Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band

The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band centers on a guitarist whose early emergence as a teenage standout has developed into a prominent standing among contemporary blues performers. Various supporting players have accompanied the central figure since his breakthrough onto major labels and broader public attention during 1995. Born June 12, 1977, in Shreveport, Louisiana, Shepherd grew up in a household where his father worked as a disc jockey and occasional concert promoter while maintaining an extensive record collection that shaped the child's musical exposure from infancy. At age four he received a plastic guitar obtained by his grandmother through trading stamps, and after attending a Stevie Ray Vaughan performance at seven he progressed to an affordable Stratocaster replica, repeatedly replaying cassette recordings to master individual phrases note for note. Shepherd has stated that he acquired all of his musical ability without any formal training. At thirteen he joined blues musician Bryan Lee onstage for an impromptu jam that revealed his unusually advanced skill and astonished those present. Regular performances throughout the South soon followed, with Shepherd leading a band that featured singer Corey Sterling and drawing interest from record companies. Irving Azoff placed him on the Giant Records roster, and the resulting 1995 debut Ledbetter Heights achieved both critical and commercial success. The 1997 follow-up Trouble Is... carried the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band name for the first time, with Noah Hunt on lead vocals, Joe Nadeau on rhythm guitar, Robby Emerson on bass, Jimmy Wallace on keyboards, and Sam Bryant on drums. The next release under the KWS Band banner, 1999's Live On, retained Hunt and featured Bryant alternating with drummer Chris Layton while adding bassist Keith Christopher, keyboard player Reese Wynans, and second guitarist Bryan Lee. After two projects issued under Shepherd's solo credit—the 2004 album The Place You're In and 2007's Ten Days Out: Blues from the Backroads—the KWS Band returned in 2010 with Live! In Chicago, again featuring Hunt on vocals along with Chris Layton on drums, Scott Nelson on bass, and Riley Osbourne on keyboards. The 2011 studio album How I Go kept the same core group except for the substitution of Tommy Shannon on bass, though Nelson appeared as a guest. Shepherd and the band recorded the 2014 album Goin' Home in his hometown of Shreveport, with Hunt, Layton, Osbourne, and newly added bassist Tony Franklin in the lineup. They returned to Shreveport for the 2017 release Lay It on Down, an eclectic collection that included Hunt, Layton, bassist Kevin McCormick, and keyboardist Jimmy McGorman.