Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Classic Rock|November 2024
The US bluesman on the spark of Stevie Ray Vaughan, the creep of Al, and smoking with Bonamassa.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Musicians rarely become more prolific with age- but Kenny Wayne Shepherd didn't get the memo. Having broken out of mid-90s Louisiana as a kid guitar slinger, the 47-year-old has just followed up last year's Dirt On My Diamonds album with a horndriven second volume.

You've released two albums of original music in consecutive years.

I do feel like I’m on a roll. Like, I have four different albums I’m working on right now. I look at the Dirt On My Diamonds albums as companion pieces. The songs all came from the same writing session down in Muscle Shoals, and musically, spiritually, the whole vibe, I think they make a cohesive statement.

What’s the appeal of a horn section?

It started for me when we did The Traveler [2019]. I started wondering what would happen if we put horns on our cover of Buffalo Springfield’s Mr Soul. It made it even more badass. I think horns add another dimension.

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