Kenny Wayne Shepherd
THE BLUES IS ALL RIGHT Kenny Wayne Shepherd Returns, Feeling Blue, Feeling Good
Soon after Kenny Wayne Shepherd broke onto the scene, he was tagged as his generation's great guitar prodigy -- a title that had something to do with his youth, but just as much to do with his astounding prowess on the six-string. Shepherd wowed gearheads and blues-hounds alike from day one, but he gradually expanded his reach over the course of three well-received albums. And then, around the turn of the decade, he simply walked away. After four years of relative silence, Shepherd and his revamped band have returned with The Place I'm In, a disc that marks a significant step forward for the still-youthful Louisianan, as it reflects his decision to take on the lion's share of lead vocal chores for the first time in his career. While longtime KWS Band vocalist Noah Hunt is still on hand for a passel of songs -- and Shepherd insists he's not likely to depart anytime soon -- the new disc allows the guitarist to take a firm grip on the controls from beginning to end. Kenny Wayne filled in Barnes & Noble.com's David Sprague about the place he's in.
Barnes & Noble.com: Why did you decide to take over lead vocals at this point in your career?
Kenny Wayne Shepherd: Frankly, I just felt like the timing was right to take the next step. I needed to work my way into being comfortable doing it. It took me a while to get comfortable with the sound of my voice. I was such a huge fan of traditional blues that I wanted to hear a sound like Muddy Waters coming out of me, and it was initially hard for me to accept that that's not the kind of voice I had. But after many years of working on my singing on my own time, I came to accept that and work on my strengths.
B&N.com: How difficult was it to work that out in the studio, and onstage?
KWS: It took a little bit of getting used to, since I wasn't used to handling those responsibilities and I wasn't used to being in the vocal booth. But I fell into it pretty quickly and got comfortable. We haven't really tried [the material] out on the road yet, but I'm pretty confident that once we start touring, it won't take anytime at all to fall into the role onstage.
B&N.com: The Place I'm In is more of a straight-ahead rock record than you've ever done before. Is that a vibe you were going for?
KWS: To be honest, that's just how things have evolved. I think we've been going in that direction for a while, and if anybody listens to the progression from the first album to the third album, you can hear that movement. As the songwriting has progressed, that's just where we wound up.
B&N.com: You hadn't worked with producer Marti Fredericksen before, but it obviously clicked, since you ended up doing all sorts of writing together.
KWS: He's a really talented guy. He played bass on the whole record and sang backing vocals, and we ended up writing almost the whole album together. We just really clicked on a whole bunch of levels.
B&N.com: How did you end up hooking up with Kid Rock, who duets on the song "Spank"?
KWS: We just have a friendship that's evolved over the past couple of years. We tend to hang out whenever we're in the same area, especially now that I'm living in Los Angeles. He happened to be finishing up his last album last year and he called me up and said, "Hey man, I've got this track and I'd like you to play guitar on it." So I ended up playing on a song called "Black Bob" [on Kid Rock's self-titled album], and then, I realized ["Spank"] was right up his alley, personality-wise, and he ended up doing some of the vocals.
B&N.com: At one point, you had a notice on your web site that you were looking to audition potential band members. Did you find any that way?
KWS: Actually, we just finished putting the band together, and I found some through friends whose opinions I respect, but there is this one guy, Shawn, who's now the rhythm guitar player, who did come in that way. We were doing the auditions, and I was like, "So, Shawn, how did we come to get together this evening?" He said, "Hey man, I'm a huge fan, and I saw on the web site that you were looking for people for the band, so I sent in my CD." We got all kinds of things from people, it was overwhelming, but Shawn really pulled it off. He's young, he's like 21, and he's really excited to be part of the band, which brings a lot of energy.
B&N.com: Overall, this is a pretty upbeat album. Does that explain the title?
KWS: That's definitely the case. This album really -- lyrically, sonically, all in all -- represents the place I'm in right now. After taking the past few years off and regrouping, collecting myself, I'm in a really good place in my life right now and you can get a sense of that listening to the record. The album has some songs that deal with difficult issues -- the song "Burdens," you know, even "Let Go" has kind of a sad tone to it. But even those songs end up with a positive tone, talking about reconciliation and figuring out a way to make things better. I really just wanted to put something positive out there, something that makes people feel good. There's a lot of negativity in the world, and I'm not trying to be Mister Over-the-Top Positive, but I wanted to make something that lets people know it's possible to get to a better place.
October 2004
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