Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Kenny Wayne Shepherd, born Kenneth Wayne Brobst on June 12, 1977, in Shreveport, Louisiana, developed an early interest in music. He was exposed to a wide range of music through his father, a local radio personality and concert promoter. Shepherd began playing guitar at age seven, inspired by a meeting with Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1984. He is a self-taught musician who learned to play by listening to records and practicing endlessly.

Shepherd’s talent was recognized early when blues musician Bryan Lee invited him to perform on stage at age 13. This led to demo tapes and a video of his performance at the Red River Revel Arts Festival, which caught the attention of Giant Records chief Irving Azoff, resulting in a multi-album record deal. His career officially began in 1995, and since then, Shepherd has achieved significant commercial success in the blues rock genre. He holds the record for the longest-running album on the Billboard Blues Charts with “Trouble Is…” and has taken seven singles into the Top 10. His signature song, “Blue on Black,” featured vocalist Noah Hunt, who became a longtime collaborator.

Over his career, Shepherd has received five Grammy Award nominations, two Billboard Music Awards, two Blues Music Awards, and two Orville H. Gibson Awards. He has consistently released studio albums, including the critically acclaimed “10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads” in 2007, a two-time Grammy-nominated DVD-CD project documenting his collaborations with authentic blues musicians across the country. In 2013, he co-founded The Rides with Stephen Stills and Barry Goldberg, releasing two albums. Shepherd continues to record and tour, releasing “The Traveler” in 2019 and re-recording “Trouble Is… 25” in 2022, marking his enduring presence in the blues music scene.