Blues rock guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who erupted onto the music scene at age 16 in the mid-’90s, will perform with his band live Friday, Sept. 16, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The 8 p.m. concert is presented by UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $48, $58 and $68. A limited number of $10 student tickets are available, as well as a discount for UAB employees of $15 off the purchase of two tickets. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit AlysStephens.org or call 205-975-2787.
Shepherd has sold millions of albums worldwide, and in addition to his five Grammy nominations, he has won two Billboard Music Awards, a pair of Orville H. Gibson awards, the Blues Foundation’s Keeping the Blues Alive award and two Blues Music awards. He has had nine No. 1 blues albums and a string of No. 1 mainstream rock singles.
Restless creativity has driven Shepherd since he taught himself to play guitar at the age of 7. A musician in motion, he has spent his career burning up the highways and crossing continents, bringing his unique style of rock and blues to the world. His burn-it-down guitar solos and gut-punch songcraft have become even more magnetic.
“We’re a live band, and when people listen to our records, I want them to hear what we sound like when we play live,” Shepherd said.
Twenty years into his recording career, the Louisiana-born axman and songsmith shines a light on the rich blues of the past and forges ahead with his own modern twist on a classic sound he has embodied since his teens. Shepherd is also an influential force in a worldwide resurgence of interest in the blues, according to his artist’s statement.
In 2007, he issued the ambitious “10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads,” for which Shepherd and his band traveled throughout the American South to record with such vintage blues greats as B.B. King, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins and David “Honeyboy” Edwards on their home turf. In 2010, he released his long-awaited first live album, “Live! In Chicago,” recorded at Chicago’s House of Blues during the all-star “Legends” tour and featuring guest appearances by blues legends Hubert Sumlin and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith.
In 2014, Shepherd released “Goin’ Home,” his sixth No. 1 debut on the Billboard Blues charts. It features fellow guitar icons Joe Walsh, Warren Haynes, Keb’ Mo’ and Robert Randolph, longtime friend Ringo Starr, Fabulous Thunderbirds front-man Kim Wilson, and the Rebirth Brass Band.