5-28-26 KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD - Full Conversation

The 30th anniversary sessions of Lead Better Heights.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd, welcome back.

Hey man, thanks

for

having me.

So when we talked the last time, I shared with the listeners that my dad gave me the tape of Lead Better Heights to help me broaden my horizons.

And so these anniversary sessions, I've got to know what went into it for you to dive back into that original album.

Whoa.

first of all let me just say like everybody goes any every time i hear somebody say something like you just said when you hear a grown man saying my dad gave me that album on cassette it's like oh yeah 30 years is definitely gone by um a lot of uh a lot of time has passed and a lot of great things have come as a result of it but um it's always interesting they're like some young person comes up to me and they're like

And they're excited.

They're like, oh, are you Kenny Wayne Shepherd?

I'm like, yeah, they're like, my dad's a big fan.

I'm like, OK.

But anyways, the reason why we did this is because we're celebrating 30 years of my debut record.

So I was 17 years old when I recorded this album.

It's the record that put me on the map that introduced my music and my bands to the world.

And it's where we started cultivating our relationship with our fan base.

It's now been with us, a very loyal fan base and a fan base that is continuing to grow, by the way.

30 years later.

But a lot of these people have been with us from the beginning.

And this was back in the day when you'd hear a song on the radio and you'd be like, who is that?

And then you would go to the music store and you would buy the record and you would take the record home and listen to the entire album.

And so our fans, especially the ones that have been with us the whole time, they know all the songs on this record because they listened to them, you know, a lot back in the day.

So we thought it would be cool, man, to acknowledge 30 years.

of a debut record that defied defied the odds was incredibly successful and and really has helped like everything that has come from my career came as a result of this album.

How much displaying these songs live over that 30 year time span helped to evolve the tracks that you have on the 30th anniversary sessions?

Well, so certain songs we've played on a pretty regular basis like Deja voodoo and born with a broken heart, which were two of the singles.

There's a song While We Cry, Aberdeen, which was one of the singles as well, to a lesser degree.

So those songs, without a doubt, have evolved over the years because we've played them so much.

But then the rest of the songs on the record, we really haven't played them for like 29 years, to be honest with you.

So we had to go in and get reacquainted with some of these songs we hadn't played in a long time.

And so that was kind of like, well, we have to go learn this stuff.

And we got to get prepared for the tour.

So we recorded a new version of it, the 30th anniversary session of Led Better Heights.

And that killed two birds with one stone.

It's like, we got to go back and we got to have a new version of this record that we could release for this tour.

And then it got us reacquainted with all these songs as well and familiar with all the music for the tour.

Like I said, some of them have changed.

You hear different endings, different guitar solos, different instrumentation on the new version of the record.

And then some of them are really different, like Riverside.

Like that one song, I really wanted to make different because I always heard it differently in my head.

And so this was an opportunity to do that one differently.

You mentioned Riverside, Riverside Casino.

You're going to be visiting there and playing on November the 20th.

So will that song Riverside make it into the set list at Riverside Casino?

Absolutely.

So what we're doing for this tour is we're playing every song from the Lead Better Heights album, which is the first time we've ever done that.

Like even when the record was brand new, we never played all these songs in a show before.

So first time for us and first time for our fans.

And then when we're done with that, we shift gears and then we have another set of music, of songs that I've chosen from different records that we've released over the past 30 years.

So it's not just Led Better Heights, but we're doing every song from that record.

And then we have another group of songs we're playing as well.

And it's a great show.

I mean, it's like a little over two hours worth of music.

People are getting their money's worth.

And like I said, a lot of our fans know these songs.

They love these songs.

Um, and they haven't heard us like even if you've seen us multiple times, there's a lot of these songs you've probably never seen us perform before.

So we're having a great time with this tour and the fans are responding incredibly well to it.

You mentioned you were 17 when led better heights dropped.

What else has changed in the 30 years for you as far as touring goes?

I mean, what's the same on your tour writer now as it was then?

And what's different?

Well, I would say, uh,

As far as the rider goes, I mean, just the basics are probably the same, like, you know, water.

And some people drink soda, but I don't even drink soda anymore.

So, but everything else has probably changed.

I mean, like we're much more health conscious.

It's kind of one of those things as you get older, you know, you have more awareness about the stuff you're putting in your body and, you know, trying to take better care of yourself so you have better health as you age.

So there's that kind of stuff.

The biggest difference, to be honest with you, is that when I first started touring, I was a teenager, still like that.

I had no responsibilities.

The only thing I had to do was to get on stage and play guitar every night.

And that was fine with me.

So we'd do like 250 shows a year.

I would hardly ever sleep in my own bed at my own place.

And so that was fine.

But now I'm married, I have six kids.

All the people that work for me have families.

And so our touring, our approach to touring is different.

So we don't stay gone for 250 shows a year now.

We dialed it back, but we're just trying to strike the right balance between our commitment to the fans and our commitment to our family.

Any of your kids taking up the guitar or anything musical, moving forward, kind of carrying on that legacy for you?

Yeah, for sure.

I mean, I don't know about if they'll do anything professional with it or not.

That remains to be seen, their choice.

But yes, I mean all my kids are musical and several of them are playing different instruments and pursuing their own passion with music for sure.

So we'll see what happens.

If they ever get around dad's rigs, like you had the 95 rig that you used for the 30th anniversary sessions, if they get around any of that older stuff, you're like, whoa, hang on, hang on, back up a little bit.

Well, yes and no.

I mean, there are certain things that just because of what they are, the value

has gone up incredibly over the past 30 years.

So there's certain things you're like, Hey, maybe you shouldn't pick that one up right now.

Oh, you know, but for the most part, there's nothing's off limits, you know.

So we got the show.

You mentioned the lead better heights.

You're going to play that in its entirety and then do some of the other material while you're out on tour on November the 20th at Riverside Casino.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

Thank you again for being on The Rock 108 Morning Show.

See you in November.

All right, brother.

Thanks

so much.