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic...

    , Pinetop Perkins
    Pinetop Perkins
    Joseph William Perkins , known by the stage name Pinetop Perkins, was an American blues musician, specializing in piano music...

    , Henry Townsend
    Henry Townsend (musician)
    Henry 'Mule' Townsend was an American blues singer, guitarist and pianist.-Career:Townsend was born in Shelby, Mississippi and grew up in Cairo, Illinois. He left home at the age of nine because of an abusive father and hoboed his way to St. Louis, Missouri...

    , Honeyboy Edwards
    David Honeyboy Edwards
    David "Honeyboy" Edwards was a Delta blues guitarist and singer from the American South. Edwards was the last Delta bluesman before his 2011 death.-Life and career:Edwards was born in Shaw, Mississippi...

    , Cootie Stark
    Cootie Stark
    Cootie Stark was an American Piedmont blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His best remembered recordings were "Metal Bottoms" and "Sandyland." Stark was known as the 'King of the Piedmont blues.'-Biography:...

    , Neal Pattman
    Neal Pattman
    Neal Pattman was an American electric blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. Sometimes billed as Big Daddy Pattman, he is best known for his self-penned tracks, "Prison Blues" and "Goin' Back To Georgia"...

    , Etta Baker
    Etta Baker
    Etta Baker was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer from North Carolina, United States.-Biography:...

    , Jerry "Boogie" McCain
    Jerry McCain
    Jerry McCain, often billed as Jerry "Boogie" McCain , is an American electric blues musician, best known as a harmonica player. One of five children of a poor family, many of his siblings became involved in music as well, most notably his brother, Walter, who played drums on some early recordings...

    , Buddy Flett, Bryan Lee
    Bryan Lee
    Bryan Lee is an American blues guitarist and singer based in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also known by the nickname braille blues daddy and has been a fixture on Bourbon Street scene since the 1980s....

    , John Dee Holeman
    John Dee Holeman
    John Dee Holeman is an American Piedmont blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His music includes elements of Texas blues, R&B and jazz. In his younger days he was also known for his proficiency as a 'buckdancer'.-Biography:...

    , The Howlin' Wolf
    Howlin' Wolf
    Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....

     and the Muddy Waters
    Muddy Waters
    McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...

     Band.
  • Shepherd and Bryan Lee appeared as the musical guest on The Tonight Show
    The Tonight Show
    The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...

    with Jay Leno
    Jay Leno
    James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...

     on February 14, 2007.
  • On July 24, 2007, he opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd
    Lynyrd Skynyrd
    Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...

     at the Orange County Fair
    Orange County Fair
    Orange County Fair may refer to any of several large fairs throughout the United States.*Orange County Fair *Orange County Fair *Orange County Fair...

    .
  • He was the opening act for The Rolling Stones
    The Rolling Stones
    The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

     during a stint of their 1999
    1999 in music
    -Events:*January 7**After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation.**Paul McCartney attends the first of his stepdaughter Heather's first housewares collection in Georgia....

     No Security
    No Security
    No Security is a live album by The Rolling Stones and was released in 1998. Recorded over the course of the lengthy 1997–1998 worldwide Bridges to Babylon Tour, it is the band's sixth official full-length live release....

     tour.
  • Shepherd performed some of his songs including a cover of Jimi Hendrix
    Jimi Hendrix
    James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...

    's "Voodoo Child
    Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
    "Voodoo Child " is the closing track on Electric Ladyland, the third and final album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The song is known for its wah-wah-heavy guitar work. It is #101 on Rolling Stone's list of 500 greatest songs of all time....

    " at the Dutch Mason Blues Festival in 2007 and 2009.
  • Has also opened for Aerosmith
    Aerosmith
    Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

    , Bob Dylan
    Bob Dylan
    Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

    , the Eagles (originally on the Hell Freezes Over
    Hell Freezes Over
    Hell Freezes Over is a live album by the Eagles, released in 1994. The album contains four new studio tracks and eleven tracks recorded live for an MTV special. It went to #1 on the Billboard album chart upon its release where it stayed for two weeks. It is the band's second live album behind their...

     Tour), and Van Halen
    Van Halen
    Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...

    .
  • Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
    Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
    Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....

     performance, Nov 2010 - Shepherd sat in with house band, playing the same white Stratocaster played by Jimi Hendrix
    Jimi Hendrix
    James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...

     during his historic performance at Woodstock.
  • Shepherd appeared at the Experience Hendrix tribute concert in Mesa Arizona on May 23, 2011.

Studio albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...


(sales thresholds)
US
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...


US
Blues
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...


CHE
Swiss Music Charts
The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...


NZL
SWE
Sverigetopplistan
Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....


UK
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

1995 Ledbetter Heights
Ledbetter Heights
Ledbetter Heights is the debut album by American blues solo artist Kenny Wayne Shepherd. He was a mere 17 years old during its release on September 19, 1995. The album's name refers to a neighborhood in Shepherd's home town of Shreveport, Louisiana...

  • Released: September 19, 1995
  • Label: Giant
    Giant Records
    Giant Records was launched in 1990 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. Records and Irving Azoff, who had sold his companies to MCA Records for $15.7 million. Azoff initially intended for the label to be called Big Records, but that name had been taken....

     (24621)
  • Format: CD
    Compact Disc
    The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

    , CS
    Compact Cassette
    The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

108 1 25 US
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

: Platinum
1997 Trouble Is...
Trouble Is...
Trouble Is ... is the second album by American blues solo artist Kenny Wayne Shepherd. It features the #1 Mainstream Rock Tracks hit "Blue on Black". The album also spawned three further hits including "Slow Ride", "Somehow, Somewhere, Someway", and "Everything is Broken", a Bob Dylan cover. It...

  • Released: October 7, 1997
  • Label: Revolution (24689)
  • Format: CD, CS
  • 74 1 36 US: Platinum
    1999 Live On
    Live On
    Live On is the third studio album by American blues solo artist Kenny Wayne Shepherd, released in 1999. It was certified Gold by the RIAA in 2000...

  • Released: October 12, 1999
  • Label: Giant (24729)
  • Format: CD, CS
  • 52 1 US: Platinum
    2004 The Place You're In
    The Place You're In
    The Place You're In is the fourth studio album by blues solo artist Kenny Wayne Shepherd. It was released on October 5, 2004. This is his first album in five years, the last was 1999's Live On.-Track listing:# "Alive" – 3:44# "Be Mine" – 4:09...

  • Released: October 5, 2004
  • Label: Reprise (48866)
  • Format: CD
  • 101 1
    2007 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads
  • Released: January 23, 2007
  • Label: Reprise (49294)
  • Format: CD
  • 164 1 52 US: Gold
    2011 How I Go
  • Released: August 2, 2011
  • Label: Roadrunner
    Roadrunner Records
    Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...

     (RR 77232)
  • Format: CD
  • 52 1 86 92
    "—" denotes a release that did not chart.

    Live albums

    Year Album details Peak chart positions
    US
    US
    Blues
    US
    Rock
    Billboard charts
    The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...


    2010 Live! in Chicago
    Live! in Chicago
    -Track listing:*"Somehow, Somewhere, Someway"*"King's Highway"*"True Lies"*"Deja Voodoo"*"Sell My Monkey"*"Dance For Me"*"Baby, Don't Say That No More"*"Eye To Eye"*"How Many More Years"*"Sick And Tired"*"Feed Me"*"Rocking Daddy"*"Blue on Black"...

    • Released: September 27, 2010
    • Label: Roadrunner (1686177422)
    • Format: CD
    114 1 42

    Singles

    Year Title Peak chart positions Album
    US
    Billboard Hot 100
    The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...


    US
    Main.
    1995 "Déjà Voodoo" 9 Ledbetter Heights
    1996 "Born with a Broken Heart" 15
    "Aberdeen" 23
    1997 "Slow Ride" 3 Trouble Is...
    1998 "Somehow, Somewhere, Someway" 3
    "Blue on Black
    Blue on Black
    "Blue on Black" is a song by American blues band Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band and is the lead single from their second studio album, Trouble Is.... Released on April 7, 1997, the track rose to #1 on the US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and remained there for 6 non-consecutive weeks...

    "
    78 1
    "Everything Is Broken
    Everything Is Broken
    "Everything is Broken" is a song written and recorded by American musician Bob Dylan, and released on his 1989 album, Oh Mercy. The song's lyrics describe Dylan's detachment from his world at the time of its writing. The track found on Oh Mercy is a re-working of a take recorded earlier...

    "
    10
    1999 "In 2 Deep" 5 Live On
    2000 "Was" 9
    "Last Goodbye" 14
    2004 "Alive" 13 The Place You're In
    2005 "The Place You're In" 30
    2011 "Never Lookin' Back" 36 How I Go
    "Come on Over"
    "—" denotes a release that did not chart.

    External links

    • Official website
    • Ten Days Out
    • [ Shepherd biography] at Allmusic website
      Website
      A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...

    The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
     
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