Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band College Street Music Hall 2018

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band
College Street Music Hall
New Haven, CT
July 25, 2018

The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band rocked the College Street music hall as the second half of a night of great music that was shared with Beth Hart who performed first and also had a fanastic set. The two bands paired up in one night was outstanding.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Noah Hunt, who have written and recorded together for over 20 years, were completely in sync and gave the crowd a blazing set of blues twinged rock. With Shepherd on guitar and the occasional vocal he shared the stage with Hunt’s who sang the majority of the songs. Being together for so long they have their stage presence down to a science. Hunt sings and then steps back and Shepherd takes over with sizzling guitar solos and then Hunt steps in with the rest of the vocal. It’s a mix that completely works.

Shepherd who got his desire for the guitar from listening to greats like Stevie Ray Vaughn at a young age is now one of the best blues guitarists out there. He shreds his guitar and takes the audience on the trip with him. His hands move so adeptly and quickly note to note some of the time it’s hard to take it in how fast he moves, but it sounds fantastic. One of his guitars was so well used there is hardly any finish left on the front.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd holds the record for the longest-running album on the Billboard Blues Charts. Shepherd captivated the audience with his fast and mesmerizing blues/rock licks.

Known for his 1995 is release of his Platinum winning “Ledbetter Heights” which he recorded at the young age of 18. He and the band performed songs from that album that went back to his roots.

The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, consisting of Kenny Waye Shepherd – lead guitar and vocals, Noah Hunt – vocals, Kevin McCormick – bass, Chris Layton – drums and Joe Krown – keyboards.

If your a fan of blues guitar or just plain great guitar playing The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band is definitely one band to see. They sounded great and had the house on their feet more than once. If you haven’t seen them yet they are on the must see list.

Review by Donna Erichsen
Photos by George Bekris

Setlist:
Never Lookin’ Back
Ride of Your Life
True Lies
The House Is Rockin’ (Stevie Ray Vaughan cover)
Hard Lesson Learned
Baby Got Gone
Down for Love
Heat of the Sun
Talk to Me Baby (Elmore James cover)
Deja Voodoo
Born With a Broken Heart
Diamonds & Gold
You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now (B.B. King cover)

Encore:
Blue on Black
Voodoo Child