BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID;X-RICAL-TZSOURCE=TZINFO:-//com.denhaven2/NONSGML ri_cal gem//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN VERSION:2.0 BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:There are few artists whose names are synonymous with one ins trument and how it's played in service to an entire genre.\nUtter the ph rase "young blues guitarist" within earshot of anyone with even a cursor y knowledge of the modern musical vanguard and the first name they are m ost likely to respond with will be Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Still barely in his 30s\, the Louisiana born axeman and songsmith has been selling mill ions of albums\, throwing singles into the Top 10\, shining a light on t he rich blues of the past and forging ahead with his own modern twist on a classic sound he has embodied since his teens. He met Stevie Ray Vaug han at 7\, shared the stage with New Orleans legend Bryan Lee at13. As a n adult\, he continues to create genre-defining blues-infused rock n' ro ll.\nKenny Wayne Shepherd's \;How I Go \;not only serves as a st rong reminder of the chops that caused \;Guitar World \;to place him right behind B.B. King and Eric Clapton on their list of blues guit arists\, but it's the strongest indication yet of his gifted songwriting talent. The album pairs Kenny's deeply soulful and impassioned takes on classic material like Bessie Smith's "Backwater Blues\," Albert King's "Oh\, Pretty Woman" and The Beatles "Yer Blues" alongside the strongest writing and co-writing of his career thus far.\nLet's not forget that Ke nny co-wrote "Blue on Black" very early on. The song was #1 on the Rock Charts for 17 consecutive weeks. All of the accolades heaped upon his pl aying are well deserved and well earned. But there is so much more to of fer.\n"At this point\, most people who know about me know I can play gui tar\," Shepherd says. "As far as my approach to guitar on this record\, it's not about showing people how much I can play. It&rsquo\;s about rea lly choosing the right notes and playing them at the right times so that every note penetrates people\, and they feel it inside and it&rsquo\;s not just some fleeting thing that just goes right by them.\n"I wanted to be conservative\, and selective\, and tasteful in the solos that I did\ ," he adds. "I wanted to concentrate on the song as a whole: the vocals\ , the arrangements\, so every instrument that is being played contribute s to the song and takes it to a better place."\nWhere Ledbetter Heights& nbsp\;(1995) was a little more bluesy\; \;Trouble Is... \;(1997) offered more blues based rock\; \;Live On \;(1999) took a turn to more blues based rock\; \;The Place You're In(2004) went straight ahead rock and the \;10 Days Out \;(2007) documentary exemplifi ed the best of straight blues\, Kenny says this one "falls right down th e middle between blues and rock."\n"Never Lookin' Back" is a rocking son g that sets the tone for album\, with lyrics about moving on and rolling with life's punches. The song "Cryin' Shame" has that straight Texas sh uffle longtime fans love to hear from Kenny and his band. "Show Me The W ay Back Home" is a powerful blues ballad for the ages. "We hit a really great balance\," he says of the album\, which he co-produced.\n"Who's Go nna Catch You Now?" is a very personal song. "I've become a father over the past couple of years. It's about a parent accepting what it's like t o be a parent and having to accept a certain degree of powerlessness. It 's just learning about acceptance. If you're a parent\, it will pull on your heart strings for sure."\nThe hard-rocking\, blues-based\, guitar-d riven album sounds young\, it sounds fresh. Yet it has that distinctive energy and vibe drawn from the deep heritage of the genre. Kenny Wayne S hepherd is growing as a songwriter\, musician and producer. Which isn't to say he's not proud of his past. "I don't have any regrets\, other tha n maybe a couple of outfits that I wore on stage\," he laughs.\n"My appr oach from day one was that I was not going to record anything that I cou ldn't completely wrap my mind around and that I wasn't prepared to play for the rest of my career. As a result of that approach and not letting anybody talk me into doing anything that I didn't want to do\, and nobod y forcing me to record anything I didn't want to\, I've got a body of wo rk that I'm proud of. I still enjoy playing all of the songs off my firs t album. They are as much fun to play today as they were in 1995 when th at album cameout. I'm not one of those guys who doesn't want to listen t o his own music. I don't go around listening to it all the time\, but\, my thing is\, if I'm making music that I don't want to listen to\, then why am I making music? I enjoy what I do. I have a lot of stuff that I'm proud of. Every album that we've done I've tried to do different things . I've never wanted to be an artist where people could predict what was next."\nThe name "Kenny Wayne Shepherd" is absolutely synonymous with "y oung blues guitarist" but that phrase isn't the totality of his person.\ n"Blues player is definitely one of the labels I've accumulated\, becaus e I'm a huge blues fan and I love to play the blues\," he says. "But if you listen to my music\, especially over the course of my career\, every thing that I do is not blues. It's the foundation of what I do\, but my stuff has a lot more of an edge to it. It's a little more contemporary. And there's a certain youthfulness to what I do. I started writing and r ecording music when I was a teenager and that energy has been consistent throughout my career."\nLast year's \;Live in Chicago! \;captur ed epic performances from Kenny and an assemblage of living legends in t he blues world. Kenny's incredible presence and perpetually giving perfo rmances\, designed to get every person in the room on their feet and to leave them smiling\, are all of the evidence one needs to determine that he'll continue to do this for decades to come - just like his heroes.\n "I&rsquo\;ve got a lot of a career left ahead of me and a lot of records left to make\," he says. "I&rsquo\;m hoping to be playing music when I& rsquo\;m in my 80&rsquo\;s like B.B. King. I&rsquo\;ve got a lot more so ngs left in me to write and record. My fans want to hear new music\, the y want to hear new albums\, and then when they hear a new record they wa nt to come out and hear us play that stuff live."\nKenny Wayne Shepherd is very cognizant of the emotional role music can play in the lives of h is listeners. He's in awe of that responsibility and works hard to bring happiness to people with his considerable gifts. With that said\, he's bound and determined to be remembered as a guy who just straight-up kick ed a lot of butt. "I get up on stage every night to play my heart out an d to try to turn people on their ear\, man. I want to bring light into p eople's lives with my music. If I can make people feel good for an hour and a half to two hours and forget about whatever might be stressing the m out\, then I'm doing my job." URL:http://lakeforest.patch.com/events/kenny-wayne-shepherd-7b4db6b2 SUMMARY:Kenny Wayne Shepherd LOCATION:275 Parkway Dr\, Lincolnshire\, IL 60069: 275 Parkway Dr\, Linco lnshire\, IL END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR