A Phone chat with Kenny Wayne Shepherd on 91.9 WNTI or wnti.org happened on June 25 8pm this year. It was a one hour spotlight on the guitarist. 'Rock-it Science' host Greg Lewis also gave away two pair of tickets to see Kenny at Morristown Community Theater July 10.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd (born Kenny Wayne Brobst, Jr on June 12, 1977, Shreveport, Louisiana[1]) is an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He has released several studio albums and experienced a rare level of commercial success both as a blues artist and a young musician.[2] In 1997, Guitar World ranked Shepherd #3 after B.B.King and Eric Clapton on their list of popular blues artists. Shepherd attended Caddo Magnet High School in Shreveport, Louisiana. Self-taught, he began playing at age seven, learning Muddy Waters licks from his father's record collection. At the age of thirteen, Shepherd was invited onstage by the New Orleans bluesman Bryan Lee. After proving his abilities, he decided on music as a career. Demo tapes were made and a two camera video was shot at Shepherd's first performance at the Red River Revel Arts Festival in Shreveport. It was this video performance that impressed Giant Records chief Irving Azoff enough to sign Shepherd to a multiple album record deal.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

In September 2008, Fender Musical Instruments Corp. released the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Signature Series Stratocaster, designed exclusively by Shepherd. Most recently, he developed a unique DVD/CD project, 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads. This documents Shepherd as he travels the country to jam with and interview the last of the authentic blues musicians. As they tour the backroads, Shepherd, with members of the Double Trouble Band, play with a host of blues greats including Clarence "Gatemouth Brown" and Bryan Lee, Buddy Flett (with whom he jams at Leadbelly's grave), the great B.B. King, blues harp master Jerry "Boogie" McCain, Cootie Stark, Neil Pattman, John Dee Holeman, Etta Baker, Henry Townsend with Honeyboy Edwards, and a concert session with the surviving members of Muddy Waters' and Howlin' Wolf's bands.

Sources for text and photos in this article were wikipedia.org and myspace.com/kennywayneshepherd

Also, see Greg Lewis' bio.