WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.820 Hey, this is Kenny Wayne Shepard, and you're 00:00:01.820 --> 00:00:04.339 listening to My Weekly Mixtape with Brian Colbert. 00:00:04.519 --> 00:00:19.600 Enjoy the episode. Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:22.260 a podcast that takes the classic mixtape approach 00:00:22.260 --> 00:00:25.519 to building a modern playlist. I'm your host, 00:00:25.620 --> 00:00:28.320 Brian Colbert. Blues rock has always been held 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:30.789 in a high regard in my life. From the classic 00:00:30.789 --> 00:00:33.630 rock music my parents raised me on, such as ACDC, 00:00:34.049 --> 00:00:38.350 ZZ Top, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream, and 00:00:38.350 --> 00:00:41.710 the Rolling Stones, all were rooted in the blues. 00:00:42.030 --> 00:00:44.490 As I started branching out and discovering music 00:00:44.490 --> 00:00:47.390 on my own, once again, blues played a big role, 00:00:47.570 --> 00:00:49.750 including artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, 00:00:49.829 --> 00:00:52.829 whose catalog was the subject of episode 27, 00:00:53.250 --> 00:00:57.479 Roy Buchanan, Walter Trout, Joe Bonamassa, Johnny 00:00:57.479 --> 00:01:00.520 Lang, as well as legends such as Albert King, 00:01:00.820 --> 00:01:05.120 Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, and BB King. Tonight 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:08.620 on My Weekly Mixtape, I'm extremely honored to 00:01:08.620 --> 00:01:11.400 welcome a modern blues rock legend to the show, 00:01:11.540 --> 00:01:14.439 the one and only Kenny Wayne Shepard. Kenny, 00:01:14.500 --> 00:01:16.180 thank you so much for taking the time to speak 00:01:16.180 --> 00:01:18.280 with me tonight. Hey, man. Thanks for having 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:21.180 me. I'd like to start by asking all of my first 00:01:21.180 --> 00:01:24.480 -time guests, what does the word mixtape mean 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:28.319 to you? Well, I mean, mixtape, I think by definition 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:31.659 goes back to, I don't know, you look like you 00:01:31.659 --> 00:01:34.079 might be from my generation, but when we were 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:37.439 kids, somebody basically would put together a 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:41.500 cassette of all their favorite songs or some 00:01:41.500 --> 00:01:44.019 of their favorite songs and put them in whatever 00:01:44.019 --> 00:01:46.719 order they wanted to. And so that they didn't 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:49.560 have to carry around the massive collection. 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:54.180 of cassettes or CDs or what have you. So they 00:01:54.180 --> 00:01:57.239 put their favorite songs on one cassette. And 00:01:57.239 --> 00:01:59.719 sometimes you might put a mixtape together to 00:01:59.719 --> 00:02:01.700 give to one of your friends, right? So that it's 00:02:01.700 --> 00:02:03.659 like, you have this collection of music. These 00:02:03.659 --> 00:02:05.280 are your favorite songs. Well, check this out, 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:08.400 you know, and to turn other people on to songs 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:12.580 as well. Well, I'm extra excited for our discussion 00:02:12.580 --> 00:02:14.939 tonight because it's not often I get to interview 00:02:14.939 --> 00:02:19.020 someone who themselves conducts amazing interviews, 00:02:19.099 --> 00:02:22.919 as evidenced in your 10 Days Out Blues from the 00:02:22.919 --> 00:02:26.219 Backroads documentary. And speaking about that 00:02:26.219 --> 00:02:28.719 subject, can you talk about the significance 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:32.039 of 10 Days Out for you as an artist, as well 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:34.460 as what you took away from the musicians you 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:37.919 had a chance to speak and subsequently jam with 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:41.250 for the film? Yeah, I mean, that project, I think, 00:02:41.270 --> 00:02:43.069 was pretty important. I mean, it was important 00:02:43.069 --> 00:02:45.490 to me on a personal level because I admired these 00:02:45.490 --> 00:02:48.569 musicians and I've been a fan of the blues genre 00:02:48.569 --> 00:02:52.009 for most of my life. And I just felt like it 00:02:52.009 --> 00:02:54.430 was an opportunity to do a unique project that 00:02:54.430 --> 00:02:57.650 recognized some of these incredible musicians, 00:02:57.849 --> 00:03:01.310 some of which are household names, and then some 00:03:01.310 --> 00:03:04.330 of which were incredibly talented, but never 00:03:04.330 --> 00:03:06.590 really broke into the mainstream for whatever 00:03:06.590 --> 00:03:10.759 reason. To give the blues community and just 00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:13.199 music lovers in general something really unique 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:16.599 to seek their teeth into. We did the documentary 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:19.599 and we traveled the South of the US and went 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:22.419 and met up with these blues musicians. I had 00:03:22.419 --> 00:03:24.879 a tour bus loaded up with recording gear and 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:27.400 made it a mobile recording studio. Then we had 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:30.159 another bus with a film crew and we just made 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:33.680 it a live album and documentary while traveling 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:35.680 and meeting up with these incredible musicians. 00:03:36.920 --> 00:03:38.439 It's one of the probably the most significant 00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:40.960 projects that I've ever done. And personally, 00:03:41.159 --> 00:03:43.960 for me, it was. And I think it's incredibly unique 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:46.800 and special. And it documented American history. 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:48.979 I mean, that's American music. And these are 00:03:48.979 --> 00:03:52.240 American musicians. And unfortunately, a lot 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.379 of them are no longer with us today. I mean, 00:03:54.419 --> 00:03:56.960 we lost. And even before the project was released, 00:03:57.099 --> 00:04:00.159 we had lost five, I think, of the featured performers. 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:04.379 And so now I think it's just about almost everybody 00:04:04.379 --> 00:04:08.139 that was on it. is no longer here. So it was 00:04:08.139 --> 00:04:10.099 an important thing. It continues to be an important 00:04:10.099 --> 00:04:13.080 project. Well, I want to hop into the musical 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:15.759 DeLorean for a moment here and go back to 1995, 00:04:16.220 --> 00:04:19.120 which was my senior year in high school, a year 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:21.680 where grunge and alternative had completely taken 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:24.939 over rock radio and yet Ledbetter Heights, your 00:04:24.939 --> 00:04:27.660 debut album, reached number one on the Billboard 00:04:27.660 --> 00:04:31.079 Heat Seekers chart and Deja Voodoo, which featured 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:34.060 Corey Sterling on vocals, reached number nine 00:04:34.060 --> 00:04:37.360 on the mainstream rock tracks chart. Is there 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:40.500 a specific tour or moment in and around that 00:04:40.500 --> 00:04:43.610 time? of your career that you feel was the musical 00:04:43.610 --> 00:04:47.009 catalyst for you given the state of rock radio 00:04:47.009 --> 00:04:50.449 at the time well there was a lot going on at 00:04:50.449 --> 00:04:53.149 the time and you know but that was also an era 00:04:53.149 --> 00:04:56.970 where it was still that kind of music that i 00:04:56.970 --> 00:05:01.410 that i make blues based rock music was still 00:05:01.410 --> 00:05:05.470 heavily supported at radio and there was a format 00:05:05.470 --> 00:05:08.230 that embraced that kind of music there's not 00:05:08.230 --> 00:05:11.930 really that format that mainstream rock radio 00:05:11.930 --> 00:05:14.329 format doesn't really exist anymore right and 00:05:14.329 --> 00:05:16.730 the scope of the business has changed so much 00:05:16.730 --> 00:05:19.189 but at the time yeah there was a lot going on 00:05:19.189 --> 00:05:23.389 but we had more musical genres that people were 00:05:23.389 --> 00:05:25.990 it was a broader palette back then you know and 00:05:25.990 --> 00:05:29.290 people appreciated more types of music things 00:05:29.290 --> 00:05:31.410 have gotten really narrow lately in my opinion 00:05:31.410 --> 00:05:33.350 as far as what you would consider mainstream 00:05:33.350 --> 00:05:36.230 anything but you know you had grunge hitting 00:05:36.230 --> 00:05:38.810 the scene there was probably still some some 00:05:38.810 --> 00:05:41.879 hair rock that was being made. I mean, there 00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:45.500 was blues rock, there was album oriented rock, 00:05:45.660 --> 00:05:48.000 there was, you know, progressive, there was, 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:49.939 you know, then all the other things like top 00:05:49.939 --> 00:05:52.459 40 in country and, you know, whatever else. But 00:05:52.459 --> 00:05:54.800 it was an interesting time. There was a lot going 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:57.360 on. And I, and I was, I mean, I'm grateful. I'm 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:00.000 grateful that my first album came out in 95, 00:06:00.259 --> 00:06:03.060 my second album in 97, by the time the third 00:06:03.060 --> 00:06:06.610 album came out in 2000. you know, that's when 00:06:06.610 --> 00:06:09.269 the world really, music and music consumption 00:06:09.269 --> 00:06:11.410 really started to change with the whole Napster 00:06:11.410 --> 00:06:14.350 thing and all that stuff. But my first two records 00:06:14.350 --> 00:06:16.310 were still released in what I believe was the 00:06:16.310 --> 00:06:19.310 real golden age of the music business where you 00:06:19.310 --> 00:06:21.990 could put out a record, an artist like me could 00:06:21.990 --> 00:06:24.769 still put out an album and watch it rise in the 00:06:24.769 --> 00:06:28.069 charts and sell millions of copies. I mean, I 00:06:28.069 --> 00:06:30.350 have gold and platinum records hanging on my 00:06:30.350 --> 00:06:33.529 walls here at home. And I just don't know if 00:06:33.529 --> 00:06:35.660 that's something that... I don't know if that'll 00:06:35.660 --> 00:06:39.639 ever be possible for a blues artist in today's 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:41.540 world because, you know, everything's changed 00:06:41.540 --> 00:06:44.459 so much. But I was grateful to have come up with 00:06:44.459 --> 00:06:47.180 it. Well, as a blues rock fan my entire life, 00:06:47.259 --> 00:06:49.399 I have to say, I certainly hope that that is 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:51.779 something that's possible in the future. Right. 00:06:52.279 --> 00:06:56.660 Now, you had the chance both in 1998 and 2015 00:06:56.660 --> 00:06:59.980 to tour with Van Halen. And while your playing 00:06:59.980 --> 00:07:02.180 techniques are different, one thing reigns true 00:07:02.180 --> 00:07:05.370 for me as a music fan. You're both masters of 00:07:05.370 --> 00:07:08.050 your craft on the guitar. I'd love to hear what 00:07:08.050 --> 00:07:10.569 those tours meant to you, as well as your thoughts 00:07:10.569 --> 00:07:13.230 on sharing the stage with Eddie Van Halen over 00:07:13.230 --> 00:07:15.790 the decades at two different points in your career. 00:07:16.170 --> 00:07:18.470 Well, you know, I've been fortunate enough to 00:07:18.470 --> 00:07:21.269 be able to tour with and meet a lot of my heroes 00:07:21.269 --> 00:07:23.730 over the years and collaborate with them and 00:07:23.730 --> 00:07:26.550 things like that. So I consider myself to be 00:07:26.550 --> 00:07:28.509 very, very fortunate. Eddie Van Halen, since 00:07:28.509 --> 00:07:31.060 you mentioned him, I mean. I did a tour with 00:07:31.060 --> 00:07:33.899 him in the 90s, and that's when I became friends 00:07:33.899 --> 00:07:37.040 with him, was as a result of that tour. That 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:40.019 was when they had the Van Halen 3, right, with 00:07:40.019 --> 00:07:42.899 Gary Cherones. And we did that whole tour with 00:07:42.899 --> 00:07:45.399 him, and it was just great to me. I mean, he 00:07:45.399 --> 00:07:47.779 was so nice. And, you know, we have a lot of 00:07:47.779 --> 00:07:50.339 history. We had a lot of history. And then we 00:07:50.339 --> 00:07:53.420 did the final Van Halen tour in 2015. We did 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:56.100 that entire tour with those guys. And I spoke 00:07:56.100 --> 00:07:58.019 with him every day. Every single day, he came 00:07:58.019 --> 00:08:00.720 and found me. come give me a big hug. And we 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:02.660 sit down and talk and hang out. You know, he's 00:08:02.660 --> 00:08:05.620 just, he was always very gracious and very generous 00:08:05.620 --> 00:08:08.579 with his time when it came to me, you know, two 00:08:08.579 --> 00:08:10.959 very different styles of playing. But I think 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:12.939 that's one of the reasons why I worked as a lineup. 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:15.180 And that's why we did it more than once, you 00:08:15.180 --> 00:08:17.339 know, Van Halen, Kenny Wayne Shepard, because, 00:08:17.339 --> 00:08:19.939 you know, it's kind of like, it's my music is 00:08:19.939 --> 00:08:22.800 guitar based, guitar centric, guitar driven. 00:08:23.259 --> 00:08:25.779 And, you know, for the first couple of albums 00:08:25.779 --> 00:08:28.500 in my career. I was just a guitar player, didn't 00:08:28.500 --> 00:08:31.439 really sing in my own band. So a lot of similarities 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:33.399 in that regard, but the genres are different, 00:08:33.460 --> 00:08:35.720 but still they're connected because blues and 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:38.740 rock go hand in hand. So it just worked really 00:08:38.740 --> 00:08:42.000 well. And it was an honor to know him and to 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:44.740 be part of those tours with him. Well, one of 00:08:44.740 --> 00:08:46.580 the things I want to jump on is what you just 00:08:46.580 --> 00:08:48.340 said there, because throughout your discography, 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:51.240 you've slowly but surely stepped up to the mic 00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:54.000 more and more as the years have gone on and added 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:57.190 a whole new dynamic to the band, such as, two 00:08:57.190 --> 00:08:59.889 of my favorite tracks from your 2017 album, Lay 00:08:59.889 --> 00:09:03.110 It On Down, Baby Got Gone and Diamonds and Gold. 00:09:03.370 --> 00:09:05.710 Is there a moment during the writing process 00:09:05.710 --> 00:09:08.850 where you decide, you know, this is a song that 00:09:08.850 --> 00:09:12.250 I need to sing or using examples from that same 00:09:12.250 --> 00:09:15.450 album, like Nothing But The Night or Louisiana 00:09:15.450 --> 00:09:18.029 Rain, where you say, you know, this might work 00:09:18.029 --> 00:09:21.450 better with Noah on vocals? Well, yes. I mean, 00:09:21.509 --> 00:09:24.610 that's become the regular. dynamic in the band, 00:09:24.629 --> 00:09:27.230 Alice, where we basically have two lead singers 00:09:27.230 --> 00:09:29.789 in the band. Noah's been with me since my second 00:09:29.789 --> 00:09:33.070 record. He sang on so many great songs over the 00:09:33.070 --> 00:09:36.750 years. He's very much a part of the family. I 00:09:36.750 --> 00:09:40.110 like the idea that we have two lead singers in 00:09:40.110 --> 00:09:43.009 the band. My voice and his voice are really different, 00:09:43.350 --> 00:09:46.350 but they blend well when we sing harmonies together. 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:48.799 And because they're so different, it gives us 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:51.399 the ability, I think, to record and perform a 00:09:51.399 --> 00:09:53.679 broader range of material than if we only had 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:55.960 one singer, because there certainly have been 00:09:55.960 --> 00:09:59.360 some songs that, you know, Noah may have tried 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:01.659 to sing and it just didn't quite fit his voice. 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:04.039 And then I was able to successfully go in and 00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:06.740 sing them. And the song still made the record, 00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:08.740 where if there was only one voice, it probably 00:10:08.740 --> 00:10:10.639 wouldn't have made the record and vice versa. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:13.500 I walked out there. Many a time. And they're 00:10:13.500 --> 00:10:15.340 like, I'm going to try singing this song. And 00:10:15.340 --> 00:10:16.919 then it just doesn't work. And then he goes in 00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:20.460 and kills it. So, you know, songs are saved from 00:10:20.460 --> 00:10:23.159 the cutting room floor as a result of having 00:10:23.159 --> 00:10:26.980 more tools that aren't exposed. Well, in 1997, 00:10:27.059 --> 00:10:29.399 you talked about the album earlier. You released 00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:31.519 your massive breakthrough album, Trouble Is. 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:34.419 And it's an album that recently concluded celebrating 00:10:34.419 --> 00:10:37.700 its 25th anniversary. When you sat down with 00:10:37.700 --> 00:10:40.259 the band to revisit the album in its entirety 00:10:40.259 --> 00:10:44.179 for the Trouble Is 25 release, you at that point 00:10:44.179 --> 00:10:47.600 had more than two decades of hindsight and live 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:50.779 renditions under your belt. Did that hindsight 00:10:50.779 --> 00:10:54.299 color those 25th anniversary recording sessions 00:10:54.299 --> 00:10:57.679 in any way? I mean, a little bit, but not what 00:10:57.679 --> 00:10:59.580 you would think. I mean, you know, I know a lot 00:10:59.580 --> 00:11:01.460 of musicians that have made records over the 00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:04.120 years and some guys don't even want to listen 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:07.649 to their own records. Some guys wished that they 00:11:07.649 --> 00:11:11.330 could go back and redo things. This would have 00:11:11.330 --> 00:11:14.889 been that opportunity. If I had remorse or was 00:11:14.889 --> 00:11:17.889 second -guessing myself or wasn't happy with 00:11:17.889 --> 00:11:19.409 the record, this would have been the chance to 00:11:19.409 --> 00:11:23.230 reinvent the album or change all of that stuff. 00:11:23.409 --> 00:11:26.490 But I actually found that looking back and listening 00:11:26.490 --> 00:11:28.690 to it and re -recording the stuff is how well 00:11:28.690 --> 00:11:31.830 the music stands up today, 25 years later, and 00:11:31.830 --> 00:11:34.299 how proud I am of that. and the performance that's 00:11:34.299 --> 00:11:36.740 on that, I didn't feel the need to go and change 00:11:36.740 --> 00:11:40.120 a lot of it. We just did an updated version of 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:42.340 it, and we took some subtle liberties here and 00:11:42.340 --> 00:11:45.539 there. But when we started trying to mess with 00:11:45.539 --> 00:11:47.759 it, it seemed like we started to lose the vibe 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:50.559 of it, and that's what made it so special. But 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:52.799 no, I've always been really proud of that record, 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:55.500 and I'm proud of all my albums. Thankfully, I've 00:11:55.500 --> 00:11:58.000 never made a record that I just go, oh man, I'd 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.039 love to take that one back. One hundred percent. 00:12:01.179 --> 00:12:04.159 Now, on that Trouble Is album is one of your 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:07.200 signature songs, Blue on Black. Did you have 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:09.700 any idea the trajectory that that song would 00:12:09.700 --> 00:12:12.419 take and the overall impact it would have on 00:12:12.419 --> 00:12:15.279 music in general, including the cover by Five 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:17.960 Finger Death Punch in 2019 that featured you, 00:12:18.179 --> 00:12:21.580 Brantley Gilbert and Brian May of Queen? You 00:12:21.580 --> 00:12:25.340 know, when I wrote that song and especially once 00:12:25.340 --> 00:12:27.460 we had recorded it and we were finished with 00:12:27.460 --> 00:12:30.159 the Trouble Is record. And we went in the studio 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:34.080 and we were mixing it. We knew that we had something 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:36.759 incredibly special, but you never really know 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:40.139 how far something is actually going to go or 00:12:40.139 --> 00:12:41.779 how the people are going to react to it until 00:12:41.779 --> 00:12:43.659 you just put it out there and see what happens. 00:12:43.799 --> 00:12:47.360 And I think everybody was very pleasantly surprised 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:50.299 to see the type of reaction that we got from 00:12:50.299 --> 00:12:53.580 that song and continues to get played. on classic 00:12:53.580 --> 00:12:56.039 rock radio and and and it continues to reach 00:12:56.039 --> 00:12:57.899 new people and you know the five finger death 00:12:57.899 --> 00:13:00.840 bunch guys covered it which was fantastic and 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:02.840 you know i'll wait for somebody else to come 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:04.460 along and cover it because i think it's a great 00:13:04.460 --> 00:13:07.139 song as far as i'm concerned the more versions 00:13:07.139 --> 00:13:09.120 of blue on black the better i can actually hear 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:12.809 a country version of that but i digress Originally, 00:13:12.809 --> 00:13:15.029 when the song first came out, I own the original 00:13:15.029 --> 00:13:19.169 CD copy of Trouble Is along with the CD single 00:13:19.169 --> 00:13:22.269 of Blue on Black because it contains both the 00:13:22.269 --> 00:13:25.769 road mix version of the song as well as the band's 00:13:25.769 --> 00:13:29.779 epic. cover of jimi hendrix's voodoo child in 00:13:29.779 --> 00:13:33.120 a studio version the live version being a concert 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:36.700 staple for the band for many many years now along 00:13:36.700 --> 00:13:39.679 with it being a concert staple you have also 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:42.360 been involved in the experience hendrix tours 00:13:42.360 --> 00:13:44.879 over the years a few of which i was fortunate 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:47.519 enough to catch and i'd love to know your thoughts 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:50.460 on the impact that jimi hendrix had on blues 00:13:50.460 --> 00:13:53.179 rock as a whole and if there were any collaborations 00:13:53.179 --> 00:13:56.500 from those tours that resonated with you personally 00:13:56.500 --> 00:13:59.159 as an artist? Well, yeah, I mean, Jimi Hendrix, 00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:02.019 his impact on music cannot be understated. I 00:14:02.019 --> 00:14:04.419 mean, it's actually hard to really quantify it, 00:14:04.460 --> 00:14:06.519 but I mean, he's one of the greatest guitar players, 00:14:06.600 --> 00:14:09.379 maybe the greatest of all time. Massive influence 00:14:09.379 --> 00:14:12.679 on me and many, many other guitar players. So, 00:14:12.759 --> 00:14:15.639 you know, I grew up playing his songs and at 00:14:15.639 --> 00:14:19.919 weekends, traditionally have ended almost all 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:23.480 of my concerts with doing a rendition of Voodoo 00:14:23.480 --> 00:14:26.850 Child. it's just become a mainstay in the setlist. 00:14:27.029 --> 00:14:31.029 Sometimes people come just see me play that song. 00:14:31.529 --> 00:14:34.190 I would do that on the Experience Hendrix tour. 00:14:34.409 --> 00:14:36.710 That was a cool tour because he had such great 00:14:36.710 --> 00:14:39.649 guitar players, fantastic musicians who were 00:14:39.649 --> 00:14:43.190 all influenced by Jimmy, paying homage to him 00:14:43.190 --> 00:14:46.269 by performing his music and a lot of collaborations 00:14:46.269 --> 00:14:49.659 would happen and things like that. Yeah, I really 00:14:49.659 --> 00:14:51.960 love that tour. I look forward to possibly doing 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:54.940 it again in the not too distant future. Well, 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:57.200 while we're talking about collaborations and 00:14:57.200 --> 00:15:00.379 me being a bass player myself, I have to mention 00:15:00.379 --> 00:15:03.659 one collaboration that in 1999, when I first 00:15:03.659 --> 00:15:05.940 saw it, actually surprised me. When I picked 00:15:05.940 --> 00:15:09.580 up your copy of Live On, that on your cover of 00:15:09.580 --> 00:15:12.820 Fleetwood Mac's Oh Well, one Les Claypool of 00:15:12.820 --> 00:15:16.690 Primus. played bass for you now i know less is 00:15:16.690 --> 00:15:18.909 a musical chameleon but i'm kind of curious what 00:15:18.909 --> 00:15:21.509 it was like working with the quote -unquote blues 00:15:21.509 --> 00:15:24.889 rock variant of less claypool for lack of a better 00:15:24.889 --> 00:15:28.610 word well if you listen to that song i mean we're 00:15:28.610 --> 00:15:32.850 covering oh well by fleetwood mac yes and i mean 00:15:32.850 --> 00:15:35.169 we did it as a rock song there's not anything 00:15:35.169 --> 00:15:37.909 really bluesy to the art version of that song 00:15:37.909 --> 00:15:40.870 but he killed it man especially at the end of 00:15:40.870 --> 00:15:44.009 that song in the last solo You can hear him just 00:15:44.009 --> 00:15:47.889 going off on bass. It's really incredible. But 00:15:47.889 --> 00:15:50.509 yeah, that was one of those really cool things 00:15:50.509 --> 00:15:52.570 that you hear about happening sometimes when 00:15:52.570 --> 00:15:55.590 you're working at famous recording studios. Like 00:15:55.590 --> 00:15:58.009 we recorded, you know, several different records 00:15:58.009 --> 00:16:01.049 at the record plant, Sausalito, California. And 00:16:01.049 --> 00:16:03.509 that's a legendary place no longer exists, but 00:16:03.509 --> 00:16:05.470 a lot of people would work there. So you never 00:16:05.470 --> 00:16:07.470 know who might be working in one of the other 00:16:07.470 --> 00:16:11.240 rooms. And sometimes collaborations happen just 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:14.179 because you're under the same roof. And so that's 00:16:14.179 --> 00:16:16.799 what happened. He was in there. He could hear 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:20.399 us down the hallway. He pops his head into the 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:24.399 control room just to hear what we're doing. Derry 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:26.820 Harrison, who produced that record, knew him. 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:29.440 And we all said, hey, man, why don't you play 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:31.799 bass on this thing? And he's like, yeah, let's 00:16:31.799 --> 00:16:34.899 do it. And it just happened on the spot. Then 00:16:34.899 --> 00:16:37.039 he killed me. It's great. It's a killer version. 00:16:37.460 --> 00:16:40.039 Over the years, you've toured and recorded albums 00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:42.799 with Reese Winans on keyboards, Tommy Shannon 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:45.320 on bass, and Chris Layton on drums and percussion. 00:16:45.580 --> 00:16:48.320 Most blues rock fans that I'm friends with refer 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:51.919 to Simply as the original members of Stevie Ray 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:54.539 Vaughan's Double Trouble. Can you talk about 00:16:54.539 --> 00:16:56.740 how those musical relationships were initially 00:16:56.740 --> 00:16:59.720 forged and what you feel those members have brought 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:02.970 to your music over the years? Well, I met Chris 00:17:02.970 --> 00:17:06.269 first and I was like 15 years old and I was playing 00:17:06.269 --> 00:17:09.029 a show in Austin, Texas and opening up for this 00:17:09.029 --> 00:17:11.490 guy, Bill Carter. And Bill Carter is one of the 00:17:11.490 --> 00:17:14.009 guys that I think he helped co -write the song 00:17:14.009 --> 00:17:18.230 Crossfire and Willie the Wim. A couple of, you 00:17:18.230 --> 00:17:19.869 know, some of the songs Stevie had done over 00:17:19.869 --> 00:17:22.650 the years. And so Billy was, he was a headline 00:17:22.650 --> 00:17:25.509 act at Antones and Chris was playing drums for 00:17:25.509 --> 00:17:27.569 him. And then I was the opening act. And so. 00:17:28.269 --> 00:17:30.390 They asked me to get up and play with them that 00:17:30.390 --> 00:17:32.289 night. And that was the first time I met Chris. 00:17:32.710 --> 00:17:35.210 And then I signed my record deal probably a year 00:17:35.210 --> 00:17:37.069 later. And then when it came time to go in the 00:17:37.069 --> 00:17:39.289 studio, Chris had given me his phone number. 00:17:39.349 --> 00:17:41.130 So we gave him a call and asked him if he'd be 00:17:41.130 --> 00:17:43.690 interested in playing drums on my first record. 00:17:43.750 --> 00:17:45.670 And he said yes. And that was the beginning of 00:17:45.670 --> 00:17:49.529 an incredibly long and personally close relationship 00:17:49.529 --> 00:17:52.210 that he and I had. But then when it came time 00:17:52.210 --> 00:17:54.750 to do the second album, Trouble Is, we brought... 00:17:55.219 --> 00:17:58.019 everybody in. And so Tommy Shannon came and played 00:17:58.019 --> 00:18:00.019 bass and Reese Winans came and played keyboards. 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:02.500 And, you know, it was just incredible for me. 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:05.140 I was such a fan of those guys, their music that 00:18:05.140 --> 00:18:07.759 they did with Stevie Ray Vaughan. And they were 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:10.299 like my band before I had a band because I used 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:12.400 to just sit around the house playing along with 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:16.220 them and their music. So when it came time for 00:18:16.220 --> 00:18:18.339 me to play with them, it just, it was all very 00:18:18.339 --> 00:18:20.539 natural. I think it was, it felt very natural 00:18:20.539 --> 00:18:23.519 for them because a lot of my style of playing 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:26.569 had. evolved around their music and learning 00:18:26.569 --> 00:18:29.289 their music and stuff and so it was a great fit 00:18:29.289 --> 00:18:31.849 and so they were on the second album and the 00:18:31.849 --> 00:18:34.289 third album chris has played drums on every album 00:18:34.289 --> 00:18:37.990 i've ever done except for one and uh he's been 00:18:37.990 --> 00:18:42.069 in my live band now close to 20 years Well, Kenny, 00:18:42.130 --> 00:18:43.630 we've been talking about the past for a while. 00:18:43.710 --> 00:18:46.109 I want to talk about the present now on your 00:18:46.109 --> 00:18:49.049 new album, Dirt on My Diamonds, Volume 1. You 00:18:49.049 --> 00:18:52.170 offer what might be my favorite vocal delivery 00:18:52.170 --> 00:18:55.230 of yours across all of your albums, and that 00:18:55.230 --> 00:18:59.369 is the title track. As a songwriter, do you find 00:18:59.369 --> 00:19:02.210 it challenging to continue to push your personal 00:19:02.210 --> 00:19:05.390 musical boundaries while remaining faithful to 00:19:05.390 --> 00:19:08.549 the sound that you've honed and perfected across 00:19:08.549 --> 00:19:12.349 10 studio albums prior to this? Well, I mean, 00:19:12.349 --> 00:19:15.390 it definitely, my goal is to try not to repeat 00:19:15.390 --> 00:19:18.470 myself musically. I want, I don't want people 00:19:18.470 --> 00:19:20.329 to feel like they know what my new album sounds 00:19:20.329 --> 00:19:22.509 like without even hearing it yet. You know, I 00:19:22.509 --> 00:19:25.049 don't want to be that predictable. So, you know, 00:19:25.049 --> 00:19:27.430 it can be challenging. I mean, which is also 00:19:27.430 --> 00:19:30.950 why I incorporate other influences from other 00:19:30.950 --> 00:19:33.690 genres into the music that I write, because then 00:19:33.690 --> 00:19:36.609 when you do that, it helps open up a lot more 00:19:36.609 --> 00:19:39.720 musical opportunities than just staying. within 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:43.519 the blues box which sometimes can be a very narrow 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:46.400 format if you're just going to stick within the 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:50.339 traditional blues realm. I've always tried to 00:19:50.339 --> 00:19:54.400 push the envelope and try to bring outside influences 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:59.200 into that world to help take the music into different 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:01.380 directions and we certainly have done that on 00:20:01.380 --> 00:20:04.349 this way for sure. One of the questions I want 00:20:04.349 --> 00:20:07.210 to ask, and I apologize if I get this wrong, 00:20:07.309 --> 00:20:09.890 because it's certainly not my intention. On Sweet 00:20:09.890 --> 00:20:13.109 and Low, it sounds like there's a DJ scratching. 00:20:13.250 --> 00:20:15.410 In my heart of hearts, I think that's you doing 00:20:15.410 --> 00:20:18.009 it on the guitar. Is that correct? It's not on 00:20:18.009 --> 00:20:19.869 the guitar, no. It's not on the guitar, okay. 00:20:20.029 --> 00:20:23.490 It's an actual record scratch. And it's really 00:20:23.490 --> 00:20:26.769 funny, too, because some of my older fans don't 00:20:26.769 --> 00:20:28.549 quite know what to make of it. They're like, 00:20:28.569 --> 00:20:31.650 what is that sound? And I'm like, well, it's... 00:20:31.829 --> 00:20:35.009 Everybody from my generation knows what that 00:20:35.009 --> 00:20:38.509 sound is because we come from the birth of hip 00:20:38.509 --> 00:20:42.309 -hop, the early days of rap and hip -hop. We 00:20:42.309 --> 00:20:44.869 grew up hearing that stuff. Whether you're a 00:20:44.869 --> 00:20:47.549 massive hip -hop fan or not, I've always just 00:20:47.549 --> 00:20:50.269 been a music fan. I like good music and there 00:20:50.269 --> 00:20:53.609 are bad versions of all kinds of music. There's 00:20:53.609 --> 00:20:55.990 bad blues, there's bad hip -hop, there's bad 00:20:55.990 --> 00:20:58.309 rock, there's bad country, but there's great 00:20:58.309 --> 00:21:01.390 versions of all that stuff too. I grew up hearing 00:21:01.390 --> 00:21:05.430 everything. I heard all kinds of music from hip 00:21:05.430 --> 00:21:08.509 -hop to blues and rock and country and gospel 00:21:08.509 --> 00:21:11.630 and funk and jazz and all of that stuff. Eventually, 00:21:12.190 --> 00:21:14.390 it all finds its way into the music that I'm 00:21:14.390 --> 00:21:17.130 writing and creating. It's just funny. It's a 00:21:17.130 --> 00:21:22.210 natural thing. It sounds appropriate for the 00:21:22.210 --> 00:21:24.789 song to me, but some people are like, what does 00:21:24.789 --> 00:21:27.660 that sound like? I'm like, okay. They're from 00:21:27.660 --> 00:21:29.940 a little bit slightly earlier generation, but 00:21:29.940 --> 00:21:32.000 that's cool. Some of them really dig it. Some 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:33.519 of them, I think, are not sure what to think 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:35.700 about it, but I think it's pretty cool. You can 00:21:35.700 --> 00:21:37.900 count me on Team Dig It because anytime that 00:21:37.900 --> 00:21:41.079 there's a tip of a hat to another genre and exploring 00:21:41.079 --> 00:21:44.240 those boundaries in a way that works and is still 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:46.880 musical, I'm all in on. Well, it's also like, 00:21:46.920 --> 00:21:48.579 when was the last time you heard somebody that 00:21:48.579 --> 00:21:53.119 has the blues artist label on them put something 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:55.089 like that on a record? And it's like, you know, 00:21:55.109 --> 00:21:56.690 that's the thing. It's like, I don't want to 00:21:56.690 --> 00:21:59.309 be predictable. I want to continue pushing the 00:21:59.309 --> 00:22:01.329 envelope and doing things that not everybody 00:22:01.329 --> 00:22:04.589 else is doing or has already done. And then there's 00:22:04.589 --> 00:22:07.390 a track like Bad Intentions. That song to me 00:22:07.390 --> 00:22:09.869 feels like a statement, an exclamation point 00:22:09.869 --> 00:22:13.549 on the album. Musically, the song has this undeniable 00:22:13.549 --> 00:22:16.849 swagger, while lyrically, it almost comes across 00:22:16.849 --> 00:22:19.549 like a confession. Can you tell the story behind 00:22:19.549 --> 00:22:22.890 that one? Well, you have to understand that. 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:25.839 A lot of times when people are writing songs, 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:31.099 not every song is an autobiographical moment. 00:22:31.380 --> 00:22:34.779 It's not like this is exactly what happened to 00:22:34.779 --> 00:22:38.779 me at some point in time. We take a lot of liberties 00:22:38.779 --> 00:22:42.599 and we get very creative. You can take one little 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:45.859 experience that can spark an idea and then by 00:22:45.859 --> 00:22:48.099 the end of writing the song, you've created this 00:22:48.099 --> 00:22:52.799 whole entire story that the only thing that ever 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:55.039 actually happened was just like the original 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:58.279 spark of the idea this was just us having fun 00:22:58.279 --> 00:23:01.599 i mean the whole idea for the song title actually 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:04.980 came i was hanging out with uh joe bonamassa 00:23:04.980 --> 00:23:07.319 and he was doing a little interview with me and 00:23:07.319 --> 00:23:11.220 and he uh he had said you know i the way you 00:23:11.220 --> 00:23:13.900 play guitar you know he's like you know it's 00:23:13.900 --> 00:23:17.140 like you put 150 into every note and it's like 00:23:17.140 --> 00:23:19.480 you know we just I just know every time you walk 00:23:19.480 --> 00:23:21.720 out on the stage with your guitar that you got 00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:24.440 bad intentions, you know, meaning, you know, 00:23:24.440 --> 00:23:27.279 in not bad, like evil intentions, but like, no, 00:23:27.420 --> 00:23:30.640 just in my approach to my playing, you know, 00:23:30.660 --> 00:23:34.000 like you're a bad, bad man, you know? And so 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:36.220 I thought, you know, at the time I was like, 00:23:36.259 --> 00:23:38.680 that's a good title. I actually thought I was, 00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:41.480 I was going to name the next album bad intentions, 00:23:41.640 --> 00:23:43.660 but then the album took on a different theme. 00:23:43.779 --> 00:23:46.059 So that didn't work for the title of the record, 00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:49.329 but I still wrote the song. But instead of writing 00:23:49.329 --> 00:23:51.609 the song about, you know, some guitar player 00:23:51.609 --> 00:23:53.609 that's a great guitar player or something like 00:23:53.609 --> 00:23:55.849 that, we decided to make it a relationship song. 00:23:56.089 --> 00:23:58.230 So it's just, you know, to me, it's like the 00:23:58.230 --> 00:24:01.670 modern day version of a kind of a hoochie coochie 00:24:01.670 --> 00:24:05.329 man song, you know, where Muddy Waters is talking 00:24:05.329 --> 00:24:08.069 about, you know, how he's a man and he'll, you 00:24:08.069 --> 00:24:10.869 know, make love to a woman in five minutes time 00:24:10.869 --> 00:24:12.809 and do all this stuff. It's like, I'm, you know, 00:24:12.809 --> 00:24:15.130 just pounding on his chest about how bad ass 00:24:15.130 --> 00:24:19.329 he is. Right. And that's kind of like. Ultimately 00:24:19.329 --> 00:24:22.049 different, but the same kind of approach to the 00:24:22.049 --> 00:24:24.950 lyrics of this song. It's the swagger. It's definitely 00:24:24.950 --> 00:24:27.329 the swagger. Yeah. Now going back to the beginning 00:24:27.329 --> 00:24:30.349 as a mixtape maker, my whole life, you normally 00:24:30.349 --> 00:24:34.410 don't label a mixtape volume one, unless you're 00:24:34.410 --> 00:24:37.690 certain that there's a volume two forthcoming. 00:24:37.890 --> 00:24:41.750 Is there a dirt on my diamonds volume two coming 00:24:41.750 --> 00:24:43.789 down the road? And if so, maybe when fans can 00:24:43.789 --> 00:24:47.529 expect it. Well, it's already done. So. It's 00:24:47.529 --> 00:24:50.089 going to come. We just have to figure out when 00:24:50.089 --> 00:24:52.269 the right release date is. I would think it's 00:24:52.269 --> 00:24:54.529 probably going to happen about a year after this 00:24:54.529 --> 00:24:58.990 album has dropped. But yes, there's two volumes. 00:24:59.349 --> 00:25:02.609 And really, to me, if you go back to the first 00:25:02.609 --> 00:25:06.769 album that I worked with Marshall Altman, who 00:25:06.769 --> 00:25:10.109 is my co -producer on these two records. But 00:25:10.109 --> 00:25:12.210 the first one we did together was Lay It On Down. 00:25:12.430 --> 00:25:14.529 And then after that, we did The Traveler, which 00:25:14.529 --> 00:25:16.950 was our last studio record. And now we've done... 00:25:17.150 --> 00:25:19.410 Dirt on My Diamond is volume one and volume two. 00:25:19.589 --> 00:25:22.150 But to me, it's like, I feel like looking at 00:25:22.150 --> 00:25:24.730 the body of work, it's almost like every album 00:25:24.730 --> 00:25:28.509 is like chapters in a book and one kind of seamlessly 00:25:28.509 --> 00:25:31.869 flows into the next. And it's like, you know, 00:25:31.869 --> 00:25:34.829 so it's like we're telling a musical story here. 00:25:35.049 --> 00:25:38.130 And so that's kind of what sparked the idea of 00:25:38.130 --> 00:25:40.609 doing a volume one and a volume two, because 00:25:40.609 --> 00:25:43.029 I really am looking at the albums that I've done 00:25:43.029 --> 00:25:45.210 with them. It's one, it's like almost like one 00:25:45.210 --> 00:25:50.480 body. Work divided up into chapters. Awesome. 00:25:51.019 --> 00:25:53.940 Kenny, if you had to sum up your musical legacy 00:25:53.940 --> 00:25:56.579 in three of the songs that you've written across 00:25:56.579 --> 00:25:59.660 your entire career, which three would you choose? 00:26:01.180 --> 00:26:03.460 Man, obviously, Blue on Black would be one of 00:26:03.460 --> 00:26:07.140 them. Can't leave that one out. And probably 00:26:07.140 --> 00:26:09.279 Deja Vu, just because that was the song that 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:11.680 put me on the map. First single off my first 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:15.180 album. And frankly, I mean, you know, choosing 00:26:15.180 --> 00:26:17.359 songs is like, you know, choosing between your 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:20.380 children, right? I know, I know. Choosing favorites 00:26:20.380 --> 00:26:24.460 doesn't go over well. But I will say that one 00:26:24.460 --> 00:26:27.779 of my absolute favorite songs that I've done 00:26:27.779 --> 00:26:30.200 in recent memory is a song called I Want You 00:26:30.200 --> 00:26:33.740 off of the Traveler record. Because to me, it's 00:26:33.740 --> 00:26:36.200 like if you asked me to play you a song that 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:38.420 I thought was the definition of contemporary 00:26:38.420 --> 00:26:43.690 blues. or the modern blues sound, in my opinion, 00:26:43.789 --> 00:26:47.410 from my perspective, that would be it. I mean, 00:26:47.430 --> 00:26:50.210 it's just got all the elements. It's got a really 00:26:50.210 --> 00:26:52.769 cool guitar riff. It's got a ripping guitar solo. 00:26:52.849 --> 00:26:56.349 It's got this greasy -ass groove to it. And we 00:26:56.349 --> 00:26:58.869 play it in the show, and I really love playing 00:26:58.869 --> 00:27:01.470 that song every night. So I would certainly throw 00:27:01.470 --> 00:27:03.950 that one in there. Awesome. Well, Kenny, it's 00:27:03.950 --> 00:27:06.150 been an absolute pleasure talking blues rock 00:27:06.150 --> 00:27:08.170 with you tonight. Thank you so much for joining 00:27:08.170 --> 00:27:11.160 me on My Weekly Mixtape. Appreciate it. I want 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:13.319 to thank all the mixtapers for tuning in tonight. 00:27:13.480 --> 00:27:16.220 And always remember, you can head to myweeklymixtape 00:27:16.220 --> 00:27:19.559 .com to hear the full catalog of My Weekly Mixtape 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:21.579 episodes. And if you like what you're hearing 00:27:21.579 --> 00:27:23.859 on the show, you can help me out by either telling 00:27:23.859 --> 00:27:26.339 a friend, leaving the show a five -star review 00:27:26.339 --> 00:27:29.279 wherever you're tuning in, or by becoming a Patreon 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:33.640 mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash myweeklymixtape. 00:27:33.960 --> 00:27:36.119 That's all for this week. Thanks again for listening. 00:27:36.180 --> 00:27:38.319 And until next time, enjoy the tunes.