October 3, 2024 • 8 mins
KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD IS COMING TO THE SPRINGS THIS WEEKEND And he's stopping by the show for a minute today at 12:30. His song Blue on Black is on my Top 10 Songs of All Time List. He's in the Springs Sunday with a list of other musicians as part of the Experience Hendrix Tribute Tour and you can buy tickets to see that show here. His new album is out and it's fantastic and you should buy it here.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In my top ten list of all time favorite songs.
Blue and Black is part of that, and Kenny Wayne
Shepherd is the artist behind it. He is going to
be in the Springs this weekend for a show that
looks like it is going to be an absolute barn burner. Kenny,
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
You know, I'm a big fan. I love blues music
just across the board. Not all of my top ten
songs are blue songs though, So you're in You're in
rare company there with Sinead O'Connor and When in Rome
and Bob Seeker. So what drew you because you've been
you've been doing this a long time. You started as
a very young guy. What drew you to this style
(00:38):
of music in the first place.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, my dad famously took me to my first concert
when I was three years old, and that was Muddy
Waters and John Lee Hoss.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Oh get you started right.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, I think anybody you know who would go see
them for their first concert would probably wind up a
lifelong blues fan. So, I mean there is that. And
then you know, my dad worked at radio station. We
went to every concert that came through. We got to
meet the bands, and so I grew up around music
and then you know, at age seven, I got to
meet and see Stevie Rayvaughn play for the first time.
Oh wow, And that's really what lit the fire in me.
(01:10):
You know. I saw him play, and all I wanted
to do was get my hands on our electric guitar
and try and learn how to play with that passion
that if he had, well.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Mister accomplished. I'm just going to say that, I will ask, like,
when did you actually start playing the guitar and what
was that like for you? Were you kind of one
of those kids that immediately became obsessed with it and
spend all of your free time doing that. How did
that work?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah? I mean I was a kid that would come
home from school and you know, when my friends were
out doing whatever kids do, I was in the house
for four or five six hours a day just playing
guitar because it just it gave me focus and I
just really enjoyed it. Even when I couldn't make it
sound great, I was determined to learn how to do that,
and so I got a lot of personal satisfaction out
(01:52):
of it, and it was a lot of fun and
it was a tedious process. I play by ear. I
don't read music, you know, if I learned songs one
note at a time, one core at a time. But
it worked for me, and thankfully, you know, I've been
able to make a career out of it, and quite
a career it is.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I listened to your new album that just recently came
out today and it's outstanding as well. And I wanted
to ask you kind of about blues music in the
United States because I got to a lot of shows,
go to a lot of blues festivals, and for a
genre that came out of the African American South, it
is a lot of white people that are going to
these shows. Now, you know, is this has the entire audience?
(02:31):
Is the entire audience mostly white folks? Not to make
this a racist thing, I just think that that's an
interesting development.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Well yes, I mean for the most part, I guess
it just depends on who the artist is that's playing
and who they're coming to see. But you know, I
think it definitely still receives support from you know, the
African American community. But I mean, I think the biggest
thing is, like with the British invasion, and you know,
that went back in the sixties when a sixties and
(02:58):
early seventies and early eighties even you know, when like
the America had kind of moved on from blues music
to other things, but the English were the ones that
were really supporting the music. At that point. You had
bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and Air
Clapp and and Jeff Beck and all these incredible legendary
musicians that came out and then they were spreading the
(03:18):
word about blues music and they turned on a really
big white audience onto this music. And that's what's helped
keep it, you know, growing and continuing to thrive. For sure.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Do you play all over the world, and if so,
how are you received, because this is a uniquely American
form of music. How has that received overseas?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
People love it? I mean, there's an appetite for it,
for sure, and so you know, we've definitely made it
a point to go over and play for the people
over in Europe. And you know, a couple of years
back we went to India and played you know, blues
music for people in India and South America. I mean,
all around the world. There's definitely an audience for it.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Who do you listen to when you are just like
you know, cleaning your house or doing the lawn or
whatever you do in your free time. Who are the artists,
both new and old that you enjoy?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Well, to be honest with you, right now, when if
I'm listening to music around the house, I put on
like nineteen forties music like Big Band, Oh yeah, Swayne
Glenn Miller.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Because yeah, the thing about it is is like that
music is appropriate for any occasion. You can have a
dinner party, you can just invite friends over, you can
sit down with your wife or your significant other just
to relax, I mean anything, your pool party, whatever it is,
you've put that music on it. There's never a wrong
time to hear that kind of music. So that's generally
the background music that's going on in my house.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
So should we be expecting a clarinet to be added
to the Kenny Way Shepherd experience anytime?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
There? You do have a horn section in the band. We've
had a horn section for a couple of years now.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Well, I've not seen the horn section. I've actually seen
you a couple of times. Looking forward to seeing you again.
But let's talk about this show on Sunday night. Because
this is not just you. When I looked at this
this morning, I was like, cow, how do they get
all of you guys together to do this? Tell me
about this tribute to Jimmy Hendrix.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, well, it's put on by the Experience Hendricks people,
you know, the Official Hendricks organization, and so, you know,
we were doing this for a while before COVID happened.
It was a bi annual event and we did it
every other year and an incredible lineup, and then it
had about a five year break because of COVID and
people getting back to work. So now we're back at
(05:28):
it again and it's like an incredible lineup of amazing
musicians that are all paying tribute to the great guitar
player of all time. So it's all Jimmy Hendrix's music
done by some of your favorite musicians. I mean, you
got Zach Wilde, who's famous for being with Ozzie Osbourne
for so many years. And you've got Eric Johnson, he's
a guitar virtuo. So we got duezl Zappa, who's Frank
(05:49):
Zappa's son, an incredible guitar player. Some of the shows,
we had Taj Mahal, who's the blues legionship himself, and
then we have Christine kingfish Ingram, who's a young up
and comer in the blues, two time Grammy Award winner,
and there's many, many more. But you know, it's a
revolving door. And we start the show and artists come
out and they do some songs, and then sometimes another
(06:10):
artist will join that artist on stage, and then those
guys step down, another artist comes up, and it's just
one after another after another after another, and it's a
lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
How did you guys decide who gets to play?
Speaker 2 (06:22):
What? What'd you draw? Straws?
Speaker 1 (06:23):
What did that look like?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
You throw it out? Yeah, well, some of us have
been doing this tour together for a while, so you know,
my songs that I do, I've been doing them for
many years now, so yeah, but yeah, you just kind
of have to kind of pick from what's available. To
be honest with you, if you're new to the tour,
then you kind of have to choose from the songs
that haven't already been taken.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Do you do you haze people by telling them that
they have to play like some really obscure song no
one's heard of, and like that's your early shot chief.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
No, but I will tell you Aaron Johnson, he picks
some obscure songs, and he also picks the most difficult
Jimmy Hendrick songs, and he recreate some like note for note,
which is really impressive. So there's no hazing. But you know,
if you leave people creative minds generally will you know,
they'll gravitate to what interests them. Is for some people
(07:12):
it is doing the incredibly complicated stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
I was going to ask you, how much of this
is you playing like Jimmy Hendrix or how much is
this of you sort of interpreting and putting your own
spin on Jimmy Hendrix.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Well, it's a little bit of all of it. But
for me it's it's me doing, you know, my interpretation
of his music. And for some artists it's film doing
their their take on his music. And then for others
like Eric Johnson, you know, he's playing that stuff note
for note and he's working incredibly hard to like recreate
(07:47):
them authentically, and de Weesel does the same thing. So
it's a little bit of all of it.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
To be honest with you, what songs do you play?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
So currently I'm doing Gypsy Eyes and then we do
a song called come On Part one, and then we
do I Don't Live Today, which I recorded on my
second album, Trouble Is. And then we do a medley
of two of my favorite Hendrick songs, which one of
them is boot Blues, and go into Boodh choud Slight Return,
which is one of the most famous Hendrick songs.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
All right, now, somebody just sent our text line and said, Mandy,
if you haven't mentioned it today, it's the birthday of
Stevie ray Vaughn. Just saying so happy birthday, but you know,
obviously posthumously. Kenny Wayne Shepherd super excited that you're coming
to town. I hope you enjoy your stay and have
a great show. And it's just been a real pleasure
talking to you. I appreciate your time today.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
I appreciate it. All right.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
That is Kenny Wayne Shephard. You can see him Sunday night.
I put a link on my blog to where you
can buy tickets. It is the pikes Peak Center down
in the Springs and the lineup looks crazy, so check
it out.
In my top ten list of all time favorite songs.
Blue and Black is part of that, and Kenny Wayne
Shepherd is the artist behind it. He is going to
be in the Springs this weekend for a show that
looks like it is going to be an absolute barn burner. Kenny,
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
You know, I'm a big fan. I love blues music
just across the board. Not all of my top ten
songs are blue songs though, So you're in You're in
rare company there with Sinead O'Connor and When in Rome
and Bob Seeker. So what drew you because you've been
you've been doing this a long time. You started as
a very young guy. What drew you to this style
(00:38):
of music in the first place.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, my dad famously took me to my first concert
when I was three years old, and that was Muddy
Waters and John Lee Hoss.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Oh get you started right.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, I think anybody you know who would go see
them for their first concert would probably wind up a
lifelong blues fan. So, I mean there is that. And
then you know, my dad worked at radio station. We
went to every concert that came through. We got to
meet the bands, and so I grew up around music
and then you know, at age seven, I got to
meet and see Stevie Rayvaughn play for the first time.
Oh wow, And that's really what lit the fire in me.
(01:10):
You know. I saw him play, and all I wanted
to do was get my hands on our electric guitar
and try and learn how to play with that passion
that if he had, well.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Mister accomplished. I'm just going to say that, I will ask, like,
when did you actually start playing the guitar and what
was that like for you? Were you kind of one
of those kids that immediately became obsessed with it and
spend all of your free time doing that. How did
that work?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah? I mean I was a kid that would come
home from school and you know, when my friends were
out doing whatever kids do, I was in the house
for four or five six hours a day just playing
guitar because it just it gave me focus and I
just really enjoyed it. Even when I couldn't make it
sound great, I was determined to learn how to do that,
and so I got a lot of personal satisfaction out
(01:52):
of it, and it was a lot of fun and
it was a tedious process. I play by ear. I
don't read music, you know, if I learned songs one
note at a time, one core at a time. But
it worked for me, and thankfully, you know, I've been
able to make a career out of it, and quite
a career it is.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I listened to your new album that just recently came
out today and it's outstanding as well. And I wanted
to ask you kind of about blues music in the
United States because I got to a lot of shows,
go to a lot of blues festivals, and for a
genre that came out of the African American South, it
is a lot of white people that are going to
these shows. Now, you know, is this has the entire audience?
(02:31):
Is the entire audience mostly white folks? Not to make
this a racist thing, I just think that that's an
interesting development.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Well yes, I mean for the most part, I guess
it just depends on who the artist is that's playing
and who they're coming to see. But you know, I
think it definitely still receives support from you know, the
African American community. But I mean, I think the biggest
thing is, like with the British invasion, and you know,
that went back in the sixties when a sixties and
(02:58):
early seventies and early eighties even you know, when like
the America had kind of moved on from blues music
to other things, but the English were the ones that
were really supporting the music. At that point. You had
bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and Air
Clapp and and Jeff Beck and all these incredible legendary
musicians that came out and then they were spreading the
(03:18):
word about blues music and they turned on a really
big white audience onto this music. And that's what's helped
keep it, you know, growing and continuing to thrive. For sure.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Do you play all over the world, and if so,
how are you received, because this is a uniquely American
form of music. How has that received overseas?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
People love it? I mean, there's an appetite for it,
for sure, and so you know, we've definitely made it
a point to go over and play for the people
over in Europe. And you know, a couple of years
back we went to India and played you know, blues
music for people in India and South America. I mean,
all around the world. There's definitely an audience for it.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Who do you listen to when you are just like
you know, cleaning your house or doing the lawn or
whatever you do in your free time. Who are the artists,
both new and old that you enjoy?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Well, to be honest with you, right now, when if
I'm listening to music around the house, I put on
like nineteen forties music like Big Band, Oh yeah, Swayne
Glenn Miller.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Because yeah, the thing about it is is like that
music is appropriate for any occasion. You can have a
dinner party, you can just invite friends over, you can
sit down with your wife or your significant other just
to relax, I mean anything, your pool party, whatever it is,
you've put that music on it. There's never a wrong
time to hear that kind of music. So that's generally
the background music that's going on in my house.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
So should we be expecting a clarinet to be added
to the Kenny Way Shepherd experience anytime?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
There? You do have a horn section in the band. We've
had a horn section for a couple of years now.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Well, I've not seen the horn section. I've actually seen
you a couple of times. Looking forward to seeing you again.
But let's talk about this show on Sunday night. Because
this is not just you. When I looked at this
this morning, I was like, cow, how do they get
all of you guys together to do this? Tell me
about this tribute to Jimmy Hendrix.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, well, it's put on by the Experience Hendricks people,
you know, the Official Hendricks organization, and so, you know,
we were doing this for a while before COVID happened.
It was a bi annual event and we did it
every other year and an incredible lineup, and then it
had about a five year break because of COVID and
people getting back to work. So now we're back at
(05:28):
it again and it's like an incredible lineup of amazing
musicians that are all paying tribute to the great guitar
player of all time. So it's all Jimmy Hendrix's music
done by some of your favorite musicians. I mean, you
got Zach Wilde, who's famous for being with Ozzie Osbourne
for so many years. And you've got Eric Johnson, he's
a guitar virtuo. So we got duezl Zappa, who's Frank
(05:49):
Zappa's son, an incredible guitar player. Some of the shows,
we had Taj Mahal, who's the blues legionship himself, and
then we have Christine kingfish Ingram, who's a young up
and comer in the blues, two time Grammy Award winner,
and there's many, many more. But you know, it's a
revolving door. And we start the show and artists come
out and they do some songs, and then sometimes another
(06:10):
artist will join that artist on stage, and then those
guys step down, another artist comes up, and it's just
one after another after another after another, and it's a
lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
How did you guys decide who gets to play?
Speaker 2 (06:22):
What? What'd you draw? Straws?
Speaker 1 (06:23):
What did that look like?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
You throw it out? Yeah, well, some of us have
been doing this tour together for a while, so you know,
my songs that I do, I've been doing them for
many years now, so yeah, but yeah, you just kind
of have to kind of pick from what's available. To
be honest with you, if you're new to the tour,
then you kind of have to choose from the songs
that haven't already been taken.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Do you do you haze people by telling them that
they have to play like some really obscure song no
one's heard of, and like that's your early shot chief.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
No, but I will tell you Aaron Johnson, he picks
some obscure songs, and he also picks the most difficult
Jimmy Hendrick songs, and he recreate some like note for note,
which is really impressive. So there's no hazing. But you know,
if you leave people creative minds generally will you know,
they'll gravitate to what interests them. Is for some people
(07:12):
it is doing the incredibly complicated stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
I was going to ask you, how much of this
is you playing like Jimmy Hendrix or how much is
this of you sort of interpreting and putting your own
spin on Jimmy Hendrix.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Well, it's a little bit of all of it. But
for me it's it's me doing, you know, my interpretation
of his music. And for some artists it's film doing
their their take on his music. And then for others
like Eric Johnson, you know, he's playing that stuff note
for note and he's working incredibly hard to like recreate
(07:47):
them authentically, and de Weesel does the same thing. So
it's a little bit of all of it.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
To be honest with you, what songs do you play?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
So currently I'm doing Gypsy Eyes and then we do
a song called come On Part one, and then we
do I Don't Live Today, which I recorded on my
second album, Trouble Is. And then we do a medley
of two of my favorite Hendrick songs, which one of
them is boot Blues, and go into Boodh choud Slight Return,
which is one of the most famous Hendrick songs.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
All right, now, somebody just sent our text line and said, Mandy,
if you haven't mentioned it today, it's the birthday of
Stevie ray Vaughn. Just saying so happy birthday, but you know,
obviously posthumously. Kenny Wayne Shepherd super excited that you're coming
to town. I hope you enjoy your stay and have
a great show. And it's just been a real pleasure
talking to you. I appreciate your time today.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
I appreciate it. All right.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
That is Kenny Wayne Shephard. You can see him Sunday night.
I put a link on my blog to where you
can buy tickets. It is the pikes Peak Center down
in the Springs and the lineup looks crazy, so check
it out.
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