Kenny Wayne Shepherd Signed To Perform at Harvest
August 5, 2010
Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival music director Brent Staeben has pulled another one out of the fire. Once again, Staeben has shown he’s the comeback kid, making lemonade from lemons and picking the Festival off the mat after a third headline artist was forced to cancel a performance at the September event.
The Festival announced today that multi-platinum seller and blues-rock guitar god Kenny Wayne Shepherd has signed on at the last minute to perform. The four-time Grammy nominated guitar phenom was added to the 2010 line up as a replacement for Jonny Lang after Lang was forced to cancel his appearance due to personal scheduling conflicts.
“When we get a cancellation, our goal is to replace with equivalent—or if we’re lucky, even better—talent. Kenny Wayne Shepherd fits that bill and we’re thrilled that we were able to secure him at this late a date,” says Brent Staeben, music director for the Festival. “The fortunate part is that the reputation and connections Harvest has built over the last 20 years has allowed us to get some stellar replacements on very short notice. Kenny was once named third best blues artist in the world, only after Eric Clapton and B.B. King, so I have every confidence that he will more than deliver as our big Saturday night Blues Tent headliner.”
At only 32 years old, Louisiana-born Kenny Wayne Shepherd has lived more than half his life in the spotlight. Kenny’s love for the blues started, according to him, when Stevie Ray Vaughan put him on an equipment case when he was little to watch him play. Since then, Kenny has solidified himself, in his own right, as one of the best blues-rock guitarists of today, with millions of albums sold, four Grammy nominations, two Billboard awards, and even his own signature Fender Stratocaster guitar.
His illustrious career began in 1995 at the age of 17, when he released his debut album, the platinum selling Ledbetter Heights. His follow up album Trouble Is… went platinum as well, with one of its hits Blue on Black becoming the longest-running song ever on the Billboard Blues Chart with an impressive 17 weeks at #1 – a record that has yet to be broken. Besides being a commercial smash, Trouble Is… was a critical favourite as well, earning Shepherd his first Grammy nomination, and two Billboard awards for Rock Song and Blues Album of the Year.
Shepherd’s third album, Live On went platinum as well, but it’s his most recent release that has been his most ambitious project to date. Ten Days Out: Blues from the Backroads is a feature film documentary and album combo that features intimate interviews and music from some of the blues biggest names as well as lesser-known talents. It became the #1 selling blues album of 2007, and earned Shepherd two more Grammy nominations, and the prestigious “Keeping the Blues Alive Award” from the Blues Foundation.
In 2008, Fender honoured Shepherd with the release of a Kenny Wayne Shepherd signature series Stratocaster guitar, which Kenny personally designed.
“I think his career speaks for itself,” Staeben says. “In his relatively short time as a young blues-rocker, Kenny has achieved commercial and critical success many blues artists only dream of, even being named ‘one of the wonders of the world’ by the late, great James Brown. We couldn’t be more thrilled that this incredible talent will be coming to the Festival.”
Kenny Wayne Shepherd will headline the Budweiser Blues Tent on Saturday Night, with Mississippi’s Homemade Jamz Blues Band and Ottawa’s MonkeyJunk opening.
Those who have purchased tickets to the sold-out Jonny Lang show can use them to see Kenny Wayne Shepherd, no exchange necessary. Full refunds on Jonny Lang tickets, Saturday passes and Ultimate passes will be available up until September 1st. All refunds will go through the Harvest Store at 81 Regent Street, (506) 455-HJBF.
Remaining tickets for the Kenny Wayne Shepherd show will be released for purchase to the general public in the coming weeks.
