Thirty years ago, a Fender Strat-wielding teenager from Shreveport, Louisiana by the name of Kenny Wayne Shepherd brought the blues back to the mainstream. It was 1995, the era of furrow-browed grungesters, when a sandy-haired guitar prodigy unapologetically celebrated a genre often pushed to the margins. With his fiery fretwork, pop-rock hooks, and reverence for the blues, Shepherd’s arrival was a much-needed palette-cleanser from the existential dread of the times.
Shepherd has revisited his album Ledbetter Heights with gusto on a faithful re-recording. The perceivable differences between the albums are a refined musicality evident in the arrangements, and the more nuanced and intentional guitar playing, though the fire still rages.
He named the album Ledbetter Heights in honor of an historic neighborhood in his hometown that pays homage to another blues great and Northwest Louisiana native, Huddie Ledbetter. The album catapulted Shepherd into the mainstream, and as a torchbearer of the blues – something he continues to take very seriously to this day. “When I signed my first record deal, my mission was no matter how big or small my career became, I was going to spread the word about the music and musicians that inspire me,” Shepherd says.
Up next, Shepherd and his band will be hitting the road for the Ledbetter Heights 30th Anniversary Tour. The shows will include a performance of the full 12-track album, along with another set featuring highlights from his 30-year career. “Revisiting this album put me back in touch with the wonder and excitement of those days. I didn’t know what lay ahead at the time,” he reflects, “But I’m very grateful for what came from it."
