Interview: Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Text: Martien Koolen
KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD
Recently blues/rock guitarist, multi-talented singer and songwriter Kenny Wayne Shepherd released the album ‘Young Fashioned Ways’ together with soul legend Bobby Rush and today Shepherd is playing at the Bospop Festival in Weert, The Netherlands. Before the show I had the chance to talk to Kenny about the upcoming Bospop gig of course, but also about his album with Bobby Rush and Shepherd’s musical career so far.
Hi Kenny, any special plans for the setlist here at the notorious Bospop Festival?
Kenny: “Well, yeah, of course as the show here is shorter than we normally play a gig, we have only got one hour, so…..”
Will be there be songs from the Young Fashioned Ways album on today’s setlist?
Kenny: “Yeah, Bobby is coming up and join us for two songs, so we are going to do an old Muddy Waters track called Manish Boy and another one from the new record.”
How do you prepare for such a festival like this?
Kenny: “Well, I think every night that we play we are already preparing ourselves for the next gig and we have done a lot of shows and we have been in Europe for a couple of weeks now and we are ready to go at full force today and I think we are good and well prepared!”
How difficult is it for you to make up a setlist that represents all your albums and your songs?
Kenny: “It is hard to do, I mean, even when we play a two hour show we cannot play everything, so, you know, you just have to pick the songs that you really want to play and that represent who you are and what you are doing right now. So, with sixty minutes we try to cram as much good stuff in there as we can. But we are featuring songs from my new record and in the beginning of the show we will play something from the first album and then later we bring out Bobby to do two songs with him; we play something for everyone I guess, ha ha…”
Are there songs that you feel you must play, the so-called crowd pleasers?
Kenny: “Well, we always play the Jimi Hendrix classic Voodoo Chile and that is always a fan favourite, so, and Blue on Black is always on the setlist and we kind of try to always play some straight up blues rock tracks.”
Is there a difference in intensity if you play here in Holland or in Germany or back home?
Kenny: “No, not for us, we play with at the same level of intensity no matter where we are, you know, but sometimes the fans reaction is really different and you feel their intensity and that elevates what you are doing, you know.”
Where do you feel the most energy/intensity of the crowd, here in Europe or in the States?
Kenny: “It is different everywhere and I do not know if it is more or less anywhere but everybody responds differently and over here it is really nice and when we walk of the stage and everybody is clapping and wants you back on the stage, that is a great feeling and always fun.”
You started playing guitar at a noticeably young age, when did you really connect with the guitar?
Kenny: “I probably figured out that I was good at guitar playing when I was on stage when I was thirteen years old; I was really nervous about it and I thought, well let’s just do it and if it is bad then I will end this right now. So, I played, and I got my first standing ovation, and it went really well, and I thought well maybe I got something going there.”
Who were your guitar heroes back then?
Kenny: “Well, I had a lot, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and of course the blues guys like Albert King, Freddie King.”
So, your sound blends blues, blues rock, rock, jazz and even some modern elements, how do you keep evolving without losing the essence of your signature sound, your roots?
Kenny: “I think it is just, when you have been playing for a while like me you have a certain signature sound, it is my hands, it is my touch, my guitar, my experience and that makes it kind of special and you can feel that personality and the spirit in all my songs and the sound of my songs.”
What is your favourite guitar to play on?
Kenny: “Well, probably my 1961 Strat, that’s my all-time favourite, but I have a few that I really love as I have a fair amount of guitars…”
How many do you have?
Kenny: “I have not counted, ha ha…I think I have over a hundred, but I am not sure, but not as many as Bonamassa, ha ha… I do not bring all my guitars to Europe when I am playing here as some of them are really special to me, so.”
Are you really an autodidact, or did you have lessons?
Kenny: “Well, everybody learns a little bit from someone, so a friend from our family who played guitar showed me how to string a guitar, how to do vibrato and stuff, you know, and he showed me a lot over the years, but the majority of the work was me listening to other guitar players and trying to play what they played.”
How many hours a week do you practice now?
Kenny: “Now? When I was a kid I was playing all the time, now I would say it is very different because on the road I play at least a couple of hours a day, but when I am home it is really different as I have six children and I am married, you know there is a lot to do when I am at home, so then I play not that much.”
When and how do you write new songs?
Kenny: “Sometimes it starts with a riff and then again I sometimes have a title on my mind or a lyric and then I record that into my phone, save it and come back to it later.”
The lyrics are always last.
Kenny: Yeah, usually…”
How important are lyrics?
Kenny: “Well, they are important, yeah, to me, I grew up listening to songs and listening to the lyrics and I like to make songs that have great choruses and tell stories, you know, not just all about the guitar, ha ha,..”
Do you think it is important that your audience understand your lyrics or grasp the meaning of your songs?
Kenny: “Well, I feel like that sometimes not everybody understands our lyrics as they do not understand or speak English that well, but they still can feel the emotion of a song even if they cannot understand it; they can feel it and that is important as well.”
What are you most proud of so far?
Kenny: “uh, wow, well, good question, professionally you mean, besides the fact that we have a huge, fantastic fan base for more than thirty years and that we can play for huge crowds as without the fans we cannot do anything.”
Which album would you send into space for future generations to hear and why?
Kenny: “I do not know, every time I put a new record out I have the feeling that that is the best one, but when I look back I find all the albums like chapters in a book, my life, you know, so every album represents a different time in my life as a person and as an artist, so they are all very important to me.”
Do you still have ambitions?
Kenny: “Oh, yeah, absolutely, especially over here, like I really wanting to grow our fan base over here and we are still building that momentum and we are still growing as we are focusing on the European market.”
How did you come to collaborate with Bobby Rush on the ‘Young Fashioned Ways’ album?
Kenny: “I had him coming to play at my special blues festival and he played with me and my band, and it was absolutely amazing as we had real chemistry together. And so, I said to Bobby, we should do an album together and that is what happened, six months later we recorded the album.”
Bobby is ninety-one!!
Kenny: “Yeah, I know, the guy is unbelievable, he is incredible, just watch him later on in the show doing two tracks, really impressive!”
Last question, if I were Kenny Wayne Shepherd and you were the music reporter, what would be your final question?
Kenny: “um… I do not know, I am not used to asking questions, ha ha…”
No?
Kenny: “No, not really, my friend, ha ha…I do not know, I do not really have one….”
Second last question, do you still “like” doing interviews, or is it a must do thing?
Kenny: “You should be happy that someone wants to talk to you and that they can get the word out about your music. I am grateful that people like you are still interested in my music and what I do.”
Thanks for your time.
Kenny: “Thank you man, great questions.”
Website: https://www.kennywayneshepherd.net/
