"I'm sure the young blues guitarists that are really good can make a name for themselves."

Although just 30 years old, the Louisiana-born blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd has already sold millions of albums, got two Grammy nominations and two Billboard Music Awards. Recently he issued his new effort - a CD/DVD release entitled "10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads", which was the reason for the conversation you'll find below. The interview was conducted by Mr. Valentin Paskov and was broadcasted during his Blues Power weekly radio show, which can be listened to Thursdays from 10 p.m. till midnight at Tangra Mega Rock.

Valentin Paskov: Kenny, how are you? What are you up to now?

Kenny Wayne Shepherd: I'm on tour right now in support of the new record. I've been playing throughout the United Stated with different artists from the documentary that we did, "10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads", like Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Brian Lee, Buddy Flat, and Chris Layton of Double Trouble. We've been playing shows across America and it's been really exciting. Everybody seems to be really enjoying themselves on the tour, and all the fans seem to enjoy the show.

V. P.: Now would you please present your new CD and DVD to our listeners?

K. W. S.: Basically, what we did is we decided we're gonna do a traditional blues project featuring some well-known blues artists, and then some not so well-known ones. So we set out along the USA with a couple of tour buses - one with recording equipment and the other one with a film crew - and we met a lot of these different musicians. Most of the time we would go to a house, set up in a living room or in the backyard, or in a neighborhood night club or something, and we played the blues with these people. Every day there was a different artist and a different scenario. We met up with people like B.B. King, Hubert Sumlin and Pinetop Perkins, and also guys like Brian Lee and Buddy Flat and some of the lesser known names of the blues. We wanted to associate those people with the likes of B.B. King and Hubert Sumlin to help elevate some of them to legendary status.

V. P.: How did you find these less known musicians?

K. W. S.: Well, we just spread the word in the music community about what we were trying to accomplish. Some of these guys I already knew that I wanted to have involved in the project, and I also knew there are many blues talents out there who haven't been exposed, so we put out the word and started receiving a lot of letters and CDs for consideration. I listened to every artist submitted and then I made my choices.

V. P.: Actually, you did the recordings some two or three years ago, I think?

K. W. S.: Yeah, it was two and a half years ago. It took us only ten days to do the whole thing, but a long time to get the film completely edited to be put out. During this time five or six of the people who were featured in the project have already died...

V. P.: You recorded the material in some very poor conditions. Did you have any problems and stuff?

K. W. S.: Yes, some technical problems... Actually, in the B.B. King segment, when we were in that blues bar, we were having some imprint difficulties - his vocal mike wasn't coming through in the recording and the audio crew figured it out in the very last second, right before we started "The Thrill Is Gone", and they actually saved the day and we were able to use the track. Every day was a new challenge for everybody, because we weren't in a recording studio, but in people's homes and outside, which presented us unique circumstances every day - both for the recording and the film crew.

V. P.: Which were the highlights during this trip?

K. W. S.: It's kind of hard to choose a favorite, but I think probably for me it was the last part of the film, where we go to the church in Kansas and we do the concert with Hubert Sumlin and the guys from Howlin' Wolf's band and Pinetop Perkins and the guys from Muddy Waters' band.

V. P.: Actually, this movie of yours has a similar idea to Martin Scorsese's documentary series "The Soul of a Man". Is there anything in common between them?

K. W. S.: I don't know how similar they are, except that he did that three-part documentary on the blues, but I feel like ours is different. Besides, we put out a record of all new music accompanying the DVD.

V. P.: You mentioned that you're touring with Hubert Sumlin. What kind of person is he?

K. W. S.: He's really amazing. He's one of the most influential guitar players of his time, and he's one of those guys - like B.B. King - that has his completely own style. Besides, he's one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet, and when he plays on stage the crowd just loves him. He sends out all these positive feelings.

V. P.: It's audible that one of your main influences is Stevie Ray Vaughn, but whom else did you learn from?

K. W. S.: I have a lot of influences, going all the way back to the days of Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson - everybody from that era up to Muddy Waters, Albert King and John Lee Hooker, plus Southern rock, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix... Besides, I grew up listening to a lot of James Brown and even some country music, so you see, it's a barely long list.

V. P.: When you recorded you first album you were like 17 years old. How did you get to the blues and not to punk or metal or whatever?

K. W. S.: My dad turned me on to it. It's just up to the young people to get exposed to the blues and find out about that music. You can go to websites like YouTube and search for young blues guitar players, and there are so many of these kids out there. It's just a matter of whether or not they're exposed.

V. P.: And could you please tell us something more about your relationship to Stevie Ray Vaughn?

K. W. S.: I didn't get to know him as well as I'd like to... I got to meet him when I was 7 years old. Later on I had a few opportunities to go backstage and speak with him. The last time I saw him was just a few months before he passed away - then he autographed my very first Fender Stratocaster.

V. P.: You play with the guys from Stevie's band Double Trouble. How did it come to that?

K. W. S.: I got to meet Chris Layton not too long after Stevie had passed - I was about 15. We exchanged phone numbers and then, when the time came for me to do my first record, my management called him and asked him if he wanted to be on it. He agreed and he's played on almost every record I've ever done. From that relationship I got to meet the other guys, too.

V. P.: Your band is very strong ever since your first album, when you worked with singer Corey Sterling. What happened to him afterwards?

K. W. S.: I don't know - we just kind of went different ways. I think he wanted to try and do something different.

V. P.: And how did you meet Noah Hunt, who's singing in your next albums?

K. W. S.: We met through a mutual friend. I was auditioning singers for my band and this guy recommended Noah, so we flew him down and auditioned him with 12 other guys, and we finally settled on him.

V. P.: What do you think about the other blues players from the younger generation, like Johnny Lang and John Mayer?

K. W. S.: I think they're good. It's great for anybody who picks up the instrument and plays that kind of music. Every little bit helps to keep the music going, and new people generate new fans.

V. P.: Is there someone from this new generation that I'm missing?

K. W. S.: There are new guys that pop up every day, and I'm sure the ones that are good can make a name for themselves.

V. P.: Which bands did you tour with during your 12-year-long career?

K. W. S.: Oh, the list is very long. I've played with everybody, from The Rolling Stones to Aerosmith and Van Halen, B.B. King, The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd...

V. P.: Is there a band or musician that you wanted to play with, but it never happened?

K. W. S.: I haven't had the opportunity to tour with Eric Clapton yet. That's probably the only person I can think of.

V. P.: Finally, what music are you listening to recently?

K. W. S.: Right now I'm listening to just blues - a bunch of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf CDs that I haven't listened to in a long time.

V. P.: Ok, so what's next for you?

K. W. S.: We're gonna be touring until the rest of the summer, and then I hope to go back in the studio and make another record before the end of the year.

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock