KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD – UK TOUR NEWS & COMPETITION
Multi-platinum selling blues rock guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd is returning to the UK in April for a new tour with support from Ben Poole and his band. To coincide with this we are running a competition to allow some lucky fans the chance to win a pair of VIP meet and greet packages to one of the shows along with a Deluxe copy of Kenny’s latest album Goin’ Home.
Ahead of the tour I phoned Kenny and caught up with all of his latest news. He certainly has a busy year coming up.
BM: Hi Kenny, thanks for talking to us.
KWS: No problem. Thanks for calling man.
We wanted to ask you about the upcoming UK tour. What can we expect to see and hear?
Well as far as the live concerts go we are going to try and play as much of the records as we can. We have a big back catalogue now and I want to pick out those songs that people want to hear the most plus of course a good selection from our most recent release, Goin’ Home. And on this tour, for those who might have seen us last time, my keyboard player Riley Osbourn will be with us. He is an incredible player, really brings something extra to the songs, something significant to the show. There’s not many guys that can play like him. He couldn’t make our last visit so it’s great to have him back. I really enjoyed the dynamic of the three piece line up, it calls for a totally different approach by everyone involved but Riley does bring something extra special.
I guess it’s good sometimes for you to have to change the songs and arrangements around. To have that challenge.
That’s right. But there are some songs we’ve recorded that really feature Riley very prominently so without him we can’t perform those properly. Having him with us opens up a whole new list of possibilities.
And you’ve got a new vinyl release coming out too?
Yes, that’s for the Record Store Day event. It’s some live recordings we did over the last couple of years. It’s a limited edition on 180gm vinyl. Something for the die hard fans.
On this tour you have Ben Poole as support, have you seen Ben before?
I’ve not played with him before but I’ve seen video’s of him. He sounds like a fantastic guitar player whose building quite a following. After hearing him and his music I think it’s a very natural link up for the crowd to enjoy.
I see later in the year you’re doing something with Jonny Lang.
Yes, for the first time. Jonny and I are going out on a co-headline tour. After all these years Jonny and I have never done any shows together and the fans have been asking on an almost daily basis for this for years. This is a direct result of the fans asking and asking.
In many ways your career and Jonny’s have taken similar paths.
Well yes they have but at the same time, we’re pretty different artists but we share some of the same things. We were both child proteges, made a name as blues artists but Jonny is more R’n’B while I’m more rock based but we share a lot of the same fan base.
I also believe there’s some good news for The Rides fans?
Yes, we just finished mastering our second album. Now we’re working on the artwork and release dates but the record is great. It’s almost all new original songs that we’ve worked on, and I definitely think it’s an improvement on the last record that defines the sound of this band.
It is very much a band isn’t it?
Oh absolutely. Well the core of the band is Steve, Barry and myself. We do everything as a band, writing, recording, and it’s a lot of fun.
Really looking forward to seeing you on the UK tour.
Me too, it’ll be great to be there.
The tour takes in Salisbury City Hall, April 10th, Glasgow O2 ABC, April 12th, Aberdeen Lemon Tree, April 13th, and London Shepherds Bush Empire on April 15th.
To enter the competition simply e.mail [email protected] with your full name, address and phone number with ‘KWS COMPETITION’ as the subject line to be in with a chance of winning. Closing date: 6th April 2015.
Winners will receive free entry to the sound check at 4.30pm, meet and greet with Kenny, photo and signing opportunity and a commemorative tour laminate and poster.
