We are all travelers. And for the last quarter-century, riding shotgun with Kenny Wayne Shepherd has been the greatest road-trip in rock ‘n’ roll. Gone is the young Louisiana gunslinger who erupted onto the early-’90s scene with his burn-it-down guitar solos and gut-punch songcraft.
World-class guitar-playing has always been his calling card, but in his forties, Shepherd knows when to blaze and when to breathe. “There’s some restraint on The Traveler,” he considers. “As I’ve got older, I’ve started to lean towards the approach of less is more. I play for the song now, versus what gets me more ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’. But there’s some real moments on here. Especially the solo in I Want You. That’s a really extended song, just for the sake of playing some great guitar. Turn To Stone is a guitar anthem as well. It just builds and builds, and it’s this vehicle for the guitar solo to shine. For rhythm playing, one of the coolest songs is Woman Like You. It’s that straight-up Les Paul sound, but the guitar part just has some really interesting timing and becomes the signature riff for the song, weaving in-between the vocal.”
What Kenny Wayne Shepherd has become is even more magnetic, still pushing his Fender Strat where others fear to fret, while diving deep into human truths and global concerns with an honesty that only comes with age and miles on the clock. So gas up and get ready. The Traveler heads out in May 2019.