For the upcoming tour that celebrates the 30th anniversary of his debut album, 1995’s Ledbetter Heights, singer-guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd and his band will play the album in its entirety live for the very first time.
Shepherd says it’s been rewarding to revisit the album.
“It’s been amazing and a pretty nostalgic experience to go back to that record,” he says via phone from his Nashville home, where he was finishing filming a video for a guitar instructional course he’ll release sometime this year and prepping for the tour that brings him to MGM Northfield Park — Center Stage on Saturday, April 25. “First of all, it’s a monumental anniversary for me. It’s my debut record. It’s the album and songs that introduced me and my music to the world and helped create this fanbase that continues to show up for us after three decades. It’s significant. I’m kind of blown away that I was 17 years when I recorded the album and that it still stands up today.”
Shepherd says he recorded a new version of the album with singer Noah Hunt, who didn’t sing on the original album but will sing the songs on the current tour. And while there are no horns on the original studio release, Shepherd added a horn section to his band a few years ago and will add horns to the songs when he plays them live.
Named after the Shreveport, LA neighborhood near where Shepherd grew up, the album also pays tribute to blues great Lead Belly and shows Shepherd’s ability to play Mississippi Delta blues in songs like the raw “Aberdeen.”
“I’m a huge blues fan, and I grew up listening to a ton of blues music when I was learning to play guitar,” Shepherd says when asked about the album’s title. “It is the primary foundation of my music. It always starts with blues. I learned so much from guys like Lead Belly. I thought it was appropriate for an album title. It references my hometown. Ledbetter Heights is a part of downtown Shreveport named in honor of Lead Belly, and title ties in my love and appreciation for the blues.”
Another impressive detail about the album: a young Shepherd wrote or co-wrote many of the songs on it. He attributes his gift for lyric writing to his grandmother.
“She was a poet, and she wrote poems all the time,” he says. “I used to read her poetry all the time, and it trained me. When I was a kid, I would write poetry as well. It’s something that a lot of kids do. The two basic elements are poetry and music. Those are the two fundamental things you have to understand to write a song. I had an early start with that, and I got introduced to great songwriters that I collaborated with on that record. They ended up being longtime collaborators, and I learned a lot from them.”
Record executive Irving Azoff famously signed him to Giant Records after a video of Shepherd playing live circulated and created a buzz around his playing ability. He sent Shepherd to record in Memphis with producer David Z (Etta James, Buddy Guy). The album would initially go gold and then platinum, quickly establishing Shepherd as a bona fide star.
“I remember when we finished this record and I handed it in, I had this feeling of ‘okay, now what happens?’” says Shepherd. “There are no guarantees in any of this. The first single came out, and it got on mainstream rock radio, and it shot up. It went up to No. 5, and we were off to the races.”
Shepherd says he initially didn’t feel any pressure to meet expectations with his second album, Trouble Is… It, too, would become a huge hit.
“When I started doing interviews for that second record, interviewers always asked me about the sophomore slump,” he says. “I didn’t even know what that was. I started to think I should be worried, but Trouble Is… came out and did better than the first one.”
Shepherd continues to receive accolades. His recent album with bluesman Bobby Rush even received a Grammy nod.
“It was awesome,” he says of recording and touring with Rush. “He’s 92 and has been making music professionally for over 70 years. I got to make a traditional blues record with him. It was like a dream come true. My music is not always traditional blues, but I love playing traditional blues. There’s a level of authenticity that a guy like him brings to the table. It was such an amazing experience.”
The current tour will find Shepherd and his band playing two sets. They’ll play Ledbetter Heights in its entirety and then deliver a second career-spanning set.
“Just playing one album is not enough for a whole show,” says Shepherd. “So after playing the album in its entirety, we’ll shift gears and playing music we’ve put out over the past 30 years. We did [Ledbetter Heights] earlier this year on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. So many people said how amazing it was and how many memories it brought back for them. It’s a different kind of experience when it brings back memories. It hits in a different way, and I think the show will be a special event.”
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter