Kenny Wayne Shepherd took Atlanta by storm on a February Friday night at the Atlanta Symphony Hall, blazing on his Crossroads Fender Strat with white matching amps across the stage. He had the entire venue captivated from the first song, reminding each of us why he immediately became our favorite guitar slinger to come out of the 90s, carrying a torch passed down from Buddy Guy, Jimmy Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughan! And he pulled it off in sparkly Gucci shoes, a leather jacket, and really snazzy-looking red pants you can see in the photos!
I have so much respect for that; this man has style. As much as you could feel Hendrix or SRV in the room at times with those powerful bluesy licks, more than anything, you felt Kenny Wayne Shepherd in the room. I don’t think anybody would deny the musical influence, but I also think it’s fair at this point to say that he has earned his place alongside those very guitar icons by learning from the legends in person in a lot of cases and blending that knowledge with the fire he has in his heart for the music. He grabs a note like Mickey Mantle grabbed a baseball bat. His tone is felt as much as it is heard. He lives in the music.
As far as the show goes, for the long-time listeners, it was a trip down memory lane as he performed his platinum-selling first album, Ledbetter Heights in its entirety, celebrating its 30th anniversary. Personally, it took me back to when I would blast that album on repeat in my 1992 Fox-body Mustang with the windows down, driving to Sonic for milkshakes. And for old times’ sake, in celebration, I’ll take the Fox out this week for milkshakes and blast it some more, because it is timeless!
Speaking of timeless, Noah Hunt’s vocals sounded just as good as they did the day they released this album. The dynamic that these two musicians share on stage is phenomenal. After the completion of the album, they both sang lead vocals on different songs from the more recent catalog. “I Got a Woman” from 2024 album Dirt on my Diamonds Volume 2 was the first one after the album.
The energy was top-tier, and we saw Kenny purely in his element with the beat-up sunburst Strat and leading vocals. Drummer Sam “The Freight Train” Bryant lived up to his name, locked in with Kevin McCormick on bass, together keeping the momentum pushing forward all night! Next, we see Noah sing “Watch You Go” from the same album. Kenny was in his element with some really tasty phrasing on that same beautiful guitar.
KWS took another turn on lead vocals with “Talk to Me Baby” from the 2020 album Straight To You Live. He pulled out a beautiful copper/orange sparkle Fender Custom Stratocaster for this one and made it shine even brighter with his soaring leads. We also got to watch the band take turns here with a nice saxophone solo from Charlie DiPuma, who adds a really nice layer to the already great lineup. Then we get a tasty trumpet solo from Doug Woolverton, who had been feeding us snacks all night. Doug passed the flame to New Orleans keys player Joe Krown, who holds his own on the ivories, never failing to dazzle us with classic playing from a tenured professional. Next, we got an often requested tune that many have made their wedding song: “I Found Love (When I Found You)” from the 1997 Trouble Is… album. Kenny brought out a really cool limited edition guitar for this one, made from reclaimed pine from a dairy barn that was built in 1868 in the Lake Odessa community in Michigan. The balanced tone from this guitar carried through to the next song, “Dark Side of Love,” from the 2011 album How I Go. He played out the always great storytelling leads on this one.
This concluded the main portion of the show, but as they cleared the stage, the whole venue remained on their feet chanting “Kenny Wayne!” The band came back for an encore and gave us the chart-topping “Blue on Black,” also from the Trouble Is… album. They closed the show with “Turn to Stone,” a Joe Walsh cover he included on his 2019 album The Traveler.
Also worth mentioning, the lights on this show were great all night. Nothing too flashy or crazy, but just really beautiful splashes of color to go along with the set. I wish I could have had my camera out longer to do these justice as well as catch more of the guitars, but hopefully this is inspiration to get out and catch this tour live. You will not be disappointed by a full night of legendary guitar playing on some of the coolest guitars out there, great musical dynamics from a powerhouse band, and nostalgia for the ones who have been along for the ride since the beginning.
