When most people hear "the blues", the first image that probably pops into their mind is a middle aged African American man plucking away at his acoustic guitar on a porch somewhere in Louisiana. While many of the genre's forefathers may have fit that mold, it is a restrictive and inaccurate view of a diverse and rich form of music that is the root for almost all modern music. Those that maintain this stereotypical view of the blues and assume it is "grandpa music" are missing out on a lot.

Since the electrification of the guitar shot it to the forefront of three and four piece bands, music entered an evolutionary time warp not unlike that the quantum leaps in science and technology occurring at the same time.

Some of the pioneers during the 50's were B.B. King, Albert King, Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson. Chuck Berry was among the first to take the blues and kick it up a notch, speeding up the tempo and creating many rock riffs and techniques that are standard vocabulary today.

By the 60's and 70's, the blues had traveled across the pond to Britain. Bands like Cream, the Who, the Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin all traced their roots back to the blues forefathers. Even Angus Young of AC/DC, considered metal by many(the band always maintains that they are a rock band, not metal) has a very bluesy style of playing.

By the 80's, "Blues-Rock" had become indistinguishable from "Hard Rock". It wasn't until artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan came along and took blues back to it's roots.

Some modern bands that have bluesy overtones include the Black Keys and the White Stripes.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Kenny Wayne Sheppard is Texas Blues player and one of many competing for Stevie Ray Vaughan's Throne.

While technically born in Louisiana as Kenny Wayne Brobst, Shepherd was first inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan to pick up the guitar at a concert that his father was promoting. Growing up, he would play on his "cheap Yamaha wanna-be Stratocaster" and listen to Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Albert Lee, reverse engineering their licks. A soulful player and and singer Shepherd teamed up early on with Noah Hunt who provided lead vocals for many of Shepherd's songs. While comparisons to SRV are fairly easy to see, Shepherd has his own tone that has a little more bite to it in my opinion.

Shepherd has put a few tracks at the top of the charts. "Blue on Black" is probably his best known song but the list also includes "Somehow, Somewhere, Someway", and my favorite from "ledbetter Heights", "Deja Voodo".

Here are a couple Clips: 

"Deja Voodoo" go ahead and skip the introduction =P
and
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