He goes fine

For the first time in his career, Kenny Wayne Shepherd enjoyed the opportunity to take a “finish no record before its time” approach to making his new studio CD, “How I Go.”
That’s one reason the gap between his studio albums grew to seven years.
Of course, Shepherd hadn’t spent those years loafing. In 2006, he released “10 Days Out,” a combination DC/DVD that involved Shepherd (along with drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon, from Stevie Ray Vaughan’s old band, Double Trouble) traveling to locations around the United States to record and film collaborations with a host of veteran blues artists, including Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Etta Baker, Pinetop Perkins (Muddy Waters’ pianist) and Hubert Sumlin (Howlin’ Wolf’s guitarist).
Then last year, he released his first concert CD, “Live In Chicago.”
Considering the gap that had developed since Shepherd released his last studio CD, 2004’s, “The Place You’re In,” one might have expected him to feel a sense of urgency to finish and release his new studio CD, “How I Go.”
Instead, Shepherd took his time. Some of it was a necessity.
With the gap between studio albums, he had accumulated roughly 300-400 guitar riffs, rhythm tracks and song ideas, and turning those into fully realized songs took a series of writing sessions with the likes of Mark Selby, Tia Sellers and Zac Maloy that spanned 18 months.
Shepherd then decided not to rush the recording process, either.
“I was able to do it at somewhat of a leisurely pace,” he said. “We went in the studio over the course of the past year and made this record. So we went in and would record for two weeks and then we’d go home and we’d be out of the studio for a couple of months. It enabled me to live with the material for long periods of time and really analyze it and listen to it. And that way I was very sure when I went back in the studio what needed to be done to make it better.”
This was a nice change from how Shepherd made his first three CDs — 1995 ‘s “Ledbetter Heights,” 1997’s “Trouble Is…” and 1999’s “Live On.”
Since then, though, Shepherd’s recorded output has slowed. But until now, that was more a function of the nature of his recording projects and changes in his lifestyle.
One reason “The Place You’re In,” took five years to arrive after “Live On” was so Shepherd could deal with a drinking and drug habit that, as he said in a 2004 interview with this writer, had become a “routine for me, like a daily affair.”
In addition, doing the “10 Days Out” project took considerable time to complete, and even “Live In Chicago,” while recorded in one night, took a couple of months to mix and master.
In addition, Shepherd gained other priorities in his life besides recording and touring. In 2006, he married Hannah Gibson (daughter of famous and controversial actor/director Mel Gibson), and over the past four years, they have had three children.
This, of course, has changed Shepherd’s life immensely.
“Having kids has probably been the single most profound experience of my entire life,” he said.
And Shepherd is making time to be a father and husband.
“My goal is to be as present for them as possible,” he said. ”So definitely striking the right balance is part of my daily concern.”
But Shepherd also noted that he feels a strong obligation to his music and his fans, so he’s excited to have “How I Go” in stores and a tour starting.
With “How I Go,” Shepherd – who feels he re-established that blues is the foundation of his sound with “10 Days Out” and “Live In Chicago” – was eager to re-assert the rock facet of his sound.
“I wanted there to be a nice mix between blues and blues-based rock, or contemporary blues or whatever you want to call it, just getting back to that middle road between the rock and the blues, which I think is what people have come to expect from me and my band,” he said.
He does that nicely on “How I Go,” as first-rate rockers like “Never Lookin’ Back” and “The Wire” share space with bluesier tunes like “Dark Side Of Love” and a cover of the Beatles’ “Yer Blues,” which features some standout soloing from Shepherd.
Despite being proud of “How I Go,” Shepherd said he won’t over-emphasize his new songs on tour – at least for now.
“Right now if we went out and played the whole new album, people would be completely unfamiliar with it,” he said. “So as the album is released and people get it in their heads and they start listening to it and they become familiar with the material, then we’ll start adding more and more of the material to the live show. We’ve worked up just about every song that was on the record for the live show. So it’s just a matter of time before most of it is in the set list.”