Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Kenny Wayne Shepherd

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Img_capt = Kenny Wayne Shepherd live in 2005
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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist |Birth_name = Kenny Wayne Brobst
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1977|06|12 Shreveport, Louisiana
Died =
Instrument = Guitar, Vocals
Voice_type =
Genre = Blues
Rock

Occupation = Musician, Songwriter
Years_active = 1990-present
Label =
Associated_acts = Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band
G3
URL = [http://www.kennywayneshepherd.net/|http:www/www.kennywayneshepherd.net]
Notable_instruments = Fender Stratocaster

Kenny Wayne Shepherd (born Kenny Wayne Brobst, Jr, on June 12, 1977, Shreveport, Louisiana [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1351849/bio IMDb - Kenny Wayne Shepherd Biography] Accessed January 2008] ) is an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter.

Biography

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 13, he was invited onstage by the New Orleans bluesman Bryan Lee. After proving his abilities, he decided on music as a career. Early on, Kenny was linked by his father, Ken Sr., to National Artists Management in Los Angeles, California. National Artists was part of a North American radio marketing agency that worked with hundreds of major label acts. The management team carried Shepherd's demo on cassette to Warner Brothers that signed him into his first major label record deal. Kenny's father joined the same team some time later, and closed or sold his one hour photo businesses and his radio station (KTUX) in Shreveport Louisiana in 2001.

Shepherd took six singles into the top 10, making him one of the best represented blues players today.

Personal life

Shepherd married actor Mel Gibson's only daughter, Hannah Gibson, on September 16, 2006, and their first child was born in 2007.

His debut album, "Ledbetter Heights", recorded when Shepherd was age 17. The album spent 20 weeks topping "Billboard"'s blues chart, and the magazine "Guitar World" voted him #3 after B.B.King and Eric Clapton.cite book
first= Tony
last= Russell
year= 1997
title= The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray
edition=
publisher=Carlton Books Limited
location= Dubai
pages= p. 166
id= ISBN 1-85868-255-X]

"Ledbetter Heights" was an immediate hit, selling over 500,000 copies by early 1996. Most blues records never achieve that level of commercial success, much less ones released by artists who are still in their teens. [ [http://wc09.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0pfrxql5ldke~T1 All Music Guide - biography page] ]

Live performances

* Shepherd made a trip of ten days in the U.S. to meet and play with his idols: B. B. King, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, Henry Townsend, Honeyboy Edwards, Cootie Stark, Neal Pattman, Etta Baker, Jerry "Boogie" McCain, Buddy Flett, Bryan Lee, John Dee Holeman, The Howlin' Wolf and the Muddy Waters Band.
* Shepherd and Bryan Lee appeared as the musical guest on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno on February 14, 2007.
*On July 24, 2007, he opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Orange County Fair.
*Opening act for the Rolling Stones during a stint of their 1999 No Security tour.
*Shepherd performed some of his songs including a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" at the Dutch Mason Blues Festival in 2007.

Discography

*"Ledbetter Heights" - 1995 - RIAA certified Platinum
*"Trouble Is..." - 1998 - RIAA certified Platinum
*"Live On" - 1999 - RIAA certified Gold
*"The Place You're In" - 2004
*"" - 2007 [ [http://wc09.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=KENNY|WAYNE|SHEPHERD&sql=11:0pfrxql5ldke~T2 All Music Guide - discography page] ]

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Singles - Billboard (North America)

External links

* [http://www.kennywayneshepherd.net/ The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Information Center - Official website]
* [http://www.tendaysout.net/ Ten Days Out]
* [http://wc09.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0pfrxql5ldke~T1 Shepherd biography] at Allmusic website

References