Kenny Wayne Shepherd Ready To Rock The Back Waters Stage At Q Casino!

Kenny Wayne Shepherd is one the of greatest guitarists of this generation and he's coming to rock Dubuque this Friday night (6/25) at the Q Casino!

This will be the second stop on his Straight To You Live Tour and Kenny told me he's stoked to be out on the road again.

Every time I hear someone with three parts to their name I always ask about when they got in trouble as a kid. I said when I was in trouble mom would yell "Christopher Matthew!" I asked Kenny when he knew he was in trouble.

He said she'd say "Kenneth Wayne!"

I told him when I was a kid I got a skateboard that I never really got good at. I asked him when he got his first guitar. He said he remembers having had toy guitars around the age of 4 but got his first real guitar around the age of 7. He claims he simply did the woodshed thing... playing out back every day after school for hours and hours until it started to sound good.

We had a few laughs and then our conversation got serious. I told Kenny he dropped his first album, Ledbetter Heights, in September of 1995... which means enough time has passed for him to be considered for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

He said he hadn't given that fact much thought, but rather that it just makes him feel old.

Kenny seemed very modest. He talked about many of his heroes who've been added, including Stevie Ray Vaughan and Stephen Stills (of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), and says he'd be flattered to be included among them.

I asked him who he thinks is still the all-time best on the guitar and he said it's tough because there are just too many. He said while Stevie Ray Vaughan was the guy who 'lit the fire' in him to play, Jimi Hendrix would probably be his pick as he was so groundbreaking and innovative with his guitar.

Kenny was excited to find out he was the inaugural artist for this season on Q Casino's Back Waters Stage. He put out an album called The Traveler, followed by his Straight To You Live album right before the pandemic started. He mentioned it was difficult to sit back and not perform as playing live is his outlet for his creativity.

He said he and the band are going to give us 200% Friday night when they perform.

It's so great having live music back in the Tristates. Don't miss Kenny Wayne Shepherd at 7pm this Friday night on the Back Waters Stage. If you want your tickets you can grab them HERE.

If you want to keep up with Kenny... here's a LINK to his official website.

~Chris Farber