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My God, as time goes by.....no saying fits better, then this one, referred on the,meanwhile 35 year old Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who came to Europe for the very first time, aged 18 back in 1995 to convince us with his guitar skills. And he really managed to concquer our hearts. Well, since that, many seasons have come and gone, and he himself, double the aged from back then, can look back onto five studioalbusm and one live recording so far.
But he's been discovered much earler, aged 13. And his current status is not only up to his talent, but also up to the luck to get discovered by none other than Stevie Ray Vaughn, who then pushed him quite a bit.

Alright, it's a fact, that Kenny has grown up now, happily married to the daughter of actor Mel Gibson and proud father of two kids. Although he still gets accompanied by his parents when on tour, who have an eye on him protecting him from Rock'n'Roll risks and too persistent fans.

It's also a fact, that one more time, our Backstage Halle here in Munich is almost sold out, which means aprox. 500 fans of the sophisticated Bluesrock. It's nice to watch, that it's not only the elderly fans between us, but also a pretty young audiance, who have just discovered the Bluesrock for themselves. By the way, Shepherds backing band shouldn't be neclected to mention as well. There is singer Noah Hunt, who is with Kenny since 1998, and there is keyboardist Ryley Osbourn, who toured in the past with artists such as Lyle Lovett and Willie Nelson and is part of the KWS band since 2007. Also Bassist Tony Franklin has a great past. He started out as part of The Firm, feat. also Jimmy Page, Paul Rodgers and Chris Slade, - a true so called super group. Then he worked with Blue Murder (John Sykes, Carmine Appice), David Gilmour, Kate Bush, Whitesnake, Donna Lewis and Pat Travers,just to name a few. Franklin's name is mentioned on more than 150 different records. And last but not least up there behind the drumkit, you find Chris Layton, who was already part of the Stevie Ray Vaughn Double Trouble band back then. He is with Kenny from the very beginning, when this boy was discovered.

During the 2 hours show the band works themselves through a best of.... of the above mentioned five albums and doesn't forget the big mentor Stevie Ray Vaughn and of course Jimi Hendrix. And yes, Kenny Wayne Shepherd is indeed a brilliant great guitarist - no doubt about that. He is playing with a 100 percent love for details throughout the complicated six strings work. And the way he does it, seems so easy and light flowing. But.... and that's the point, unfortunately our star of tonight doesn't own any personal reflection. No he rather keeps back and goes front only with a now and then solo. The sparkle, the one jumping over across the stage is missing. But not to get me wrong, to reach a certain stage presence it doesn't need ten roll overs or any other physical extraordinary action. It's that little bit selfconfidence, which I miss, the one lifting up the individual personality, one like Joe Bonamassa or Philipp Sayce ofr instance has got.

Let's put it that way.....thanks god, the mere of the audiance doesn't realize this due to the generell enthusiasm, one that's infecting everybody around. So forget it, and the only importance lies in the liking of the show. And that's what it does.
Unfortunately some faithful fans, who are waiting after show in hope to get one or the other signature on their records, get disappointed. Only the manager takes a few records of them up to the dressing room to get them signed - no more. And the question is of course: does Kenny Wayne Shepherd feel too high standard already to come out aftershow to say hello to his fans, or is he just too tired? We won't get to know anymore, I fear. But one thing is for sure, he still ain't far from beeing a superstar who has to protect himself because of a certain fan hystery.
Never mind. The evening has been a success, no question about that, - with our without the certain stage presence. http://www.kennywayneshepherd.net/