KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD: THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF LEDBETTER HEIGHTS

Thirty years ago, a Fender Strat-wielding teenager from Shreveport, Louisiana by the name of Kenny Wayne Shepard brought the blues back to mainstream. It was 1995, The era of furrow-browed grungesters, when a sandy-haired guitar prodigy unapologetically celebrated a genre often pushed to the margins. With his fiery fretwork, pop-rock hooks, and reverence for the blues, Shepherd’s arrival was a much-needed palette-cleanser from the existential dread of the times.

Now, three decades later, Shepard is as vital as ever. No longer the child prodigy, he has ascended to master. Still touring, recording, collaborating, and evolving, he’s returned to where it all began, Ledbetter Heights. Shephards latest is a re-recording of his landmark first album, in honor of its 30th anniversary. In early 2026, he and his band will launch a national tour celebrating the milestone’s anniversary.