Kenny Wayne Shepherd (born Kenneth Wayne Brobst; June 12, 1977) is an American guitarist. He has released many studio albums and has had a lot of commercial success as a blues rock artist.

Early life

Shepherd was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He graduated from Caddo Magnet High School in Shreveport. He is self-taught and does not read music. When he was young, his father, Ken Shepherd, worked as a local radio personality and part-time concert promoter. His father had a large collection of music. Kenny received his first guitar at the age of three or four. His grandmother bought several plastic guitars for him using S&H Green Stamps. He said he used them quickly.

In a 2011 interview, Shepherd said he began playing guitar seriously at age seven, about six months after meeting Stevie Ray Vaughan. This happened during Labor Day weekend in 1984 at one of his father's concerts. He was very impressed by Vaughan's performance. To learn guitar, Shepherd used a method of learning one note at a time. He played and rewound cassette tapes. He used a cheap Yamaha guitar that looked like a Stratocaster but was made of plywood. He learned by listening to music from his father's record collection.

Career

Blues musician Bryan Lee invited the 13-year-old Shepherd to play guitar onstage. Later, Shepherd made demo tapes, and a video was recorded during his first performance at the Red River Revel Arts Festival in Shreveport. This video impressed Giant Records leader Irving Azoff enough to sign Shepherd to a contract for multiple albums.

Starting in 1995, Shepherd had seven singles reach the Top 10 on charts. He holds the record for the longest time an album stayed on the Billboard Blues Charts with Trouble Is…. In 1996, Shepherd began working with vocalist Noah Hunt, who sang on Shepherd’s most famous song, "Blue on Black." Shepherd has been nominated for five Grammy Awards and has won two Billboard Music Awards, two Blues Music Awards, and two Orville H. Gibson Awards.

In 2000, Shepherd played guitar on the end title theme for the animated movie Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

In 2007, Shepherd released a DVD and CD set titled 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads, which was praised by critics and nominated for two Grammy Awards. This project shows Shepherd traveling across the country to play music with and interview older blues musicians. During these trips, he performed with artists like Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Bryan Lee, Buddy Flett, B. B. King, Jerry "Boogie" McCain, and others.

In September 2008, Fender Musical Instruments Corp. released the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Signature Series Stratocaster, a guitar designed by Shepherd. In 2010, Shepherd was nominated for a Grammy for Live in Chicago, which included performances with Hubert Sumlin, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Buddy Flett, and Bryan Lee. In 2011, Shepherd released his seventh CD, How I Go, on Roadrunner Records.

In 2014, Shepherd released the song "Goin Home" on Mascot Label Group in Europe and on Concord Records in the United States and other countries. In 2015, he released Something from the Road Vol. 1, a live recording for Record Store Day in the U.S.

In January 2017, the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band recorded a new album of original songs titled Lay It On Down with producer Marshall Altman. The album was released in August 2017 and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart.

Shepherd performed at the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival for the first time on July 16, 2019. On May 31, 2019, he released The Traveler on Concord Records and Mascot Label Group in Europe. The album was co-produced by Marshall Altman and named a Favorite Blues Album by AllMusic. Shepherd headlined the 2020 Mahindra Blues Festival with Buddy Guy, Larkin Poe, and Keb Mo.

In March 2021, the Blues Foundation removed Shepherd’s 2021 Blues Music Awards nomination for Best Blues/Rock Artist. The organization stated the decision was due to ongoing concerns about Shepherd’s use of the Confederate flag on his car, guitars, and other items. Shepherd later said he had stored the car and covered the flag on his guitar, explaining that the flag was offensive to the African American community. The Blues Foundation also asked Shepherd’s father, Ken Shepherd, to leave the organization’s board of directors. Ken Shepherd did not comment on the request.

On December 2, 2022, Shepherd released Trouble Is… 25, a re-recording of his second album for its 25th anniversary. The album includes a previously unreleased cover of Bob Dylan’s "Ballad of a Thin Man."

In November 2023, Shepherd released Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 1, produced with Marshall Altman. The album reached No. 1 on the Blues Charts. In September 2024, Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 2 was released and also reached No. 1 on the Blues Charts.

In 2013, Shepherd, along with Stephen Stills (of Crosby, Stills & Nash) and Barry Goldberg (of The Electric Flag), formed The Rides. Their debut album, Can’t Get Enough, was released on August 27, 2013. The band toured the U.S. in 2013 and performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. They reunited in 2015 for a follow-up album, Pierced Arrow, released in 2016 on 429 Records and Mascot Label Group in Europe.

Live performances

• In 2019, Shepherd toured with Buddy Guy.
• In Summer 2018, Shepherd and his band performed with vocalist Beth Hart and her band on a joint tour along the US east coast.
• Shepherd was the opening act for Van Halen during their 1998 tour and again during their Van Halen 2015 North American Tour.
• In Summer 2015, Shepherd performed on a joint tour with Jonny Lang.
• In 2007, Shepherd traveled for ten days across the US to meet and play with his musical idols, including B.B. King, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, Henry Townsend, Honeyboy Edwards, Cootie Stark, Neal Pattman, Etta Baker, Jerry "Boogie" McCain, Buddy Flett, Bryan Lee, John Dee Holeman, and the Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters Bands. This experience later became his fifth album, 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads.
• In 2007, Shepherd and Bryan Lee performed as musical guests on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
• On July 24, 2007, Shepherd opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Orange County Fair.
• In 1999, Shepherd was the opening act for The Rolling Stones during their No Security Tour.
• Shepherd performed songs, including a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s "Voodoo Child," at the Dutch Mason Blues Festival in 2007 and 2009.
• Shepherd has also opened for Aerosmith, Bob Dylan, the Eagles (originally on the Hell Freezes Over Tour), and Van Halen.
• In November 2010, Shepherd performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, playing the actual white Stratocaster guitar Jimi Hendrix used at Woodstock.
• On January 15, 2011, Shepherd performed a live set for Guitar Center Sessions on DirecTV. The episode included an interview with Shepherd by program host Nic Harcourt.
• Shepherd appeared at the Experience Hendrix tribute concert in Mesa, Arizona, on May 23, 2011.
• On July 4, 1999, Shepherd opened for B.B. King at Atlanta’s Chastain Park Amphitheater.
• On February 12, 2022, Shepherd performed at the Trouble Is… 25th Anniversary Concert at the Strand Theatre in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Band members

• Kenny Wayne Shepherd – plays lead guitar and sings (from 1990 to the present)
• Noah Hunt – sings lead, plays rhythm guitar and percussion (from 1997 to the present)
• Chris Layton – plays drums (from 2006 to the present)
• Kevin McCormick – plays bass (from 2017 to the present)
• Joe Krown – plays keyboards (from 2017 to the present)
• Doug Woolverton – plays trumpet (from 2024 to the present)
• Charlie DiPuma – plays saxophone (from 2024 to the present)
• Corey Sterling – sang lead vocals (from 1994 to 1996)