Article published November 19, 2009
Music is just 1 of Shepherd’s passions
Kenny Wayne Shepherd performs in Toledo on Saturday.
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By DAVID YONKE
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Kenny Wayne Shepherd is only 32 years old, but he has a lot of respect for his elders — especially guitars and cars.
Shepherd, who will be in concert Saturday night at the Omni, plays an electric guitar that is 16 years older than he is, and spends a lot of his free time rebuilding and racing vintage American muscle cars.
In a phone interview, the Shreveport, La. native said it was love at first sight when he met his 1961 Fender Stratocaster guitar.
“I was like 16 or 17 and saw it at a Guitar Center in Hollywood. I couldn’t afford the guitar at the time but I refused to leave the store without it,” he said.
Actually, he explained, that was the second time he saw the classic instrument. He had spotted it a year earlier and knew it was his musical soul mate, but he knew the Strat was beyond his reach. He said he can’t remember exactly but thinks it was selling for between $5,000 and $7,000.
A year later, Shepherd returned to the same store and much to his surprise, the same guitar was still for sale.
“I never thought the guitar would be there, but it was,” he said. “I wouldn’t leave without it. So my dad and one of the guys from my record company and my music attorney at the time all agreed to buy the guitar and split the cost three ways, putting it on their credit cards.”
It was a good investment in more ways than one. That same model guitar sells for $25,000 or more now, Shepherd said. And his trusty sunburst Strat has served him well over the years as Shepherd has emerged as one of the top blues players of the new millennium.
Starting with his “Ledbetter Heights,” his debut disc recorded when he was 16, Shepherd has released four No. 1 blues albums and scored several mainstream rock hits including the No. 1 single “Blue on Black” in 1998.
He has been nominated for four Grammys and won the Blues Foundation’s Keeping the Blues Alive Award.
Away from music, Shepherd likes to tear down and rebuild old Detroit muscle cars and give them a spin around the race track.
He likes 1960s and ’70s cars but his latest project is a new retro-style Dodge Challenger that he plans to customize.
After releasing just five albums in 14 years, Shepherd is looking ahead to a comparatively prolific new year.
“We’re making a live record right now that should be released early in 2010 … and then I’ve been writing songs over the last year or more for the next studio record. The goal is to have two new records out in 2010,” he said.
The live disc was recorded during Shepherd’s last tour to support his homage to traditional blues, “10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads.” That tour, which included a show at the Omni in Toledo, featured Shepherd performing with a long list of special guests including Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, Honeyboy Edwards, and Bryan Lee.
“The live record sounds great, sonically, and what’s cool about it is that it has six or seven songs on it that Kenny Wayne Shepherd fans would consider new material,” he said, adding that the tunes are those that his guest artists are known for.
After his rock-oriented 2004 CD “The Place You’re In” and the pure blues of “10 Days Out,” Shepherd said his new studio album “is leaning more toward the blues-rock hybrid that people have come to expect from me.”
Shepherd is touring with a five-person band that includes Noah Hunt on vocals, Chris Layton on drums, Scott Nelson on bass, and Riley Osborn on keyboards.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd and band will be in concert Saturday at the Omni, 2567 West Bancroft St., with the Chris Shutters Band opening. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; the show starts at 7:30. Tickets are $24, available at all Ticketmaster outlets. Information: 419-535-6664 or omnimidwest.com.
Contact David Yonke at:
dyonke@theblade.com or
419-724-6154.
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