At nearly 90 years old, Buddy Guy is still carrying the torch for the blues and remains a guiding force for current and future generations of blues players.

Fresh off his cameo in Ryan Coogler's highly lauded film Sinners, Guy’s legacy is continuing to be celebrated, as Blackbird Presents and Live Nation are teaming up to organize Buddy’s Got the Blues: A 90th Birthday Concert Celebration.

The event, taking place on October 1 at the iconic Radio City Music Hall in New York City, is set to be a one-night-only event with collaborations, performances, and heartfelt tributes from artists influenced by Guy’s work.

The all-star lineup includes a veritable list of legends and blues virtuosos: Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks, Jon Batiste, Aloe Blacc, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr., Shemekia Copeland, Robert Cray, Samantha Fish, Eric Gales, Billy F Gibbons, Ivan Neville, Robert Randolph, Bobby Rush, Isaiah Sharkey, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jimmie Vaughan, Ally Venable, Willie Weeks, and Kim Wilson.

More artists and special guests are set to be announced soon, and the man himself, Buddy Guy, will (of course) also perform, proving that he's still got the blues.

Current Rolling Stones drummer Steve Jordan serves as the musical director.

Speaking about the event, Guy says, “Can't wait to celebrate 90 years of living, loving, and playing the blues with all my friends. We’ll make it a night not just for me, but for the folks who taught us, the friends we’ve played with, and the ones coming up behind us.”

In a recent interview with Guitar Player, the blues icon has explained why he’s not giving up touring just yet, as he prepares to hit the road on July 15, starting at Massey Hall in Toronto.

“I thought about retiring twice,” he says. “But, y’know, I thought about all those great blues players who are no longer with us – B.B. King. Lightnin’ Hopkins, all those guys – and they used to tell me, ‘You need to keep playing and keep representing the blues,’ ’cause they don’t play it on radio or anything anymore.

“So I said to myself, ‘Well, Buddy, you better hang on a little longer. My health ain’t doing too bad, so I’m still doing what I’ve always done. Every time I get onstage, just try to play the best I can.”

Tickets go on sale to the general public on June 26 at 10 AM ET. Head to Buddy 90 to find out more.

Guy is set for a very busy rest of the year, having also been announced for this year's edition of Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival.

KWS is a connoisseur of tone, but less enthusiastic about pedalboard tap dancing. Here he discusses his essentials, the old-school sounds he’s looking for and why the King Of Tone is the king.

“The recipe is, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. A number of different things have come out, but I think we can universally agree that, for the most part, the new products in the pedal world are just different colored housings of the same circuits we’ve all been using for decades.

“I’m using a primitive setup, but I haven’t had many problems with it or had to make many repairs to it over the years. It comes from a need – or a desire – not to have to tap dance quite so much.

“For most of my show, I can get through with just the guitar and a couple of pedals – that’s it. Most of my tone is just the guitar and the amp – but every single one of these pedals makes an appearance once or twice.

“I have a Boss TU-3 [Chromatic] tuner in the middle. On the one side, I’ve found that the Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer works great as an overdrive, and my AnalogMan King of Tone overdrive is a staple in every pedalboard configuration I’ve ever had since that pedal came out.

“I’ve got a [Thomas Vox] Clyde McCoy wah and a Roger Mayer Spaceship version of the Octavia [fuzz]. I’ve used different ones over the years – and I have an original one – but the Roger Mayer is supposed to have a circuit that’s authentic. Then I’ve got the [Sir Henry by Tinsley Audio] Univibe.

“My tech, Dustin Sears, makes those; it’s the most faithful recreation of the vintage style you’ll find anywhere. On the other side of the pedalboard, I’ve got an AnalogMan [Standard] Chorus. It’s two choruses in one; I can also have a slow speed for a Leslie sound and a regular chorus.”

“I’ve also got a Free the Tone [Ambi Space] Digital Reverb and a Free the Tone [Flight Time] Digital Delay. The whole thing is controlled by two Voodoo Lab [Pedal Power x4 4-output Isolated Pedalboard] power supplies and a Voodoo Lab pedal-selector switching system. Like I said, it’s a primitive setup.

“I put that on the board when I was experimenting with them when they first came out in the early 2000s. It’s working fine and has been relatively bulletproof. It takes up a lot of real estate, and my board could be much smaller without it, but it works, it’s programmed with what I want it to do, and I don't have to worry about it.”

If I had to choose only one pedal for a full show...

“The King of Tone pedal – without a doubt!”

• Young Fashioned Ways is out now via Deep Rush.
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Renowned gear collector Jim Irsay, who spent millions assembling and exhibiting quite possibly the greatest collection of historically and culturally significant electric guitars, has died aged 65.

The entrepreneur and billionaire philanthropist became the CEO of NFL club Indianapolis Colts in 1997, and it was the club that broke the news of Irsay's passing, confirming he passed in his sleep while at home.

He became the youngest owner of an NFL team at 37 when he inherited the club following his father's passing, and while he's celebrated for his longtime custodianship of the Colts, his legacy and the mark he has left in the guitar world is just as notable.

Indeed, the legendary collection of world-changing instruments he collected over his lifetime is one of the most famous assortments of guitar gear ever curated – and in terms of cultural and financial value, it has no equal.

In July 2023, he was offered $1 billion for the collection, which would have seen it be relocated to Dubai – but Irsay stood fast and continued to exhibit the instruments to the public instead.

When you appraise just some of the instruments in The Jim Irsay Collection, it’s no surprise that such a lofty figure was proposed. It features David Gilmour’s Black Fender Stratocaster, Jerry Garcia’s Tiger, the ‘Bob Dylan goes electric’ Strat from his iconic Newport Folk Festival appearance, Kurt Cobain’s Smells Like Teen Spirit Fender Mustang, and many, many others.

Another of his distinguished buys was Eric Clapton’s psychedelic ‘The Fool’ SG, which Slowhand used religiously through his Cream days, particularly on Disraeli Gears. It’s also the guitar that Clapton cultivated his famous ‘woman’ tone on and was later owned and restored by Todd Rundgren. He bought the guitar at auction for over $1 million.

The Black Strat and Cobain’s Mustang are currently number two and three on the list of the most expensive guitars sold at auction, with only Cobain’s MTV Unplugged Martin D-18E – which went for an eye-watering $6.1 million in 2020 – topping the two legendary Fenders.

Vitally, Irsay didn’t buy the guitars to simply store in a vault. Oftentimes, he’d loan the guitars out for big-name stars to play and add to their legacy. Blues great Kenny Wayne Shepherd was one such recipient, and played Comfortably Numb on Gilmour’s Black Strat for a special showcase to kick off the Colts’ season in 2022.

The world-famous collection is currently on display at an exhibition hosted by Indiana University in Bloomington, which runs until September. Irsay wanted to exhibition to “highlight the history of the modern guitar.”

Later in his career, Irsay also formed the Jim Irsay band, billed as “a traveling museum of rock music.” It featured incredible talents including Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who played the historically significant electrics on stage.

Reacting to the news on Instagram, Kenny Wayne Shepherd said: “I really just don’t have the words right now to express the loss of such a special man. A social media tribute post won’t do him justice. Truly one of a kind. Love you, Jim. RIP.”

Irsay had struggled with health issues in his later years and consequently made fewer public appearances. But the collection of instruments and memorabilia he’s amassed – which also includes the $6.18 million acquisition of Muhammed Ali's Rumble in the Jungle championship belt – is quite the legacy to leave behind.

The Experience Hendrix tour always offers a healthy dose of electric guitar legends, but videos emerging from the 2025 leg show that young talent is just as capable of doing justice to Hendrix’s legacy.

Guests on recent shows include Ally Venable (25), Marcus King (29), and Mathias Lattin (22). Newcomers from recent years, such as Samantha Fish, Joanne Shaw Taylor, and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, now return as established stars.

Fellow 20-somethings Zach Person and Artur Menezes are scheduled for forthcoming shows, with young guitar heroes in plentiful supply. The lineup is completed by legends like Zakk Wylde, Dweezil Zappa, and Eric Johnson.

With a fiesta red S-type, Ally Venable has been captured cranking out an appropriately combustible version of Fire.

Venable also joined Devon Allman and Mato Nanji of South Dakota rockers Indigenous for a stunning jam of Red House. This video is particularly entertaining for the audience member who shouts “Wow!” at 3:16 as Venable delivers a rapid-fire repeating lick.

2023 International Blues Challenge winner Mathias Lattin, meanwhile, delivered a raunchy Purple Haze, with his PRS responding a slight bit better to his grinding whammy bar abuse than Hendrix’s Strat used to.

On opening night, Lattin’s jazzy inflections and Hendrix-worthy wide bends sit beautifully alongside Kingfish’s more straightforward approach.

Though Marcus King rocked a Stratocaster with Devon Allman for Manic Depression, he doesn’t constrain himself to Jimi’s gear choices. For Crosstown Traffic, he plays an SG-style guitar into a Marshall JCM.

After the raw energy of the newcomers, the headliners offer a certain polish that comes from decades of experience. Kenny Wayne Shepherd, long touted as a successor to both Hendrix and SRV, appears to have embraced both mantles as he lays into Voodoo Child:

The current Experience Hendrix tour runs until April 12. Head over to the Experience Hendrix website for more info.

The 2024 Experience Hendrix tour's major star was actually a guitar: Hendrix's own 'Izabella' Woodstock Strat.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd penned a chunk of his new album Dirt On My Diamonds Vol.2 while soaking up the history of Alabama’s FAME Studios, a place where legends such as Etta James and The Rolling Stones cut records in the past.

Here, the Lousiana-born bluesman discusses his creative process from writing to recording, and explains how the gear addiction he developed as a young player is still as powerful as it ever was…

Your new album Dirt On My Diamonds Vol.2 is the second instalment of a two-volume epic. What was your thinking behind this?

“It really boiled down to me trying to do something different and wanting new ways to engage with my fans. You don’t see many two-volume albums anymore. When I first started recording these songs, I was envisioning two completely separate, unrelated albums. They’re not meant to sound similar, but they were written at the same time.

“We ended Vol.1 with Ease My Mind, which is the most down song on the whole record. It’s back-alley blues, you know? And then you pick up Vol.2 with I Got A Woman, which is a really uplifting and upbeat song. My goal over the past few records has been to project a really optimistic tone. Music is a powerful thing and I want to affect people in a positive way.”

What were the FAME sessions like?

“It’s like walking back in time to when all of those legendary albums were recorded back in the day. It’s an incredible facility. One of the things for me was standing in the vocal booth like, ‘This is where Etta James stood when she was singing’ – she’s one of my all time favourite blues singers. But if you walk into it going, ‘Okay, we’re in Muscle Shoals, this has to affect what we’re doing’, then it’s going to sound contrived. I try to let it happen naturally.

“When I was writing Born With A Broken Heart at my dad’s lake house, a train started rolling down the tracks – and that moment inspired the lyric referring to the blues as a slow rolling train. Your environment is always going to influence what you’re writing, but you can’t force it. The imprint of FAME is definitely on those songs.”

Going back to your beginnings, what was your first guitar?

“My parents bought me a Yamaha SE 150 when I was six or seven. It’s basically a Strat body without the contours. It had one pickup and one volume knob, and it was made out of particle board plywood, and had a Candy Apple Red paint job. It was an incredibly crude guitar.

“My family couldn’t buy me a fancy guitar even if they wanted to. But it was all I needed at the time, to get me going and to really give me an opportunity to start honing on my skills. When you start with a crappy guitar, it begins the cycle of gear addiction.

“You appreciate it, but you long for a better instrument. It gives you a level of appreciation because you started with humble beginnings, and then when you make it to the top of the guitar mountain then you’ve appreciated every step along the way and what it took to get there.”

Is there one guitarist above all others that has had the biggest influence on you?

“I think every great guitar player has heroes and they start by learning to play their heroes’ music. Then, if they’re smart, they start figuring out how to make it your own and not a note-by-note replica of what they did.

“Every legend has had someone that they’ve looked up to and learnt their music as a starting point, like Stevie Ray Vaughan was for me.

“But it’s not just about legends. I had a friend of the family, Tommy Kramer, and he told me how to tune the guitar, stretch the strings and different ways to do vibrato. He showed me fundamental things which a lot of people overlook. They became focal points in my approach to playing guitar and what I do today, so he’s just as important as anyone else to me.”

You spoke of that cycle of gear addiction. Is that still as strong as ever for you?

“I’m always looking for whatever the next thing might be, but the things that have gotten me incredibly, over-the-top excited and influence the music I’m creating are the amplifiers that Alexander Dumble built me before he passed.

“He built 11 different amplifiers over the course of our friendship, and from the first amplifier to the last they elevated my playing and creativity. It freed up so much energy for me to express myself, because I didn’t realise how much energy I was using with my previous amplifiers to try and get them to do the things I wanted them to do.

“There’s something about them that is incredibly revealing about your playing. The transparency is incredible. Some guys won’t like that. But I will officially go on record and say that playing through all of those clones there is no honest comparison. It might get you in the stadium, but you’re nowhere near the ballpark. So if we’re talking about ‘Oh sh*t!’ moments, that one is unbound. How did I live without this stuff before?”

Are you using those amps on the new album?

“I brought them all to the studio, but I’m usually running three to a maximum of five amplifiers at any given time on any given song, and then we’re creating a blend of the best two or three for that particular song. The effects were relatively minimal and very much in my standard wheelhouse.

“There hasn’t been any incredibly groundbreaking developments in the effects world for me, so I have the original versions of all my pedals. I have my Vox Clyde McCoy wah from the ’60s, my original Tycobrahe Octavia, a TS808 Tube Screamer, an Analogue Man King of Tone overdrive, an Analogue Man Bi-chorus pedal.

“And I have an MXR Univibe that allegedly belonged to Jimi Hendrix. There’s also an original ’60s Fuzz Face on Pressure. It had died on me at some point, so Dumble told me to bring it to him because he had a mod he could do to it. It’s the only Dumble Fuzz Face that I’m aware of. It has a really cool sound to it.”

Do you notice a difference with vintage pedals?

“I can hear it. But only a trained ear can hear the differences. In a live environment, are those subtle differences gonna make a difference? Absolutely not. I have no problem using reissue pedals live – by the time it’s gone through speakers, microphones and cables nobody’s gonna notice the difference.”

In terms of technique, are you still learning new tricks?

“My biggest technique that I’ve been honing in on for years, that I feel is more of a fundamental thing than a technique, is: ‘What do I need to do to make you feel something?’ That’s all that matters to me. It’s not like, ‘Am I using this many fingers?’ Or, ‘Am I doing this hybrid picking thing?’”

So what has that quest taught you?

“For me, it’s been discovering the space between the notes and the space within the notes. I’ve learnt to create a space where you normally would feel inclined to fill it to see what that does to the music.

“Does it let the music breathe? Does it give the audience a moment to reflect on what you just played? Does it create tension? And then the space within the notes means holding a note for longer. How long can I hold this note and it still mean something instead of transitioning on to the next thing?

“I’ve found that’s simplified a lot of things I’m doing on stage and in making those subtle changes at the right time, a lot of times the beauty is in the simplicity. It’s created a more emotive experience and a better statement of what I’m doing with my instrument.”

Is it hard to restrain yourself like that?

“Awareness is the first step. It’s a very conscious thing at first but so is everything with the instrument. Like learning a scale until it becomes part of your muscle memory. The hardest thing is identifying where in your music those moments exist and then it’s a lot of trial and error from there.”

Have you ever embarrassed yourself onstage?

“I got caught up playing with The Rolling Stones. It was a massive stage and I had a 25ft cable. I took off running and I yanked the cable out of my guitar in the middle of my solo, and then I was having to scurry around to find the cable and plug it back in – in front of 80,000 people! But we’re human. There’s been bad notes. You’ve gotta smile and shake it off. I’ll put it on full display: own it and embrace it. It takes the pressure off.”

And what would you say is your definitive Kenny Wayne Shepherd moment?

“Blue And Black sounds 100 per cent like me, and it was a massive hit. But if you wanted me to give my definition of what contemporary blues is I’d play I Want You from The Traveller. It’s not the most mainstream or successful song, but that’s my definition of modern day blues music. That sound is still evolving and there are still defining moments to be had for me.”

• Dirt on my Diamonds Vol 2 is out now via Mascot/Provogue.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd is a dedicated proponent of Dumble amps, having become a devoted fan while recording his 2004 album, The Place You’re In, and now proudly owning a trio of these rare amplifiers. However, he recently shared that playing through a Dumble amp doesn't necessarily make you sound great; in fact, it can reveal all of your playing flaws, which can be a humbling experience.

“The misconception is that everyone thinks the amps are going to make you sound great because they are so expensive and they are so highly regarded,” Shepherd tells MusicRadar.

“But the truth of the matter is that the Dumble amplifier is so transparent that, if you’re not a very refined player, it’s going to expose all of your flaws in your playing.”

Shepherd relates this transparency to why Dumbles can be divisive in the guitar community.

“That’s why I think some guys get an opportunity to play through a Dumble amp – or maybe a clone came kind of close to the sound – and they don’t like it. ‘I don’t get it!?’ It might be because it is exposing some things about their playing that they are able to cover up better by using other amplifiers.”

Moreover, it’s important to take into account that each Dumble amp was custom-built to suit the playing style of its original owner. As Shepherd puts it, while a Dumble can be a “great platform” for any guitarist, its full potential can only be unlocked by the player for whom it was originally crafted.

In fact, Howard Alexander Dumble, who passed away in 2022, would analyze each player’s unique style to fine-tune each amp to ensure it met their needs perfectly.

“He would base it off the design of an amp that he had built for many other people, but he would fine-tune each one of those amplifiers to my playing style, and so they naturally react the way that I would want them to,” he explains.

“That frees up so much more creativity for me because I am not struggling to get certain sounds from my amplifier.”

In a recent turn of events, an official website domain registered under the Dumble brand name has all but officially confirmed that new Dumble amps (and branded products) might very much be in the works.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd has been discussing the benefits of beginning one’s guitar-playing journey with an affordable guitar, claiming in the new issue of Total Guitar that starting with a “crappy guitar” is the best way to go.

Despite now owning a huge catalog of boutique and vintage gear – from the only Dumble-modded fuzz pedal in existence, to a huge catalog of Alexander Dumble’s mythical guitar amps – Shepherd’s own early guitar years were actually far more humble.

As he explains to TG, his first six-string was a budget Stratocaster-style electric guitar, which “had one pickup and one volume knob”.

“It was an incredibly crude guitar,” Shepherd recalls. “My family couldn't buy me a fancy guitar even if they wanted to.”

However, the blues guitar great now realizes that his cheap Yamaha SE150 was “all I needed at the time to get me going and give me an opportunity to start honing my skills”.

To that end, Shepherd believes aspiring guitar players should take note of his experience, claiming that by starting with a less-than-ideal six-string, it gives you a greater sense of appreciation when higher end instruments eventually cross your path.

“When you start with a crappy guitar, it begins the cycle of gear addiction; you appreciate it, but you long for a better instrument,” he goes on. “It gives you a level of appreciation because you started with humble beginnings.

“Then when you make it to the top of the guitar mountain you've appreciated every step along the way and what it took to get there.”

Now, Shepherd is at the point of his career where he is able to play through some of the finest gear money can buy, and his journey can be traced all the way back to that budget Yamaha that first set him on his way.

As he once told Guitarist, the first guitar he then bought with his own money was a Fender Custom Shop 1954 reissue Strat – a celebratory purchase he treated himself to after signing his first record deal.

Shepherd has also previously discussed the virtues of playing cheap guitars, arguing in that same Guitarist interview that they can often be used to great effect.

“A perfect example was Hubert Sumlin, Howlin’ Wolf’s guitar player,” Shepherd recalled. “I had him out on tour with me and we did a show in Milwaukee and he showed up with a Squier Strat – a $120 Squier Strat. And he brought it up and played it on stage that night and killed it.”

The new issue of Total Guitar is available on newstands now.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd has been a major force in the blues world throughout his almost 30-year career, and his passion for the genre and dedication to preserving its essence have earned him a spot as one of today’s top guitarists.

Born in 1977 in Shreveport, Louisiana, his journey began early, deeply influenced by the sounds of blues legends like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Muddy Waters, and Jimi Hendrix. Shepherd was already playing by the age of seven, and by 13 he was performing on stage, showcasing a prodigious talent that would soon make him a household name in the blues and rock community.

His breakthrough came in 1995 with the release of his debut album, Ledbetter Heights, when he was just 18 years old. The album went platinum and established Shepherd as a key player in the blues-rock scene.

His early work was often compared to that of Stevie Ray Vaughan, a testament to his technical prowess and the influence Vaughan had on his style. However, Shepherd quickly distinguished himself with his unique sound and emotional depth, moving beyond the ‘SRV clone’ label that had initially dogged him.

Shepherd’s artistry extends beyond his guitar playing. He has carved out a unique career as a singer and songwriter, bringing a modern edge to traditional blues. His music often incorporates elements of rock, soul, and Americana, yet he remains deeply rooted in the blues.

This blend of styles has allowed Shepherd to appeal to a broad audience while still maintaining the authenticity that endears him to blues purists and further highlights his commitment to honouring the past while bringing the blues to new generations.

Kenny Wayne’s style is big, bold, and ferocious. The intensity with which he plays is what sets him apart, and in turn is what is so hard to emulate. He draws on vocabulary passed down through generations, so while his style is rooted in tradition, his energetic and powerful delivery makes it unique.

His expressive vibrato, articulate phrasing, and powerful picking style, straight from the SRV school, are essential. This is perhaps best described as a blend of picking and strumming, where each note is struck with force and often combined with muted adjacent strings, giving his sound that distinctive percussive element.

Pay special attention to fretting-hand muting to nail this aspect. In his improvisations, you’ll hear a dynamic range, from smooth, melodic lines to raw, fiery solos with fast and fluid runs. These can be challenging to execute accurately, so take your time building up to them if they’re new to you.

Kenny has nailed the perfect blend of technical skill and deep emotional expression. And if we want to capture the essence of his style, we’ve definitely got our work cut out!

Get the tone

Amp Settings: Gain 5, Bass 3, Middle 4, Treble 7, Reverb 3

Kenny Wayne is a diehard Stratocaster user, and mostly favours the neck pickup, so that’s a great starting point if possible. He’s also a huge fan of Dumble amps, but since most of us don’t have one of those lying around, an American-style amp set to the ‘edge of breakup’ paired with an overdrive pedal is a good choice. Add a splash of reverb or delay for some lush ambience.

Example 1

Our first study is a blues-rocker that demonstrates Kenny Wayne’s bold soloing style. It requires energy to keep the momentum going, and there are plenty of string bends and vibrato to give your hands a proper workout. Start slowly, breaking the solo up into smaller chunks before attempting to execute it in its entirety.

Example 2

Again, we’re going for intensity for this solo. Keep your wrist loose for the fast double-stops in bar 5, as this will make the motion more fluid and easier to execute.

The fast passage in bar 12 may also prove tricky but, as always, start slowly, increase the tempo gradually, and great results will surely come.

In this lesson, I’m looking at the styles of two modern blues players from my book 100 Essential Blues Guitar Intros. First up is Kenny Wayne Shepherd, a blues artist who also incorporates harder rock elements into his playing. But Shepherd is a consummate bluesman at heart. 

Inspired by seeing Stevie Ray Vaughan play, he began to teach himself by ear. His intro licks can be technically challenging with uptempo, burning phrases that may take some work.

John Mayer’s blues combines many elements of the greats; he has drawn from B.B. King’s vibrato and rhythms, Eric Clapton’s more rock-based approach, and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s attack and speed. 

He is a hugely versatile musician who covers various blues styles so in his examples I’ve opted to explore his approach on a blues with a funky, swing feel. 

Get the tone

Shepherd and Mayer use Dumble amps and Strats, but try a Fender-style amp tone with the overdrive set on heavy gain for Shepherd and light drive for Mayer. Use the above settings for Mayer and add a drive pedal for Shepherd.  

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Example 1. Minor pentatonic soloing over changes

Shepherd’s gain-heavy lead tone helps when playing these licks, so try more of a rock overdrive than a typical light crunch blues tone here. This example is a good alternate picking workout and showcases Kenny’s typically tight, clean rhythmic phrasing over colourful chord changes. 

Example 2. Double-stops

The double-stop lick in bars 1-2 needs some vibrato applied to it to bring it to life so make sure you shake that fretting hand. It also needs quite a heavy picking-hand attack so you may need to work on your fretting-hand muting here.

Example 3. Natural minor scale usage

This example uses the E natural minor scale (E-F#-G-A-B-C-D) to create this melodic phrase. Also note how the rhythms are cohesive and consistent so it sounds more like a top melody line than a simple lick.

Example 4. Blazing blues pull-offs

Shepherd plays technical phrases like this with a precision and accuracy that you more commonly find in rock players. The lick in bar 1 features repeating triplet motifs that create quite a challenge. When you have this phrase down try replacing the pull-off on the second string with picked notes for a more defined sound. 

Example 5. 16ths, eighths and triplets

This final KWS phrase contains a demanding lick in bar 3 owing to the triplet rhythm on the ‘and’ of each beat. To play this use the third finger for any notes on the 17th fret, the first finger for notes on the 15th fret and the fourth finger for notes high up on the 19th fret. 

John Mayer

Example 6. Sophisticated chords

John Mayer has a great chord vocabulary so in his playing you will encounter far more sophisticated voicings than you will from many other blues players. Play this example with a relaxed, loose picking-hand wrist so you can get get the required ‘bounce’ off the strings.

Example 7. Minor pentatonic low string phrasing

The following example is built around the F minor pentatonic scale but the jumpy rhythms and tempo make it a great alternate-picking workout. Keep the picking wrist relaxed and loose so you can play every note wihout tensing up. 

Example 8. Adding flair to the minor pentatonic

This phrases is also based around the minor pentatonic scale with the brief addition of the 9th interval courtesy of the open third string in bar 3. The two rapid, choppy phrases will be a great workout for the fretting hand.

Example 9. Call and response

This lick shifts up the octave but starts with more position playing in F minor pentatonic and that choppy rhythmic feel. In bar 3, you can see the Hendrix influence with the double-stop ideas; the hammer-ons and pull-offs within the double-stop are a challenge worth spending some time on.  

Example 10. Country-style bends and repetitive picking

There’s a country influence to Mayer’s playing that results in him sometimes playing fun licks with a real major feel. This phrase is based around F major pentatonic scale and is driven by the country-esque phrasing so make sure you adhere to the pre-bend and release notated in bar 1.

The Experience Hendrix Tour will return for 24 US dates this fall, celebrating Jimi Hendrix’s fretboard-burning work with a huge ensemble of all-star electric guitar stars. 

The tour marks the 20th anniversary of what its curators are calling a “multi-artist celebration of Jimi Hendrix’s musical genius”, and comes five years after its last tour. 

Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, Zakk Wylde, and Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram will head up a “powerhouse three-hour concert experience”, which also helps shine a light on up-and-coming blues rock talent. 

“I’m excited to rejoin the Experience Hendrix tour this year,” says Shepherd. “It’s always been a great tour with exceptional artists honoring Jimi Hendrix, the greatest guitar player of all time, and his amazing and expansive catalog of songs. 

“Being able to do a tour with friends always makes for a great time and this show is not to be missed.”

Other notable artists tapped for the multi-generational line-up include Taj Mahal, Samantha Fish, and Dweezil Zappa, as well as Indigenous guitarist, Mato Nanji.  

Flag bearers for a new generation of blues players include Ally Venable – who headlined the 60-date European Blues Caravan tour at just 20 years old – and Blues Foundation’s 2023 International Blues Challenge winner, Mathias Lattin. 

There’s even room for two-hand tapping jazz virtuoso Stanley Jordan, who is sure to offer a fresh take on some of Hendrix’s cuts.

The full list of artists confirmed reads: Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Kingfish, Eric Johnson, Zakk Wylde, Samantha Fish, Dweezil Zappa, Taj Mahal, Noah Hunt, Chuck Campbell and Calvin Cooke (The Slide Brothers), Stanley Jordan, Ally Venable, Mato Nanji (Indigenous), Dylan Triplett, Ayron Jones, Artur Menezes, Mathias Lattin and Hendri Brown. 

Some dates will also feature additional special guests, including legendary Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, with more set to be announced in the future. 

The tour’s concept dates back to 2001, when a single concert was held in San Diego. The show was repeated a year later, before hitting the road as a fully fledged tour in 2004. 

The 2024 edition stops in the Pacific Northwest, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, before travelling through Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. Aptly, the showcase kicks off in Hendrix’s hometown, at Seattle’s Paramount Theater. 

The tour works with a rotating line-up, meaning the guitarists performing each night will vary. For detailed information, head to the Experience Hendrix Tour website. 

2024 Experience Hendrix Tour dates:

• Sept 19: Seattle WA, Paramount Theatre
• Sept 20: Spokane WA, First Interstate Center for the Arts
• Sept 21: Forest Grove OR, Grand Lodge
• Sept 22: Reno NV, Grand Theatre/Grand Sierra Resort
• Sept 25: Santa Rosa CA, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
• Sept 26: Saratoga, CA, The Mountain Winery
• Sept 27: Las Vegas NV, Smith Center
• Sept 28: Highland CA, Yaamaya Theater
• Sept 29: Tucson AZ, Fox Theatre
• Oct 01: Anaheim CA, City National Grove
• Oct 03: San Diego CA, Rady Shell
• Oct 04: Mesa AZ, Mesa Arts Center/Ikeda Theater
• Oct 05: Albuquerque NM, Mesa Arts Center/Ikva Auditorium
• Oct 06:Colorado Springs CO, Pikes Peak Center
• Oct 09: San Antonio TX, Majestic Theatre
• Oct 10: Houston TX, Bayou Music Center
• Oct 11: Ft. Worth TX, Will Rogers Auditorium
• Oct 12: Tulsa OK, River Spirit Casino
• Oct 13: Shreveport LA, Shreveport Municipal Auditorium
• Oct 15: Nashville TN, Ryman Auditorium
• Oct 16: Evans GA, Columbia Country Performing Arts Center
• Oct 17: Clearwater FL, Ruth Eckerd Hall
• Oct 18: Pompano Beach FL, Pompano Beach Amphitheater
• Oct 19: St. Augustine, FL, St. Augustine Amphitheater

In this edition of Bought & Sold, Guitarist has the pleasure of Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s company, and there are few bigger electric guitar aficionados in the world. 

We often associate him with the Strat but as he admits here, after a decade-long search for a Les Paul, he has settled on The One, and an instrument like that can change a player. It has changed Shepherd, who admits he has had to adapt to the new dimensions of the single-cut.

Here, he answers the big questions. Humbuckers or single-coils? Cheap guitars and pricey guitar amps or vice versa. And he reveals what’s in his rig now. Spoiler: there are not one but three Dumble amps in his backline.

What was the first guitar you bought with your own money?

“The first guitar I bought with my own money was a Fender Custom Shop 1954 reissue Strat at a local music store called Shreveport Music [in Louisiana]. It was one of the first Custom Shop guitars that I ever really saw hanging on a wall and it got my attention because it had this very flame-y maple neck on it. 

“And it had a Mary Kaye type finish – it was an ash body with a translucent off-white finish. I’m not sure why they call it a ’54 reissue; it looked like a Mary Kaye Strat but without the gold hardware. I just thought it was so fancy. 

“I bought the guitar after I signed my record contract. I got an advance so I bought that instrument and then I bought my first car. Then the rest of the money was put into the bank as a sort of backup college fund in the event that the music situation didn’t work out.”

What was the last guitar you bought and why did you choose it? 

“A 1960 Gibson Les Paul Sunburst – an original one. I had been on the hunt for some time, at least 10 years. The thing is, Les Pauls always felt a bit awkward because of my style of playing. I have to adapt my approach with Les Pauls, otherwise I’ll be in the middle of playing and I’ll accidentally hit the pickup selector and change the sound of the guitar mid-solo. 

“For a long time Strats were the most comfortable guitars for me, but over the course of my career I started using Les Pauls on various songs on various records, and also on stage because if you want ‘that’ sound, you can only get it from ‘that’ guitar. I found that the features of the 1960 Les Pauls, with the thinner neck profile, just seem to play faster and easier for me. 

“A year or two ago, I finally found the right one and it’s a beautiful guitar, with a tremendous flamed top and basically the appearance of a ’59, so it has all the good looks you would ever want and a great personality to go along with it.”

What’s the most incredible find or bargain you’ve had when buying gear? 

“I don’t know about bargains, but one of the things [I’ve bought new] that has appreciated the most surprising amount would be the original Klon Centaur pedal. I bought two of those when they first came out – a gold and a silver one – and somewhere along the way, the gold one disappeared. But I still have the silver one. They were like 250 bucks, but it’s worth multiples of what I paid for it.”

What’s the strongest case of buyer’s remorse you’ve experienced?

“I got a couple of Marshall ’59 Reissue Plexi heads when they first came out – around 2004, I believe. I wanted to mix things up because I generally played Fender amps and I was gonna bring some Marshalls on stage. I had them out on the road and it was a never-ending cycle of blowing amps up on stage. Like literally, constantly blowing up.

“I could never keep one healthy. We’d send them back to Marshall and they’d fix them and send them back. Eventually, somebody at Marshall told someone in my camp that through all of this they identified a flaw in the circuit design and then found some kind of a fix. 

“I guess they were able to resolve that moving forward, but it certainly didn’t help my situation. You really have to have stuff that you can rely on, and if things start blowing up, it can really ruin the momentum of the show.”

Have you ever sold a guitar that you intensely regretted letting go?

“I’ve never sold any guitars. There are a couple of guitars that somehow mysteriously wound up out of my possession. They grew legs somehow – not really sure how that happened. Thankfully, there’s not many of them. But there are a couple that are just not accounted for.” 

What’s your best guitar-buying tip? 

“My go-to tip when buying guitars is to call my friends who know more about buying guitars than I do! They do this kind of stuff more often than I do and so I call them and I seek advice. But you’ve just got to go in and you have to have a number; you can’t let your emotions get the best of you, you have to have a number that you feel is fair to you and also fair to the person selling the instrument. You want everybody to walk away happy, right? And if you can’t get to that number, then you just walk away from the deal. There will always be another guitar.”

If forced to make a choice, would you rather buy a really good high-end electric guitar and a cheap amp or a cheap electric guitar and a really good amp?

“I would buy a cheap guitar and a really good amp. I am an advocate of the theory that much of the feeling in your playing is coming from your hands, right? I mean, when they post videos of me online playing my Les Paul people are commenting, ‘Wow, it sounds like a Stratocaster!’ And that’s because there’s a Strat player playing it, you know?

“A perfect example was Hubert Sumlin, Howlin’ Wolf’s guitar player. I had him out on tour with me and we did a show in Milwaukee and he showed up with a Squier Strat – a $120 Squier Strat. And he brought it up and played it on stage that night and killed it. It sounded just like Hubert Sumlin, right? The guitar is only so much of it, but the amplifier is what’s projecting the sound into the PA.”

If you could only use humbuckers or single coils for the rest of your career, which would it be and why?

“Well, probably single coils because I’ve found that I’m better able to utilise that setup. I know that there are people that are masters when it comes to having a pair of humbuckers and two tone knobs and two volume knobs, and they can manipulate all kinds of sounds out of that combination. 

“But I’d go with the single coils. The only thing is when you get into a building with really dirty power, they can buzz so loud and that’s a real pain in the butt. That’s the nature of the beast and you learn to deal with it.” 

Kenny's go-to rig

“We carry about 20 to 25 guitars on the road, various Gibsons and Fenders. But we go from the guitar into a Custom Audio Electronics wah pedal that Dunlop makes. Then we go out of that into a Uni-Vibe [Shin-ei Vibe-Bro], which is actually made by my guitar tech Dustin Sears. 

“Then we go into the Klon Centaur – well, the Klon reissue, the KTR, I believe it’s called. Currently, I have a TS808 reissue and a King Of Tone pedal. Then we have a Bi-Chorus pedal from Analog Man and then I have a delay pedal, I think it’s a Way Huge unit. 

“I have a Boss tuner and a Roger Mayer Octavia. My three amps were all built by Alexander Dumble: sometimes I’ll run all three, but generally I run two and one serves more as a backup.”

• Dirt on my Diamonds Vol. 1 is out now via Provogue.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd got the chance to play Duane Allman’s 1957 Les Paul Goldtop at his Macon, GA show on Friday (June 9) and didn’t waste the opportunity to stretch out an electric guitar that is now, quite literally, a museum piece.

The instrument is famed for its use on the track Layla and was used by Allman for the majority of the Allman Brothers Band’s early material, until September 1970, at which point he traded it for a 1959 Les Paul Burst.

The 1957 Goldtop sold at auction for $1.25 million in 2019, making it one of the most expensive guitars ever sold at auction. These days, the guitar usually sits under glass at The Big House museum in the Allman Brothers Band’s defacto hometown, Macon, GA.

Shepherd played like he’d forgotten this, though – and fan shot clips show that, while he stopped short of hurling it around his shoulder, he certainly gave the revered electric guitar a solid workout. 

In the videos, the blues virtuoso can be seen performing a number of tracks, including his own Woman Like You, Long Time Running and his go-to Buffalo Springfield cover Mr Soul.

The performance raises our (bushy and distinguished) eyebrows for several reasons. Firstly, there’s the aforementioned iconic Allman association and historic nature of the instrument itself. 

Secondly, the fact that Shepherd is known far and wide as a resolute Strat player, but here takes to a Gibson Les Paul like a duck to water.  

Thirdly and finally, perhaps the most shocking thing is that despite the fact that the guitar he’s holding is worth more than the average American home, Shepherd seems absolutely unabashed in his performance.

More power to KWS, then, for resisting the obvious urge to default into delicately reverential tribute territory (or whip out a slide) and instead simply play the instrument – and you can’t deny it sounds good in his hands.

The guitarist’s composure may be down to experience, of course. When it comes to big-name guitars, it’s not his first rodeo. 

Back in September, Shepherd played David Gilmour’s iconic black Strat live, a guitar that eventually sold for nearly $4m – though in that show he did make a nod to its previous owner in a performance of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb.

As a young blues-breaker, Kenny Wayne Shepherd took the world by storm in the mid-'90s with his stunning debut album, Ledbetter Heights.

The music business is fickle, though, and young artists are often quickly forgotten. With that in mind, Shepherd knew that to sustain that level of success, he would have to match Ledbetter Heights pound for pound, lest he be relegated.

"Looking back, I knew I wanted to keep my momentum," recalls Shepherd. "I knew I didn't want my second record to fall flat. The idea of a 'sophomore slump' started to pop up during interviews, and that was the first time it crept into my mind. People were asking me how I'd beat it and my plan, so I felt a certain amount of pressure going in. But I think being so young helped me because while I felt pressure, I was naive enough not to let it weigh me down too much."

If the objective was to match Ledbetter Heights, in retrospect, it's easy to see that Shepherd did that and then some. In truth, the soulful six-stringer bettered his debut with 1997's Trouble Is…, a record that saw Shepherd cement his status as a top-tier hitmaker and guitar-slinger.

"After Trouble Is.. came out, I think that's when critics started to believe," Shepherd muses. "I think some people wondered if I'd be able to have the same success with my second record as I did with my first, and I think that quickly proved that I could.

"At the time, the album's success was amazing, but looking back at it as a 45-year-old, it's a lot sweeter. Trouble Is… has had a ton of meaning in my life and career, but as a more mature musician, the meaning it's had for the fans holds the most weight for me."

Some 25 years after its original release, Shepherd has found longevity. Moreover, he celebrated the legacy of Trouble Is… by re-recording the record as Trouble Is… 25. It seems that Shepherd has struck a delicate balance in paying tribute to the original recordings while also giving droves of new fans something unique and modern to chew on.

"The key to re-recording Trouble Is… was not to reinvent the wheel," admits Shepherd. "The way I saw it was, I already had an album that I loved, but I wanted to do something special. So, we didn't make any wholesale changes or turn this into an entirely new album. 

"Honesty, the coolest thing was I used all the same gear I used the first time around. I had to have a bunch of the tubes in the amps repaired because I hadn't fired them up in a while. And I used the same Strats and all of that, too, and I feel that was very important in retaining the album's soul. But the great thing was that I'm a better player now, and I think those two points give listeners a bit of old and a little bit of new."

Reflective as he looks back on the 25th anniversary of Trouble Is…, Shepherd recently checked in with Guitar World to recount the album's origins, re-recording, and legacy, and his experience playing David Gilmour's legendary black 1969 Fender Stratocaster.

You recently re-recorded Trouble Is… as Trouble Is...25. What went into that decision?

"Well, 25 years is certainly a milestone. It's a quarter-century of that record being played, which still amazes me. It's still on the airwaves and streamed in large numbers, and I can't tell you how grateful I am for that. 

"I felt like I accomplished a lot with my first record, Ledbetter Heights, and I wanted to expand on that with my second album. People's second records often fall short, so I was determined not to have that happen to me. I wanted to exceed what I did with my first one, and we did that by leaps and bounds. 

"I think a lot of my fans got turned on to my music through Trouble Is… and because of that, it's an important album for me and one worth recognizing by recording again."

Why wasn't your cover of Bob Dylan's Ballad of a Thin Man included in the original version of Trouble Is…?

"That was my decision because, at that time, my producer, Jerry Harrison, suggested Ballad of a Thin Man, and I brought the other Bob Dylan song, Everything Is Broken, to the table. So, what happened was I said, 'We can't have two Bob Dylan songs on here; which should we cut?' And I felt that Everything Is Broken showed more depth from me and the band. 

"I also felt that Everything Is Broken was us playing it safer and more in my wheelhouse. Again, it was important that this album not fall off the radar, so that went into the decision, too. It's what my fans would expect from me because I felt it had a more traditional blues arrangement than Ballad of a Thin Man."

What changed your mind during the re-recording?

"When I was listening back to the rough mix of Ballad of a Thin Man, I saw it differently than I did back then. When I heard it all these years later, I was like, 'Wow. This is a great version of this song. I want to get this out there.' So, I thought it would be interesting to include it on this record. It gives the fans something interesting to sink their teeth into, and it's a new look for people who have been listening to Trouble Is… for 25 years."

What was your approach to the re-recorded version of Trouble Is…?

"We initially did two versions. We did one version where we stayed true to the original recording, and then we did another version where we recorded the songs in a way that I feel they might have evolved. We ultimately went with the version more faithful to the sound because people have been listening to this record for so long, and I didn't want to give them something completely alienating. 

"So, while it sounds familiar, there are just enough subtle differences here and there that they still get to have a new listening experience as they listen. Some songs are very close to the original recordings, and some have slight variances. But we didn't do anything too crazy or outside the box where we heavily strayed from the original."

Which tracks are your favorites, and why?

"Certainly, Blue on Black is an obvious one. True Lies is one of my favorites because it has a killer groove, I love the lyrics, and the riff is a ton of fun to play. A lot of people have told me that I Found Love (When I Found You) has played an essential part in their lives, so that one is meaningful for sure. 

"I can't tell you how many people have written to me and said that it was their wedding song or that it played a role in a moment in their lives that they'll never forget. It's crazy because I wrote that song when I was 18, and I never imagined it would be so meaningful to people. To have a song that I created when I was so young live on as it has, it's significant to me."

How did beating the so-called 'sophomore slump' affect you as you moved forward in your career?

"Going into my first record, I was a teenager, and it was hard for someone that young to realize the full magnitude of what was going on. There was a tremendous amount of pressure that was on me, and I felt that. But at the same time, I had confidence because I had success with the first album, and the fans reacted to the first record in a way that made me feel like I wouldn't slump. 

"So, I followed my instincts, and it got me to where I'm at. That gave me the confidence to continue forward along that path."

When you look back on Trouble Is…, how do you measure its retrospective importance?

"I was young and very naive. All I knew was that I didn't want the record to fail and wanted to make a record that people would remember. So, it built up my confidence and got me to a place where I was no longer second-guessing myself. I trusted myself to make musical decisions without worrying about failure. 

"With everything you do in this business, you're taking a gamble, and you're not always sure-footed, but I felt confident in my ability to navigate that.

"So, I'd say that Trouble Is… gave me additional reassurance that I could get through high and low points and come out the other side just fine. Doing this tour, re-recording this album, and playing this music every night has gotten me re-acquainted with the intricate details of this record. And what's been fun, and enlightening, is how good the record still is today. 

"I look back and go, 'Wow, man. I was 18 years old when I wrote some of this, and here I am playing this stuff now when I'm 45 years old.' It's still fun and just as relevant. The fans are just as excited to hear the songs, and I feel really proud of it."

I wanted to pivot to David Gilmour's famous '69 Black Strat, which you had the opportunity to play. How did that come to be?

"I think it's pretty well known that the owner of the guitar is Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts football team. Jim and I have been friends for going on 20 years now. He is an avid music lover and collector of iconic items that have shaped our culture. This year, Jim formed an all-star band as part of the live entertainment experience of the Jim Irsay Collection that's been touring around the country. 

"Jim loves to sing and play music, and we've been doing that together since the Colts won the Super Bowl back in 2006. Around that time, Jim, myself, Mike Mills, Kenny Aronoff and Mike Wanchic – along with John Mellencamp and Stephen Stills – jammed together at a party Jim threw the night before the game. 

"That was an amazing experience that we have gone on to repeat several times at events with Jim over the years, and I believe that was the original genesis of this band we have today."

What emotions flow through you when you've got David's Strat in your hands?

"I would say it's one of those special moments that's hard to express in words. There are so many guitar players around the world that would do anything just to hold that guitar in their hands, much less play it on stage. I feel humbled and honored to be trusted with such a task. 

"It's my understanding that Jim and his team have done very little, if anything, to change the guitar from how it was when David Gilmour owned it. Probably the only thing they've done is put new strings on it. 

"We all know that guitar setups are player-specific, so that means that the black Strat was not necessarily set up the way I would set up my guitars, but in this situation, it's not for me to make any changes to the instrument. It's my job to adapt to the guitar and make the very best of it that I can. 

"Thankfully, the way David likes his guitar set up doesn't seem to be too far off from how I have mine, so it was not so much of a struggle, and that enabled me to be more in the moment with the music."

How did it alter your approach in that moment, if at all?

"I would say the primary effect that the guitar had on me in the moment was that I was trying to see if I could get it to make some of those signature sounds that that instrument is so well known for. 

"The goal for me was not to try and be David Gilmour, but to try and play enough of the signature parts of that song that I didn't alienate the original and then – at the same time – take some liberties to infuse my own personality and playing approach into the performance." 

What went into the decision to play Comfortably Numb?

"The only song that I played that night on that guitar was Comfortably Numb. The whole thing was Jim's idea. I've played that guitar at a couple of other performances, but we didn't make a huge deal out of it, and I never played any Pink Floyd songs on it until that night. 

"I will say once I found out we were going to be playing Comfortably Numb in the show, I was quietly hoping Jim would ask me to play the Black Strat on that song, but I kept it to myself and waited to see how things worked out. Jim had a very specific vision for this moment in the show, and it was incredible watching it come together and being a part of it." 

Are there plans to play David's Strat again in the future?

"One of the most admirable things about Jim regarding his collection is that he wants to share it with everyone. The shows are free, and he wants these items to continue to have an impact on people's lives in some instances – he wants them to come to life as part of the show. The JIC is continuing to tour around the US, with our next stop being in San Francisco on December 10."

What are some of the most important lessons you've learned throughout your career that you'll apply as you move forward?

"Well, one of the things that I learned while making my first two albums was that having human beings playing in a room together is the only way I want to make records, and there is no substitute for that. I still believe in that, and I still apply that mindset to this day. 

"You can have people send email files back and forth, but there is no substitute for being in the same room together, playing at the same time. I don't like making albums where you've got a guy across the country on the West Coast emailing his drum track to the other person in Texas. I feel you can hear the difference when we're all in the room together, and so that's a lesson I learned early on.

"The other thing I've learned is to remain spontaneous and open to the exciting directions music can take you. I try and stay in the moment because, for me, when it comes to guitar, it's always been about emotion and feel as opposed to flash. 

"So, with that in mind, I try putting every ounce of feeling I have in my body into whatever note I'm playing in the moment, and hopefully, that makes people feel something. If I can make the listener feel even a little bit of what I'm feeling through my guitar, that's a win." 

• Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s Trouble Is…25 is out now via Provogue Records/Mascot Label Group.

A one-off Experience Hendrix concert – inspired by the annual all-star concert tours of the same name – will be held on December 4 in Austin, Texas.

Staged in honor of what would have been Jimi Hendrix's 80th birthday (November 27), the concert will be held at Austin City Limits Live’s Moody Theater, and will feature a jaw-loosening lineup.

Joining bass guitar legend Billy Cox – who played with Hendrix himself in both the Band of Gypsys and Jimi Hendrix Experience – are a host of A-tier electric guitar players, such as Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Zakk Wylde, Dweezil Zappa, Eric Johnson, Doyle Bramhall II, and Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas.

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton, Indigenous's Mato Nanji, and The Slide Brothers will also be on hand, with even more special guests set to be announced in the coming weeks.

The concert will also come shortly after the release of Los Angeles Forum: April 26, 1969, a new live album featuring the original Jimi Hendrix Experience lineup.

Recorded, as you might expect, at the Los Angeles Forum on April 26, 1969, the album will be released on November 18 via Legacy Recordings, and features a number of classics (Foxey Lady, Purple Haze and Voodoo Child (Slight Return), among them) and some more obscure tunes, such as a cover of Tax Free, a 1967 instrumental by the Swedish duo Hansson & Karlsson. 

Also of note on the LP is a cover of Cream's Sunshine of Your Love, and a pre-Woodstock version of the Star-Spangled Banner. It can be preordered via Hendrix's website.

“The music of Jimi Hendrix has always been a large influence on my life and music – in no small part due to his blues roots," said Shepherd of the upcoming concert in a press release. "He showed a lot of his influences and the foundation from which he built his music. 

“Jimi Hendrix was one of the greatest performers, entertainers and songwriters of all time, but as far as the guitar goes, he made a statement with his instrument that has yet to be matched.”

For tickets and more info about the Experience Hendrix concert in Austin, visit Ticketmaster.

Deep from the heart of Texas, Les Paul-wielding songwriter Ally Venable is doing her best to carry the torch as a guitar hero for the modern age.

With music steeped in blues tradition, and tinged with touches of Zeppelin-cool-meets-Stevie Ray Vaughan-mysterious, over one EP and four full-length records, Venable has picked up a destructive head of steam. 

And now, with her trusty magenta Les Paul slung over her shoulder, Venable is poised to make tsunami-level waves among a bristling blues-rock scene.

Here, during a break from the road, Venable settles in for a chat via phone to discuss her formative years, songwriting approach, her love for '90s Les Pauls, and what keeps her grounded amid waves of prescribed chaos.

What was your introduction to the guitar?

“I started playing guitar when I was around 12 years old; I'm 23 now. When I was little and growing up in Kilgore, Texas, my grandma taught me how to sing, and from there, I just wanted to play guitar because even though I loved to sing, something about the guitar intrigued me. 

“At first, I just wanted to play for my family and my friends, and I would take requests from them. That worked well for me because I could quickly learn things and play them almost immediately. And the more I did that, the closer I got to the guitar, to the point where I felt deeply connected.”

Who were some of your early influences?

“I liked Miranda Lambert when I first started singing. That doesn't influence me as a guitarist in terms of sound, style, or tone per se, but I liked her attitude. But what got me into playing the blues was discovering Stevie Ray Vaughan – that turned my whole world upside down. 

“From the first moment I heard Stevie play, it threw me down this rabbit hole of other blues artists. I think what connected me to the blues through Stevie was not only his voice and his playing but that he had this mysterious way about him.”

Would you say you've got the blues coursing through your veins now?

“Oh, for sure. I connect with the blues in a way that I don't connect with other styles of music. I look at it like this: everybody goes through things and has struggles and obstacles in life, and we need a way to express that. 

“So, the blues is my outlet to say what I'm feeling. It's a way to connect and let go of what I'm going through without being too personal. And when I play the blues live, it's a way for me to convey that we're in it together, and I think that's why I play the guitar the way I do. It's something that's inherently there but can't be explained.”

After picking up the guitar at 12, you had your first EP out by the time you were 14. That's quite the progression.

“Yeah, it is! I just liked writing songs; I'm always writing songs, and I've always been that way. Even at that young age – I'm still young – I wanted to express myself honestly, and writing songs felt like the best way to do that. I had no idea if anyone would listen to them – that never occurred to me – but it was just something I needed to do. 

“I like writing about what happens in my life or something that I think might be able to relate to somebody else. But like I said, I'm only 23, so there's a long way to go because as we get older, we go through different experiences. You're not the same person at 21 that you were at 18; you're constantly evolving, growing, and going through things.”

One noticeable shift in your sound is it seems to be erring in the direction of rock of late.

“That's true. I have been working more in a rock direction with my songs, and that's because I wanted to create those types of sounds with my guitar. I will always love the blues, and it's always going to be present in my music, but I wanted to stretch out more, and to do that, I felt like I had to steer my music in a rock direction. It's not full-on rock – it's never going to be that – but I'd say it's blues with a rock vibe, but my solos have been more hard rock, with blues phrasing.”

You've had the pleasure of working with Mike Zito. How did that experience shape you?

“Oh, that was so much fun! So, Mike came through Kilgore, Texas, where I live, and he invited me to open for him, and we became friends. And from there, Mike introduced me to the people at Ruf Records because he knew they were looking for new artists, so he got me into that world. 

“And when it came time to record Texas Honey, I immediately thought of him and asked if he wanted to be a part of it. I was excited when he said yes, because he's good at making things fit how they're supposed to be and taught me a lot about putting the puzzle together.

“So, after the record was done, we played some more shows with Mike, and I mentioned I was looking for a title. And he said, ‘Well, I'm not sure what you should call the record, but I think you need a nickname.’ I was like, ‘Oh, yeah? What would I call myself?’ And Mike looked up, and then he said, ‘I know! How about we call you 'Texas Honey?'’ And while that nickname didn't stick, it made for a great album title. [Laughs]”

I would be remiss if I didn't mention your guitar duet with Kenny Wayne Shepherd on Bring on the Pain, from your latest album, Heart of Fire.

“It was so amazing to work with Kenny, especially since he's supported my work. I'm grateful to have him as a friend and somebody I can call for advice. So, I called Kenny up and asked, ‘Hey, would you want to play on the record?’ And immediately, Kenny said, ‘Yeah! Just tell me what song you need me on, and I'll look it over and make it happen.’

“Of course, he killed his solo. After listening to what he did on Bring on the Pain, I was like, ‘Wow. You brought this to a whole new level; I love it.’ I'm so happy with that song and what Kenny did with it. I honestly cannot say enough good things about Kenny.”

Are you a visceral player or more of a calculating type?

“That's a good question. I'd have to say that I fall somewhere in the middle. I try to play with feeling because the way I express myself is by playing my guitar. And, of course, no one person can play exactly like the other; you can try, and you might get close, but you'll never do it the same. 

“I feel the guitar is about your energy, where you're putting your fingers, and the way you attack. Everybody has their own thing while playing, which is what's so cool about it. 

“So, I never try to play in a way that people expect me to or in a style that people expect to hear. I like to cut loose and not worry about playing note for note. I think the guitar is about feeling and expression, which has to flow out of you when you play.”

Would you say you feel more yourself in a live setting than in the studio?

“I feel like I pour so much into my live shows, so I feel like myself when I am on stage. I'm always on the road, so I've grown accustomed to that setting. I feel comfortable with the studio, but playing live is what does it for me. Playing live makes me feel like I belong there, and that's what I love most. 

“When I play live, I can be anywhere, even if it's far from home, and I never feel out of place. I've never been a social butterfly and tend to be very quiet if I don't have my guitar. But when I'm on stage, I feel the most comfortable; all the fear disappears, and I'm entirely in my element.”

You've become synonymous with the Gibson Les Paul. What first attracted you to it?

“I just love the sound of humbuckers and the feel of a Gibson Les Paul. Especially with my Heart of Fire record, which has a rockin' sound, I felt I needed my Les Paul more than ever. 

“But I've always used them because I feel like Les Pauls give off a classic, dirty sound, and they're just fun to play. I have a few different guitars, but I always go back to the Gibson because other guitars require different approaches to playing, but I feel best with a Gibson.

“For example, when I play a Strat, I'm gonna play it just a little differently than my Les Paul because the action, weight, and fluidity are different. But the one I use the most is a magenta Les Paul that Gibson made in the '90s. 

“I know a lot of players love the '50s and '60s Les Pauls, but I have to say, I love my mid-'90s magenta Les Paul. Back then, Gibson did a run of limited colors, and mine is one of them, so that's my main guitar and has been for some time.”

I heard through the grapevine that you're working on your next record. Can you divulge anything?

“Well, I don't know. [Laughs]. I can't say much, but I can tell you what I've been working with the great Tom Hambridge. He's an amazing producer and drummer with Buddy Guy and his band, and it's an honor to work with someone like him. 

“And we've been recording in Nashville with many great studio musicians, and I'm excited about it. I can't say much more than that yet, but I can say if you liked my last one, then just wait until you hear this record. It's going to be special.”

Having accomplished so much at such a young age, how do you remain grounded?

“First and foremost, no matter what happens, I never see myself not doing this. I see myself continuing to make music and writing about my life. I want to try new things in the studio, play with different people, and travel the world. It's cliché, but my music keeps me grounded, and I want to keep making music, touring, and just enjoy my life. We're only here for so long, so we've got to enjoy it.

“Aside from that, my family, friends, and Siberian Husky, Kai, all keep me grounded. Outside of music, that's what keeps me going. I also try to be self-aware of who I am and what I was put on this earth to do. I try not to take myself too seriously because, at the end of the day, I'm just a girl who likes to play guitar.”

• Heart of Fire is out now via Ruf Records.

Welcome to Guitar World’s weekly roundup of the musical highlights from the, erm, world of guitar. Every seven days (or thereabouts), we endeavor to bring you a selection of songs from across the guitar universe, all with one thing in common: our favorite instrument plays a starring role.

Living Colour – Cult of Personality (Rock in Rio 2022 Remix) (featuring Steve Vai)

What is it? Sure, you’ve heard Living Colour’s iconic late-80s-era breakthrough hit before, but not like this. In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the band’s first appearance in Brazil, the group re-recorded this hard-riffing classic with the special guest they jammed with during their recent set at the 2022 Rock in Rio festival: a certain Steve Vai.

Standout guitar moment: Right at the three-minute mark, when Living Colour axeman Vernon Reid and Vai embark on a guitar duel for the ages. Reid brings the light-speed funk, Vai his cosmic, just-on-the-edge-of-madness fretboard pyrotechnics. It’s a phenomenal musical conversation that puts a thrilling new spin on a beloved classic.

For fans of: Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Rage Against the Machine

– Jackson Maxwell

Buddy Guy – I Let My Guitar Do the Talking 

What is it? Buddy Guy’s upcoming album The Blues Don’t Lie is just over a week away, and to heighten the anticipation the blues guitar veteran has cranked up his wah pedal for the album’s fiery new single, I Let My Guitar Do The Talking. It’s Guy dialed to 11, boasting a detonation of explosive, uncontainable wah licks, which sporadically crop up and weave their way through the punchy rhythm progressions.

Standout guitar moment: At the 1:25 mark, Guy remains true to his word and lets his guitar do the talking: for more than 30 seconds, the guitarist goes to town on his axe, lighting sonic fires with a ferocious wah-fueled throwdown.

For fans of: Joe Bonamassa, Eric Gales, the wah pedal

– Matt Owen

Smashing Pumpkins – Beguiled

What is it? It feels like Billy Corgan has been teasing the sequel to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness for, well, infinity, but its first single is finally upon us. Beguiled will be reassuring for fans put off by 2020’s synth-heavy Cyr, dominated as it is by relentless chugging riffs. We’re hoping subsequent singles have a little more bombast, but this is a decent start.

Standout guitar moment: The return of James Iha’s foot to the Whammy pedal – those Zero-esque wails add a welcome edge to proceedings. Nice to see his secret Yamaha prototype make an appearance in the video, too. Whatever happened to that guitar?

For fans of: Alice in Chains, Bush, Silverchair

– Michael Astley-Brown

TERMINA – Take Flight

What is it? A crushing new single from TERMINA, the metal duo comprising YouTube star Nik Nocturnal and Monuments leader Andy Cizek. Underneath Cizek’s blood-curdling vocals sits a clutch of vicious seven-string guitar riffs courtesy of Nik Nocturnal, which incorporate almost everything in the modern metal playbook: drop-tuned chugs, uber-melodic chorus leads and even the odd Gojira-style pick scrape.

Standout guitar moment: The two-handed tapping line in the intro and chorus sections offers an injection of melody in a track that’s otherwise unstoppably chaotic and brutal.

For fans of: Monuments, Carcosa, Periphery

– Sam Roche

Kenny Wayne Shepherd – True Lies 

What is it? After Kenny Wayne Shepherd hit headlines by performing Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb – using David Gilmour’s Black Strat, no less – the talismanic bluesman announced Trouble Is.. 25: a complete re-recording of his most successful album, Trouble Is… To preview the album – which will also feature unreleased cuts and an accompanying documentary – Shepherd has dropped a tightly reassembled version of True Lies.

All in all, it’s a faithful reinvention of the 1997 original, featuring ample amounts of swampy, Stevie-style six-string riffs and tasty turnarounds, though has been noticeably amped up – in every sense of the word. The riffs pack a heavier punch, the lead licks cut through like a razor and though the solo follows the same structure, it seems to be delivered with the additional finesse of someone who has seriously sharpened their chops since the original first arrived.

Standout guitar moment: It’s got to be the solo, which is quintessential Kenny. Served with a healthy dosage of swagger, it crams in every hammer-on, pull-off and rolling pentatonic lick of the original, but adds a layer of spice that Shepherd has been brewing ever since ‘97.

For fans of: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Gales, Jimi Hendrix

– Matt Owen

The Mars Volta – Blank Condolences

What is it? If you think politics is divided, you should see the debates going on between Mars Volta fans right now.

The respected Texas prog outfit’s new self-titled album is their first in 10 years, and finds Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala taking a distinctly poppier turn. Some people really don’t like it. But the Mars Volta have been eclectic from the off – they ain’t gonna make another De-Loused at this stage.

Bury your expectations, and it’s a laid-back alt-rock album with Latin influences. It’s not going to melt your face. But it is going to gently massage your brain, and Blank Condolences is a good example of how Rodríguez-López’s six-string approach has also softened. His solos are as wiry as ever, but they’re clipped to tight, meaningful phrases rather than long, flowing improvisations.

Standout guitar moment: The outro, where Omar’s wah-teased leads play off Cedric’s vocals. It’s a bit like a De-Loused cut where the intensity has been dialed back by 75% and the duration cut in half. Whether that’s a good or bad thing is up to you.

For fans of: John Frusciante, Dredg, The Fall of Troy

– Michael Astley-Brown

In Flames – Foregone Pt. 1

What is it? A new track from In Flames’ just-announced 14th studio album, Foregone. In the band’s typically sprawling and expansive compositional style, Foregone Pt. 1 is flavored with the hallmarks of the early-noughties heavy metal, including frantic palm-muted electric guitar riffs over laser-precise blast beats and harmonised riffs that bolster the track’s sense of melody, therefore juxtaposing the sonic carnage that takes place in the verse sections.

Standout guitar moment: The solo from the 2:22 mark illustrates why In Flames remain standard bearers for metal guitar playing, with a series of feel-driven scale runs, occasionally harmonised for additional melodic intrigue.

For fans of: Avenged Sevenfold, Arch Enemy

– Sam Roche

Thrice – Open Your Eyes and Dream

What is it? 5/4? Crunchy baritones? Clustered arpeggios? It must be another post-hardcore bruiser from Thrice. There are clearly still embers burning from the fierce Fire chapter of the band’s Alchemy Index concept record, as Open Your Eyes and Dream traverses similarly aggressive territory, albeit with a little more light and shade.

Standout guitar moment: That mid-pushed, distinctly ‘woody’ tonality that bridges the riffs on some of the heaviest Thrice cuts makes a return here, and we are all in favor of its revival.

For fans of: Thursday, Glassjaw, Radiohead

– Michael Astley-Brown

Hannah Jadagu – Say It Now

What is it? A new, standalone single from the up-and-coming, New York-based singer/songwriter. The distorted guitar-pop field is crowded for sure, but Say It Now is effortlessly evocative, and stands out on the strength of Jadagu’s unique songwriting touch.

Standout guitar moment: That solo after the first chorus. Vocal-like in quality, it plays beautifully off the song’s melody.

For fans of: Soccer Mommy, Breeders, My Bloody Valentine

– Jackson Maxwell

Bonecarver – Carnage Funeral

What is it? Spanish death metal purveyors Bonecarver have announced their new album, Carnage Funeral, and launched its pulverizing title track. The first release since the band’s brutal 2021 album, Evil, Carnage Funeral is driven by speaker-rattling seven-string guitar chugs and insanely complex drum patterns, placing Bonecarver as a promising new act to carry the death metal genre forward even further.

Standout guitar moment: The riff that begins from the 3:58 mark helps establish a solid groove in a track that's otherwise a grinding cacophony of guitars, kick drums and stomach-churning vocals.

For fans of: Cannibal Corpse, Nile, Carcass

– Sam Roche

Miss Grit - Like You

What is it? Not especially keen on St. Vincent’s shift into ’70s funk? Miss Grit – aka Margaret Sohn – is Annie Clark’s spiritual successor, and new single Like You is driven by a series of off-kilter guitar riffs whose disparate tones channel Sohn’s themes of multiple inner voices.

Standout guitar moment: Sohn’s production is always next-level, and those fuzzed-up main riffs slide into the mix real nice.

For fans of: St. Vincent, Soccer Mommy, Japanese Breakfast

– Michael Astley-Brown

Steve Hill – Everything You Got 

What is it? With the announcement that multi-instrumentalist Steve Hill would be dropping his 12th studio album in less than two months came Everything You Got – the LP’s scorching lead single, which serves up chicken pickin’ licks a plenty for three-plus-minutes of classic blues rock action.

Flaunting a hook akin to AC/DC’s Stiff Upper Lip – though delivered from the fretboard of Hill’s P-90-loaded Jazzmaster instead of an SG – Everything You Got leans heavily on the fingerstyle action, which is delivered with aplomb as Hill serves up robust riffs and snappy, vibrato-heavy solos.

Standout guitar moment: The infectious main motif gets the nod here, which pays homage to Angus Young with some see-sawing hammer-on and pull-off open string action.

For fans of: AC/DC, Derek Trucks

– Matt Owen

Girl Scout – Do You Remember Sally Moore?

What is it? The very first single from this young Stockholm-based quartet. Urgent, unique and catchy as hell, Do You Remember Sally Moore? explodes out of the speakers. Keep your eyes on these four… 

Standout guitar moment: We love the grimy side of the song’s lead guitar work. Those nasty bends early in the first verse and after the first chorus, in particular, are the perfect counterpoint to the sunny arpeggios in the first chorus, and the tune’s buzz-saw, laser-like bass line.

For fans of: Ramones, Alvvays, Best Coast 

– Jackson Maxwell

Back in 2019, David Gilmour's iconic black Fender Stratocaster was sold at auction for an eye-watering $3,975,000, making it (at that time) the most expensive guitar ever sold at auction.

The buyer was Indianapolis Colts owner and CEO Jim Irsay, whose collection of famous vintage guitars and rock memorabilia – at least in terms of sheer monetary value – has few parallels. 

Last Friday (September 9), in celebration of the recent kickoff of the Colts' 2022 season, Irsay summoned a laundry list of electric guitar greats – among them John Mellencamp, Buddy Guy, John Hiatt, Tom Bukovac and Kenny Wayne Shepherd – to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for a free, all-star concert. 

Irsay partially used the show as an opportunity to showcase his legendary collection, with Shepherd taking Gilmour's Black Strat for a spin during a cover of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. You can see footage of the performance – and, above that, a rehearsal of the song – below.

In a nod, perhaps, to the piece of guitar history in his hands, Shepherd's take on Gilmour's climactic lead turn – which was voted by Guitar World readers in a 2021 poll as the third greatest guitar solo of all-time – is a faithful one that shows deference to the original throughout.

The band behind Shepherd also included session legend Kenny Aronoff on drums, R.E.M.'s Mike Mills on bass guitar, and Danny Nucci and Mike Wanchic on guitar.

“At the end of the day, last Friday night’s concert and exhibit was about bringing our fans together and treating them to a night of celebration – a celebration of football, music and our Indianapolis community,” Irsay said of the concert in a statement. 

“I don’t own any of these items. I’m just the steward of this collection, and it’s my dream for as many people as possible to experience and become inspired by this history.”

For more on Irsay's gear collection, and its comings and goings, visit JimIrsayCollection.com.

Ann Wilson is one of the premier hard-rock vocalists of all time. Smashing boundaries with longstanding Seattle outfit Heart, she's enjoyed a decades-long career resulting in more than 35 million albums sold and an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Wilson recorded much of her new solo album, Fierce Bliss, at Fame Studios, Muscle Shoals in Sheffield, Alabama, and enlisted the company of a trio of guitar powerhouses for good measure: co-producer Tom Bukovac, Warren Haynes and Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

Haynes, who last worked with Wilson on her Immortal solo release, returns for Fierce Bliss, bringing along Gov’t Mule for a pair of original songs: Gladiator and Angel's Blues. 

Shepherd accompanies Wilson on two covers: a monstrous version of the Robin Trower classic, Bridge of Sighs, and an ambitious take on the Eurythmics’ hit, Missionary Man, the latter of which has Wilson backed by a 40-person gospel choir. 

An ethereal duet version of Queen classic Love of My Life with Vince Gill is also featured on the album, as well as fantasy art by Roger Dean, renowned for his work designing Yes's sleeve artwork.

We spoke with Ann Wilson about Fierce Bliss, working with Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Warren Haynes and her favorite memories of Heart.

Was it your desire to create a guitar-driven album?

“Yeah, that’s what I’m comfortable with and what speaks to me. I was blessed to get into the company of Tom Bukovac, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Warren Haynes. They’re great players who are also great humans. After we got vaccinated, we all put on masks and went to Muscle Shoals, where Tom had put together this band with Tony Lucido on bass and Sean Lane on drums.”

What was it like recording at Muscle Shoals?

“I think it’s every musician’s dream to work there. Treading in the footprint of the gods and goddesses. The place is unassuming, small, kind of funky and down-home. It’s a real old-school studio with no big luxuries. The energy of that place was very strong.”

Let’s talk about a few tracks from Fierce Bliss, starting with Greed. What was your vision for that track?

“The conceptualizing for Greed was done beforehand because I already knew what I wanted to sing about and what kind of mood I wanted be in when I sang it. I had all the lyrics written down in my notebook and when I got together with [Wilson's backing band] The Amazing Dawgs, I showed them to Tom and he had just the thing for it.”

Did the track Blackbird have its roots in the pandemic lockdown?

“Yeah, that was a pure pandemic lockdown song from being stuck here in the house for over a year. I live near a big river and was looking out the window at the seabirds and their big wing spans. They were so free and weren’t affected at all by this lockdown. They could go wherever they wanted to go, and I felt envious and started talking to them. Pretty soon I was writing it all down.”

What inspired you to do a cover of Bridge of Sighs? 

“I've always wanted to do that song ever since Robin Trower [released it]. Kenny Wayne Shepherd and I had an idea to do something together. So, we started making lists of songs to do and one of them was Bridge of Sighs. Kenny is a whole generation younger than me, so for him, doing a song like Bridge of Sighs was like returning to his rock roots, and he really lived up to it.”

It was an interesting choice to also do a cover of Eurythmics’ Missionary Man.

“I'm a person who doesn't apply eras to songs, especially if it's a good song that speaks. I thought Missionary Man was relevant with what’s going on in our country today with the left and the right. One side has this dogmatic base, and the other side doesn't. I wanted to make the song into a mega church production, so we got a forty-person gospel choir and just blew it up.”

What made you decide to do a reimagined duet version of Queen’s Love of My Life?

“I've always loved Queen and was listening to A Night at The Opera one day when that song came on. I knew it was sweet song, even with the heavy, baroque, chamber music treatment Queen gave to it, but I wanted to take the song out of that element and lay it out organically and see what it was. 

“That’s when I decided I wanted to do it as a duet with a man. My voice is rock and raspy, so I wanted the man to be an angel and there was only one choice, and that was Vince Gill.”

How did Warren Haynes become involved on Fierce Bliss?

“Warren had invited me to sit in with Gov’t Mule back in 2017 at Lockn' Festival, and we really hit it off. Warren came in and played on my last solo album, Immortal, and when it was time to do this album he had this idea of making an epic song that goes to all these different places. 

“He sent me a demo of him and Mule playing this thing that eventually became Gladiator. I went up to Connecticut to where Mule was recording. They had taken out two rooms because they were making two albums at once: a blues album and a rock/jam band album. The first day we went into the rock room and did Gladiator, and the second day we went into the blues room and did Angel's Blues.”

This is the 45th anniversary of Heart’s Magazine and Little Queen albums, both released around the same time the band was having legal issues with Mushroom Records. When you look back on that era of the band, what thoughts come to mind?

“The whole convoluted legal mess that happened back then was too bad. We had a concept for Magazine that was really good, but we didn't have enough time to finish it before all these legalities set in. 

“We never got to create that piece of art the way we wanted to because our timing was thrown off. We recovered with Little Queen, but for a time it was high drama and really scary, because it was threatening to take us out of the studio altogether.”

Of all the highlights of your career what stands out to you as most memorable?

“That's almost an impossible question to answer because there have been so many super-highs. I think being inducted into the Rock Hall was memorable, for sure. Then there are the various achievements along the way and some of the shows when everything was clicking. 

“I remember one year we did a four-night run in Seattle for New Year's Eve when the place just sort of levitated. Then there was an experience at a Texxas Jam in the middle of summer. It was super-hot and people were fainting and being hosed down. We were on stage and right as we started playing Mistral Wind, a breeze came up and the sky opened up and cooled everyone off.”

What excites you the most about the new album and this next phase of your career?

“I'm looking forward to the small things as we go, like getting back on stage again with The Amazing Dawgs. It's fulfilling to me because it's creative and not mechanical. Each night is different, and each is a thrill.”

• Fierce Bliss arrives April 29 via Silver Linings Music.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd has announced the Backroads Blues Festival, a “traditional touring blues festival” for which he’s recruited fellow blues guitar titans, Buddy Guy and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram.

The six-date tour – which has been envisaged as an annual event – will see the trio visit the states of Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts and Virginia in August.

Shepherd’s band, comprising vocalist Noah Hunt, drummer Chris Layton, bassist Kevin McCormick, keyboardist Joe Krown, trumpet player Mark Pender and saxophonist Joe Sublet, will also be on hand to perform with Kenny during the tour. Guy and Ingram will be backed by their own bands.

The Backroads Blues Festival is an extension of Shepherd's 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads film and album project from 2007, which saw the bluesman team up with B.B. King, Etta Baker, Pinetop Perkins and more for a series of collaborations.

It’s been dubbed a celebration of “three successive generations of blues artists” that lets people see “the best of the best all in one place”, and aims to resurrect the long-lost tradition of the classic touring blues festivals.

Of the event, Shepherd commented, “These days nobody mounts a traditional touring blues festival. I conceptualized one that will give people a chance to see the best of the best all in one place. We are extremely excited that Buddy Guy will be with us for each show. He is, after all, the living king of the blues these days.  

“Also worthy of great respect is Christone “Kingfish” Ingram,” he continued, “who is revitalizing the blues in a potent and powerful way. We’re featuring three successive generations of blues artists, underscoring the resonance of the genre.” 

“In the past, I really looked forward to those blues packages both as a fan and as an artist, so I decided to bring the concept back with the Backroads Blues Festival tour. Those were very special shows and once that ended there was a void. Our Backwoods Blues Festival Tour is firmly rooted in that same tradition.”

While the gigs have initially been designed as displays of each player’s electric guitar prowess, Shepherd didn’t rule out the possibility of partaking in an all-acoustic show as well, saying, “We want to be as inclusive as possible.”

“I’m excited to be part of the first annual Backroads Blues Festival,” Buddy Guy noted, “and back out with Kenny Wayne, and looking forward to jamming with Kenny and Kingfish.”

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, meanwhile, offered, “To be back touring again is really great and the opportunity to join Mr. Guy and Mr. Shepherd on stage will be electric. These tour dates will be lots of fun.”

A full list of Backroads Blues Festival tour dates can be found below:

• August 13 – Bold Point Park, Providence
• August 14 – Bethel Ampitheatre, Bethel
• August 16 – Artpark, Lewiston
• August 18 – Symphony Hall, Sprinfield
• August 20 – Elmwood Park, Roanoke
• August 21 – Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion, Portsmouth

For tickets, visit Kenny Wayne Shepherd's official website.

Ann Wilson is gearing up for the release of her new album, Fierce Bliss, and has now debuted the second single from the sessions, Missionary Man.

The track is one of two from the album to feature Kenny Wayne Shepherd on lead guitar. The resulting collaboration is a fuzzy, '70s rock stomper complete with a full choir (The Rev Nathan Young Singers) and a vocal melody that recalls one of Wilson’s finest Heart hits, Barracuda.

Some clever mixing of Shepherd’s scuzzy, wah-heavy lead work bounces harmonics around the stereo field and you can feel the guitarist enthusiastically grasping the retro rock bit between his teeth.

Wilson says Missionary Man was one of the first signs that she was on to something in the sessions. 

“I had originally intended to go in, record a few songs and see what I had, but it just took on this life,” says the singer. “[Then] at Sound Stage in Nashville, Kenny Wayne Shepherd came in and played on a couple songs. He was a whole other influence coming in. He just played his butt off, and with the gospel singers and everything else coming together, the whole project just started to grow.”

The single follows debut track Greed which, like Missionary Man, also features a backing band of session aces, including Tom Bukovac.

Elsewhere on the album, Kenny Wayne Shepherd is reported to have contributed lead work on the track Bridge of Sighs, while Gov’t Mule man Warren Haynes guests on Gladiator and Angel’s Blues.

Fierce Bliss is set for release on April 29. Head to Ann Wilson’s official site for more information.

Ann Wilson, lead singer of Heart, has announced a new solo album, Fierce Bliss.

For Fierce Bliss, Wilson recruited a couple of killer guest electric guitar players, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Warren Haynes. Session guitar heavyweight Tom Bukovac, meanwhile, is featured throughout the album, which is set for an April 29 release via Silver Lining Music.

You can check out the music video for the record's first single and opening track, Greed, below.

With a springy, hugely satisfying riff, pillowy keyboard work, and a typically phenomenal vocal performance from Wilson, Greed's bound to please Heart fans of all eras.  

“Greed is that thing in our animal nature that makes us want more,” Wilson said of the tune in a press release. “Whether it be money, sex, power or ecstasy, it fires our craving. It happens with all of us. When you turn around and catch yourself making decisions because you want the money, or because you’re caught in the headlights of glory, well, those are greedy moments.

“I think people who claim to have made every decision from a root of pure idealism, and never done anything dark or greedy, [are] lying," she continued. "I think everybody who ventures into especially the music industry hoping for a career with big success, ends up making these Faustian bargains at some point even if only briefly. It’s an aggressive song and I think I write best when I’m angry.”

Fierce Bliss was produced by Wilson and Bukovac, and features Haynes on the songs Gladiator and Angel’s Blues, and Shepherd on Bridge of Sighs (a cover of the classic Robin Trower tune) and Missionary Man. Vince Gill, meanwhile, lends some vocals to a version of Queen's Love of My Life. 

Gladiator and Angel’s Blues – which were co-produced by Haynes – also feature Gov't Mule bass guitar man Jorgen Carlsson and drummer Matt Abts.  

You can check out Fierce Bliss's cover art and track list below, and preorder the album at Wilson's website.

Ann Wilson – Fierce Bliss:

1. Greed
2. Black Wing
3. Bridge of Sighs
4. Fighten for Life
5. Love of My Life (feat. Vince Gill)
6. Missionary Man
7. Gladiator
8. Forget Her
9. A Moment in Heaven
10. Angel’s Blues
11. As the World Turns

Eric Johnson has paid tribute to the legendary guitar amp builder Howard Alexander Dumble, who passed away earlier this week.

In a lengthy statement posted to Facebook, the electric guitar icon spoke in detail of the close personal and professional relationship he shared with Dumble, likening it to the partnership of literary giants C.S. Lewis and J.R. Tolkein.

Calling him a “one of a kind”, Johnson praised Howard’s “wonderful passion for music and sound and guitar tone”, and spoke about the two Dumble amps – the Overdrive Special and Steel String Singer – that he used throughout this career.

Johnson began by recalling the first time he heard of Dumble, during a period in which he was being “groomed by Warner Bros” to make a record for them – a record that would turn out to be Tones.

It was during this experience that Johnson first met the amp builder, as he explains: “My friends Christopher Cross and Richard Mullen were jubilantly praising how wonderful Alexander Dumble’s amps were. They suggested that I meet him and procure an amp. 

“Alexander worked in a space over at the Abbey rehearsal studios and I have such fond memories of going over there and talking tone and inspirational visions of music,” he continued. “Alexander had a wonderful passion for music and sound and guitar tone. 

“I would always leave there so excited, kind of like when C.S. Lewis and J.R. Tolkien would get together and rev each other up to go be artistic on their own after their meeting and do their best work.”

“I was lucky and honored to be able to play an amp made by Alexander – actually, two amps. The song, Zap, on the record Tones, was recorded on an Overdrive Special and Roscoe Beck’s [Gibson ES-]335. The Steel String Singer that I eventually got from Alexander was such a magical amp, there’s been nothing quite like it since.” 

“I regret that I let go of it many years ago during a period when I was going through a traumatic time in my life suffering from loud exposure and thought that I would never, never want to be around or play through an amp of that caliber of wattage. 

“It was one of my shortcomings not to have the insight to put it in the closet and wait for another graceful day when I could have figured out a way to use it, baffling speaker cabinets or using lower efficiency speakers or simply turning the master volume down!”

Johnson concluded his heartfelt tribute by saying the world had “gained an extra jewel of ability and dimension by playing electric guitar through his masterpieces”, and that there will “never be another one like him”.

Johnson was joined by blues guitar ace Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who also took to social media to pay his respects to Dumble.

As well as praising his "deep well of technical knowledge", Shepherd also took the opportunity to say, "He had an especially kind heart and was a man of strong convictions and faith. 

"He inspired me both as a person and a player and he elevated my music with the amps he created for me," he added. "I will forever cherish our friendship and never forget his example."

Kenny Wayne Shepherd has had his nomination at the 2021 Blues Music Awards rescinded after members of the Blues Foundation – the organization that sponsors the event – objected to his use of confederate flag imagery.

“The decision to rescind the nomination was based upon continuing revelations of representations of the Confederate flag on Shepherd’s 'General Lee' car, guitars and elsewhere,” the Blues Foundation explains in a statement on its website.

The organization has also requested that Shepherd's father, Ken Shepherd, step down as a member of its board of directors.

In its statement, the Blues Foundation recites a section from its Statement Against Racism – posted March 15 – which reads: 

“The Blues Foundation unequivocally condemns all forms and expressions of racism, including all symbols associated with white supremacy and the degradation of people of color.

“We will hold ourselves as well as all blues musicians, fans, organizations, and members of the music industry accountable for racist actions and encourage concrete commitments to acknowledge and redress the resulting pain.”

In a response posted to Facebook on March 19, Shepherd shares an explanation for his 'General Lee' car.

“The car was built 17 years ago as a replica and homage to the iconic car in the television series, The Dukes of Hazzard,” it reads.

“Years ago I put that car in permanent storage and some time ago, I made the decision to permanently cover the flag on my car because it was completely against my values and offensive to the African-American community which created the music I love so much and I apologize to anyone that I have unintentionally hurt because of it.”

He continues: “I want to make something very clear and unequivocal; I condemn and stand in complete opposition to all forms of racism and oppression and always have.”

The Blues Music Awards 2021 is set to be livestreamed on the Blues Foundation's Facebook page and YouTube channel on June 6. The revocation of Shepherd's nomination leaves Tinsley Ellis, Reverend Peyton, Ana Popovic and Mike Zito in the running for the category of Best Blues/Rock Artist.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd has served as one of the foremost modern practitioners of the blues, and also of the Fender Stratocaster, for going on 25 years. 

For most of that time, his primary Strat – the one heard on his 1997 breakthrough Trouble Is… and every album he’s recorded since – has been a 1961 sunburst model. 

But now he has a new number one, having collaborated with Fender on his second signature model, which, like his approach to the blues, combines classic elements with forward-thinking and unique appointments. 

“It’s a number of different ideas and different components and different perspectives that are all based on some of my favorite guitars,” he says of the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Stratocaster. “The goal was to make not only a premium-looking instrument, but also something that would provide a premium experience for the end user.” 

And premium it is. The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Stratocaster starts with a classic Fender ash body and an early '60s “C”-shape maple neck.

“For years we’ve been trying to replicate the neck from my ’61 – all the dimensions, where it joins the body, the overall feel,” Shepherd says. “And this one comes the closest out of everything we’ve ever done.” This familiar-feel neck is topped with a rosewood fingerboard that, unusual for a Strat, boasts white binding and pearloid block inlays.

Shepherd got the idea for these features after recalling a very-limited run of Strats from the mid-'60s that sported binding and blocks. “I’ve always wanted to see a premium Strat with that treatment,” he says. 

That’s just the beginning of the personalized touches. There’s also a chambered body for a more comfortable, lighter feel as well as added resonance, and a trio of custom-voiced Kenny Wayne Shepherd Single-Coil Strat pickups that recall the tone of the ones in his cherished ’61 Strat, only hotter and with more range. 

“We boosted the mids just a little bit, and the pickups are a little more responsive, but also quieter, which was a big thing as well,” he says. There’s also one other new detail – that finish. The KWS Strat comes in a striking Transparent Faded Sonic Blue lacquer, which Shepherd says is a “custom color that was created around this guitar.” 

He continues, “In my mind I just kept seeing a light blue guitar, and then we took it a little step further and said, ‘How can we add some real depth to it?’ One of the best ways to do that is by revealing the grain that’s underneath. So we came up with the idea to do a translucent finish that would show the character of the wood.” 

As for why he chose blue in the first place? “I mean, obviously, I play blues,” Shepherd says with a laugh. Indeed he does. And to hear the latest example of his blues playing, look no further than the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band’s new Straight to You: Live, a concert package released in various DVD/CD/Blu-Ray/vinyl configurations, as well as digitally. 

The new collection, Shepherd says, has been a long time coming. “Our fans have been asking us to release a live video. So when touring came to an abrupt stop [due to the COVID-19 pandemic], it seemed like a good time. The fans may not be able to go to live concerts right now, but I wanted to offer them the next best thing.” 

Straight to You captures the KWS Band onstage in Leverkusen, Germany, at the Jazztage Festival, and the set spans Shepherd’s full career, from early hits like Blue on Black to cuts from his most recent studio album, 2019’s The Traveler. There’s also fiery covers of Elmore James’ Talk to Me Baby, Joe Walsh’s Turn to Stone and Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Child (Slight Return). 

“It was originally recorded for the Rockpalast television show, and it was a really great night,” Shepherd recalls of the gig in questin. “We were nearing the end of a very successful European tour and the whole show was very special…” He continues, “I hope people enjoy the songs as much as we’re looking forward to performing them again. Because I can’t wait to get back out there!”

• The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band's new live album and Blu-Ray/DVD, Straight To You: Live is out now on Provogue.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd is not only one of the best blues guitarists playing today but also one of the world’s pre-eminent Strat players - so there are few guitarists more worthy of two signature Stratocasters. We dug Shep’s 2013 offering, and now its rather fine-looking 2020 follow-up has officially been announced.

For his latest model, Shepherd has chosen a resonant chambered ash body, which comes finished in Transparent Faded Sonic Blue with - yes! - matching headstock (complete with KWS signature), and white pearloid pickguard.

The early-’60s C-shaped maple neck - which was modeled after Shepherd's '61 Strat - has a bound rosewood fingerboard with pearloid block inlays, 7.25” radius and 21 jumbo frets.

Shepherd is a longstanding advocate of Graph Tech String Saver saddles, so these come fitted to the six-point synchronized tremolo, while the trio of single coils are custom voiced to his specs, too.

“I was heavily involved in every aspect of the guitar,” says Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

“From specs to design – especially the Custom 'Hot' Vintage Pickups, carefully designed to have a very natural sound; the block inlay neck which really sets this Stratocaster apart visually; and the matching headstock which I just think has an unbeatable aesthetic.

“I can’t wait to see what this guitar can do in the hands of other players – I hope this guitar is a tool that inspires others to find their own voice and to truly express themselves and their own love of music.”

The price tag clocks in at $1,999 - suffice to say, we like the looks of this one.

For more info, head over to Fender.

You can also get the latest Fender news right here - including the lowdown on the company's raft of recent guitar, amp, pedal and acoustic releases.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd recently sat down for an in-depth interview with Total Guitar, and during the chat, the blues electric guitar phenom revealed that the amps you see him playing through onstage may say Fender on the cabinets, but they're actually modified Dumbles.

“You’ll see all Fender amps on the stage, but they are what we call in the hot-rod community – because I am a big car guy – they are like sleepers, which is basically if you pull up next to a car and maybe your grandmother might be driving it but it has 800hp under the hood,” Shepherd said. 

“What I have done over the years is I have been working with Alexander Dumble, and he has been building me a variety of amplifiers, and every one of them serves a different purpose and has its own unique sound. He basically uses the cabinet and the chassis and everything from that point forward is proprietary to him. He completely hand-wires his own circuit, his own design. He is building his own amplifier from scratch on the inside. It is remarkable the sounds he has been providing me with.

“That’s the one thing that’s worth the investment in tone. I know there is a lot of hype around Dumble and his stuff, but most of the time when there is that kind of hype, it's there for a reason. It's the biggest investment in my sound that I have made in the last decade.

"He has got these amplifiers build to specifically respond to the way that I play, so they effortlessly do the things that I am intending them to do. Like, I want a certain sound to come from it and I want it to feedback on a certain note, it just does it instead of me really having to try and manipulate it out of the amp.”

Shepherd continued, “Those amplifiers, I have a Tweed Bassman, a Pro Reverb, a couple of Bandmasters, a little Deluxe… We’ve got about 11 different amplifiers that he has built for me over the years and every one of them has got a different circuit in it. I usually set up four onstage and I’ll use a combination of two at the same time and blend the sound of those two at the front of house.”

As for how important these modded amps are to his sound, Shepherd said, “For me it is paramount. You go from having an amplifier that you’ve been using for years that is off the shelf and you thought it sounded good and played great, and then you have a guy custom-build you one specifically around your style of playing, it’s like having a tailor-made suit. Everything about it just fits you perfectly.

“And I think that’s why in the early days you had that whole thing about when [Dumble] built people amplifiers he wouldn’t want people to sell them because that amplifier was built around that specific person’s style of playing. It was intended for that guy to play it.

"I go to his house and I sit for hours and hours and he just listens to me play. And he plugs me in to a variety of amps and he listens to what I am trying to get out of the amplifier; he closes his eyes and hears the way that I am playing it, and he anticipates what it is I am trying to get the amp to do, and then he goes and builds an amp around that.”

Shepherd is currently gearing up to launch his new, extremely good-looking signature Strat later this year.

We recently witnessed Daniel Donato and Tyler Bryant face off on a pair of Fender Acoustasonic guitars, with Bryant on a Strat and Donato handling a Tele.

The latest six-stringer to take up the Acoustasonic mantle is blues great Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who puts a Strat model through its paces in the video above.

To demonstrate the tonal versatility of the Acoustasonic, KWS kicks off the proceedings with some down-home acoustic style licks using the guitar’s Slotted-Headstock Rosewood Concert Acoustic setting.

He then flips to a dirty electric tone to rip out some high-octane blues-rock licks.

To up the tastiness of the proceedings, Shepherd is joined by bassist Kevin McCormick and former Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton for the jam session.

And as always, for more Acoustasonic info head over to Fender.

A new interview series, the Blues Podcast, launches today, February 25, with three separate episodes featuring electric guitar players Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Kris Barras, and Beth Hart.
 
The series is presented by Big Boy Bloater, the current drive time presenter for Feedback Radio and former host of the popular Blues Magazine Show for Team Rock Radio. Bloater is also a musician who has played with Carl Perkins, Wanda Jackson and Paloma Faith, among others.
 
The Blues Podcast is designed as a “chat amongst friends, where they sit down and chew the fat of life and what has shaped them into who they are.” 

Said Bloater, “I’m excited to present the brand new Blues Podcast, where I get the chance to chat to and delve into the lives of some of the greatest contemporary and up and coming blues musicians as well as the leading industry figures in the genre.

“We’ll be getting to know the person behind the music by finding out what makes them tick and where their roots lay. So, sit back, put your feet up, and grab a tipple of your choice as we massage your ears with tall tales from the blues trail.”

The Blues Podcast is available on various platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcast/iTunes, Google Podcast, YouTube and PodBean.

For more information, head to The Blues Podcast.

“The people who slammed me early on because they thought I was copying Stevie Ray Vaughan were acting out of jealousy to some degree,” says Kenny Wayne Shepherd regarding the 'SRV clone' accusations that dogged him in his early years.

“Perhaps they wish that their own career had gone a little bit further, so they despise you for yours. I was sensitive at first, but I had the entire Double Trouble band on my second album [Trouble Is…], and their approval definitely outweighed the negative vibe some people tried to lay on me.”

Looking back on those early days, KWS is justifiably proud.

“One piece of advice I got before I signed a record deal was don’t let someone make you what you’re not - or record something you don’t like - because if you have a hit with it, you’re stuck with it forever. I just made the album I wanted to make.

We still play songs from [1995’s Ledbetter Heights] live now. It would be different if I recorded it today, but for a 17 year-old, I think it’s great.”

Although Shepherd is definitely known as a blues guy, his new album, The Traveler, is a bit more diverse.

“To me, this is contemporary blues. The foundation of my music is blues, but then I take influences from all the genres of music I grew up with - rock, country or whatever - and mix it up with blues to get something fresh.

“Tailwind has a country vibe, but the 6/8 time signature is interesting, and the slide solo is very bluesy. It’s one of the standout tracks for me that adds depth to the overall product.”

Guitar-wise, it’s business as usual.

“After 30 years of this, I think I’ve honed in on what works for me, which is the Strats I’ve been using for years - although there is an ES-335 on there that Gibson gave me as well.

“I brought in my two original Uni-Vibe pedals, one of which was allegedly originally owned by Jimi Hendrix, so that was great. As a result, there’s a lot of Uni-Vibe.”

There are also a couple of unusual covers, including Mr. Soul by the Buffalo Springfield and Turn to Stone by Joe Walsh.

“I like to dig deeper into an artist’s catalog when I cover their songs; and try not to go for the obvious choices. I also think we always toughen them up and add a little bit of extra testosterone to the mix!”

Best of 2019: Sure, 'Blues the vote!' doesn’t have quite the same ring as 'Rock the vote!' But that didn’t keep GuitarWorld.com readers from voicing their valuable opinions in one of our most popular electric guitar polls in recent history - best blues guitarist - which ruled the site in June and early July.

In fact, it racked up more than 60,000 votes (60,429, to be exact) from readers around the world. The results are in, and the winner, as you probably know by now, is the one, the only Joe Bonamassa, who bested the rest of the top five - Eric Clapton, Derek Trucks, Buddy Guy and John Mayer - to land at the top of Bluesville.

Below, we’ll shine a light on some of the guitarists who scored handsomely in our Top 30 (yes, we’re listing only the top 30 here), including Bonamassa, Buddy Guy, Samantha Fish and newcomer Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram.

The poll included a whopping 73 choices, and readers also were encouraged to suggest their own candidates (and they pretty much only voted for guitarists who have been dead for several decades - but thanks anyway, gang!).

With that in mind, we encourage you to explore the work of the top vote-getters (Eric Gales, anyone?), including guitarists who didn’t make the top 30, such as Ronnie Earl, Ana Popovic, Chris Duarte, Kirk Fletcher, Sue Foley, Tommy Castro, Duke Robillard and Junior Watson.

So, without further ado, we present the best blues guitarists in the world today, according to you...

1. Joe Bonamassa

The world’s most high-profile blues guitarist has spent 2019 packing out pretty much every large, red-plush seated theater he can find in support of last year’s masterly Redemption. It’s little wonder his chops are always on-point.

But it’s not just his performances that make him so influential; his championing of his fellow blues players elevate the genre, bringing a little more light and heat to the fast-rising blues cats such as Eric Gales (his number one blues-rock player in the world, and your number 12).

Other highlights include jamming with Journey at Caesar’s Palace and returning the favor to Neal Schon, and, as an inveterate gear collector, taking receipt of a see-through Lucite Fender Twin and a pristine 1958 Gibson Flying V, aka “Donnie J.” has to be up there, too.

2. Eric Clapton

For a player who made his bones in the ‘60s with Cream and Blind Faith, back when the color TV was still novel, Slowhand made a respectable attempt at breaking the internet when he played While My Guitar Gently Weeps with Peter Frampton at this year’s Crossroads Guitar Festival. It brought the house down.

It remains to be seen if we will see a follow-up to 2018’s Happy Xmas. But with super-limited custom shop models from Fender, Gibson and Martin minted in his name to coincide with the Crossroads festival, he remains the lodestar for contemporary blues culture.

Pointless trivia: as a child Clapton had an imaginary pet horse nicknamed Bush Branch. Less pointless: GW’s lesson in Clapton’s jaw-dropping off-the-cuff phrasing. He was the master. He is the master.

3. Derek Trucks

Is there a better slide player in the world right now? Trucks is the highest slide specialist in our voters’ list, and perhaps that is because his sensibility is such that he never overpowers the jam, often positioning his Gibson Artist Series Dickey Betts SG somewhere in the uncharted frequencies shared by vocals and guitar, and as an enigmatic counterpoint to his wife Susan Tedeschi’s Strat or Les Paul.

Of course, when absolutely necessary, he can pin the audience to the floor, dialing in more bite on his volume control to hit the front end of his Alessandro custom head harder. The Tedeschi Trucks Band’s latest album, Signs, is poignant, life-affirming, and full of soul. Blues for our times.

4. Buddy Guy

Profiled in the New Yorker as “the last of the bluesmen,” Buddy Guy might be 83 years young but he has more than plenty sap in the tree, and can presently be found, Strat in hand, at venues up and down the length and breadth of the United States.

Whether he’s playing his cover of Willie Dixon’s I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man or Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues, Buddy’s playing is still off-the-charts, hold-the-bus genius - as his showmanship, gleaned from one of his all-time heroes Guitar Slim (Eddie Jones).

5. John Mayer

That Mayer can still be pocketed in the blues tradition says much for his chameleon style. If ever there was a contemporary player who could shift through genre and feel without causing a ripple, it’s Mayer.

His tone, subject of several terabytes of online discussion and out-of-focus images of his pedalboard and backline from live shows, is just so dynamic. Lush but lithe and spanky, and perfect for his pop sensibility, which never quite seems at odds with the blues. It’s quite the sleight of hand Mayer’s performing with that PRS Silver Sky of his.

6. Kenny Wayne Shepherd

As a disciple of SRV, KWS shares that unpredictable quality to his phrasing, where he will be playing something traditional, say, in-the-pocket Albert King, before flipping the script on it and taking it some place new.

He released The Traveler in May, and of course the songwriting is super-tight, but the playing is unimpeachable, always inventive.

• Got the blues? Check out the best blues guitars 

7. Samantha Fish

Fish is taking the blues forward, where it needs to go, and her latest album, Kill or Be Kind, has moments when octave, pitch shifters, fuzz and delay pedals take blues guitar tone into another dimension.

All the while Fish retains the blues’ storytelling power, rooting her sound in the blues tradition while imagining it anew.

8. Gary Clark Jr.

Gary Clark Jr. is another player who incorporates ostensibly alien elements into the mix and yet it’s still the blues.

This Land, his third studio album, is a work of searing passion and righteous indignation, its title track appropriating some of Guthrie’s original composition and transforming it out of sight.

But hip-hop, rock, whatever; when it spills out of Clark it goes all the way back to Johnson, Walker, et al.

9. Tab Benoit

The Louisiana Delta blues maestro is a man of simple pleasures, namely a ’72 Fender Thinline Telecaster that he bought for less than half a grand when cutting his debut in the ‘90s, and Category 5 amps.

And when you find something that works for you like that, well, it becomes an extension of the self, and the sky’s the limit. This year saw Benoit inducted into the Louisiana Folklife Center Hall of Master Folk Artists, and launch his own label, Whiskey Bayou Records.

10. Billy Gibbons

The bearded bastion of boogie’s most intriguing moment of the year came when Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme invited him out to perform on his Desert Sessions Vol.11/12 recording, with Gibbons opening proceedings in half falsetto on Move Together.

But those looking for something to put some Texas heat into their drive time commute would have found this year’s Goin’ 50 compilation a worthy reminder of ZZ Top’s inimitable style.

11. Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram

The Clarksdale, Mississippi, phenom is only 20 years old but already has a sense for feel, phrasing and vibrato that helps him shake the very soul out of his instrument.

This year saw the release of his debut, Kingfish, and having already played in the company of Eric Gales and Buddy Guy, the best is yet to come. This here is the future.

12. Eric Gales

The comparisons to Jimi Hendrix don’t begin and end with Gales’ preference for the right-handed Fender used southpaw, but perhaps there’s some SRV in there, too, especially in that super-juicy tone.

But the Raw Dawg’s cover of Little Wing is proof positive he can stamp his identity on anyone’s material - on the blues itself. Check out Resolution from his latest album, Bookends, for a novel blues-rock application of the DigiTech Whammy pedal.

13. Warren Haynes

Founding member of Gov’t Mule and with a long association with the Allman Brothers, Haynes has a spent much of 2019 on tour, and is currently in the bus with John Medeski, Lukas Nelson and others on The Last Waltz Tour 2019, playing a mammoth set each night in tribute to the Band’s 1976 farewell concert.

He remains one of guitar’s most improvisational mavericks, whose solos are essential material on any blues syllabus.

14. Erja Lyytinen

Finnish singer-songwriter Erja Lyytinen is one of Europe’s leading blues players and her latest album, Another World, features guest spots from Jennifer Batten and Sonny Landreth, in what is another showcase for her awesome voice and ear for progressive, melodic rock.

Not to mention the eminently vocal qualities of her immaculate slide playing.

15. Chris Buck

There are all kinds of floral endorsements we could make to this prodigious south Wales talent, about a melodic sensibility that’s write large through Buck & Evans’ work, and how their latest, Write a Better Day, was recorded live to retain that spontaneous feel that keeps Buck’s on the right side of his instincts.

Or we could co-sign Slash’s thoughts, who, upon jamming on a number of occasions with Buck describes him as “a fucking amazing guitar player.” Right on, Slash!

16. Josh Smith

Smith started playing at six, an age where he, like many others, might have struggled to tie his shoelaces, yet nonetheless he developed a preternatural disposition for the blues.

His 2019 has been spent on the road in support of last year’s Born to Grow, which, well check out the talky guitar that moves around the vocal line in That for You Too for an example of how good Smith’s phrasing is.

17. Dan Patlansky

The South African player will see out the year touring his home country as the run for Perfection Kills comes to an end. Expect some new music next year.

Don’t expect Patlansky to go easy on his gear, though, for he likes to play hard, boost his signal and drive the tubes has hard as possible.

18. Marcus King

This will be the last time you see this name so far down a list like this. King’s tone is so hot that you could cook a 12oz steak just by waving it in front of his speaker cabinet.

King’s played all kinds of stages this year, his set at Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival a particular highlight, and we eagerly await his debut solo album, out February 2020, which was produced by Dan Auerbach.

It’s not just his tone, though. King has a novelist’s sensibility for story in song. He’s got a signature Gibson ES-345 incoming, too.

19. Walter Trout

Trout got the idea for Survivor Blues while driving around and listening to blues on FM radio. Why didn’t he just take on a dozen classic or slept-on tracks and put his own stamp on them?

That’s exactly what he did, heading on down to Los Angeles to track the album at the Doors guitarist’s Robby Krieger’s private studio.

“It’s songs that haven’t been covered much but are worthy of attention and worthy of being heard,” says Trout. Too right. Check out Trout’s take on Mississippi Fred McDowell’s Going Down to the River, featuring Krieger.

20. Robert Cray

One of only a few players to be name-checked by Buddy Guy in his New Yorker article (Trucks, Clark Jr., Kingfish, and Keb’ Mo’ also got props), Robert Cray is a blues institution in his own right.

His 2019 is much like that of any other, heavy schedules, sold out shows, and repeat. The blues don’t quit. Not does his tone, which, via his Strat through a Matchless Clubman 35 and Fender Vibro King has never sounded better.

21. Jared James Nichols

The most muscular style in the blues’ contemporary canon, Nichols excels whenever given a Les Paul and a tube amp pushed to the limit. His signature Epiphone Les Paul is a straight-up rock machine.

Nichols scores highly for blues face, too, which, on the anguish scale, sits somewhere between passing kidney stones and stubbed pinky toe.

22. Robben Ford

Ford can do it all and has played with everyone. George Harrison, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan... Miles Davis!

This year has been spent touring in support of 2018’s Purple House, an album that sees Robben play infectious blues-rock such as the sour strut of Somebody’s Fool, but also take some chances and roll the dice with acoustic-led compositions such as Break in the Chain and the experimental balladry of Empty Handed.

23. Peter Green

Green hasn’t released any new music but you can be sure he remains on heavy rotation on record decks and phones worldwide.

Mick Fleetwood has just announced a concert in tribute to the Green and the early days of Fleetwood Mac, which will take place in February 2020 at the London Palladium, and see performances from the likes of Billy Gibbons, David Gilmour, Jonny Lang, John Mayall, Christine McVie, Zak Starkey, Steven Tyler and Bill Wyman.

24. Jimmie Vaughan

The Texas blues shuffle remains strong in Jimmie Vaughan, and it will never leave him. Baby, Please Come Home is one of the year’s strongest blues releases and sees Vaughan take on old blues standards, tracks that need only a few bars before rolling the clock back to an era when the internet would be sci-fi and you’d have to get up off your chair every 20-odd minutes to turn the record over.

As with Trout, a blues legend tackling overlooked tracks is always essential listening, and an education.

25. Robin Trower

Trower might have a formidable back catalog but his appetite to create shows no signs of slowing.

At 74, if anything, Trower is accelerating. Coming Closer to The Day is a masterclass of tone and restraint, and sees Trower in a wry, philosophical mood, with tracks such as Lonesome Road coming to terms with ageing and the fact that one day the curtain falls for good.

26. Jonny Lang

Whether he is shouldering his Fender Custom Thinline Tele, complete with Bill Lawrence blade humbuckers, or a Gibson ’58 Les Paul Reissue, Lang’s tone is always heavy on the hot sauce.

We will be hoping a follow-up to 2017’s superlative riff-heavy Signs in 2020, but Lang’s 2019 highlights were earned on stages across the world delivering sets such as his jaw-dropping performance at the Holland International Blues Festival.

27. Anthony Gomes

Gomes is another power player who is at his best when his gear is in the scorched earth between blues and rock. After all, it’s the electric guitar; sometimes tickling it is not enough.

Gomes is still touring on the back of Peace, Love & Loud Guitars - words we can all live by - and shall be right through into 2020. No rest for the wicked.

28. Keb’ Mo’

Oklahoma was another album that confirmed Keb’ Mo’ as a blues player who can trace its lineage all the way back to the Delta and then revitalize it for the ages. As Keb’ Mo’ sees it, the blues is folk, the folk is blues, and he’s using it all to tell his stories about America’s dark history and difficult present.

29. Buddy Whittington

Anyone who caught the Texan six-string Svengali live this year will be able to attest to his undiminished ability to wring the most soulful and improvisational licks from his instrument. And, crucially, he keeps it playful.

Sure, all great players can tell a story within the blues scale, but Whittington tells those stories with no shortage of wit.

30. Matt Schofield

Schofield’s iconoclastic sound sees him loosen up that right hand on command for funk and play with the precision that jazz demands.

You can hear the Robben Ford influence, for sure, but Schofield has a sound of his own design, and a lyrical melodic sensibility that works gangbusters when playing off organist Jonny Henderson.

The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band have shared a new song, “Gravity,” from their forthcoming album, The Traveler.

The new album was recorded in Los Angeles and features vocalist Noah Hunt, drummer Chris “Whipper” Layton (formerly of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Double Trouble), bassist Kevin McCormick and keyboardists Jimmy McGorman and Joe Krown.

"Because of my family, my friends, and my fans I’ve been able to explore the depths of music and chase songs wherever they may lead me,” Shepherd said in a statement. “We’ve been able to do things and go places that were once just a dream, and it's all because of the music and the people who support it. The Traveler is a return on their investment."

The Traveler is set for release May 31 via Concord Records. The album is available for preorder here.

To celebrate the release of The Traveler, Shepherd will be in NYC for a rare intimate evening with BackStory at the Cutting Room today, May 20. Shepherd will be in conversation with former Guitar World Editor in Chief Brad Tolinski to talk about his career. Shepherd and vocalist Noah Hunt will then perform a stripped down acoustic set of new songs and Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band classics. More information can be found here.

You can also watch a behind the scenes discussion about "Gravity" with Shepherd and co-producer Marshall Altman below.

BackStory Events and Guitar World invite you to join us for the live stream of our exclusive interview with iconic blues-rock guitarist and songsmith, Kenny Wayne Shepherd. The interview will take place at 6:30 p.m. EST this Monday, May 20, live from The Cutting Room in New York City.

We’ll talk about his upcoming release, The Traveler, stories from the road and much more. The event includes a long form interview, audience Q&A, and a special short performance.

Shepherd will be interviewed by author and journalist Brad Tolinski. The interview is part of the BackStory Events online series and will be live streamed by Guitar World magazine.

To find out more, visit kennywayneshepherd.net or backstoryevents.com.

The video will appear below once we go live.

Five Finger Death Punch have recorded a new version of the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band’s “Blue on Black,” this time with help from Queen’s Brian May, Brantley Gilbert and Shepherd himself. You can check out the new take, which features solos from May and Shepherd, in the official video above.

Additionally, the artists and their respective labels are donating all proceeds from the collaboration to the Gary Sinise Foundation, which honors America’s defenders, veterans, first responders, their families and those in need.

Five Finger Death Punch guitarist Zoltan Bathory said: “To raise awareness for and support First Responders is a cause that’s always been close to our hearts. These brave men and women leave their homes every morning not knowing if they’ll ever see their families again. Yet they make a conscious choice to do so for the greater good. What better way to make a difference than to join forces with some of our friends in country, blues and classic rock who happen to be some of the biggest names in those genres and together celebrate these heroes.”

Added Kenny Wayne Shepherd : "When Five Finger Death Punch approached me about teaming up with them to do a special version of 'Blue on Black,' I was thrilled to do it. When they told me Brantley Gilbert and Brian May were also going to be part of it, I was honored. This is a powerful collaboration of rock, country and blues artists and a true testament to the commonalities these musical styles share, and I think the fans will appreciate and enjoy it as much as we do.”

To download or purchase "Blue on Black," head here. 

This classic "Talkin' Blues" column originally appeared in the pages of Guitar World.

Guitarists who improvise in any style-rock, blues, country, bluegrass, jazz, metal-have to have an arsenal of hot licks to draw upon. Little tricks which, played at just the right moment, can elevate the music to another level and blast an audience right out of their seats.

All of my favorite players have their own signature licks that kill me every time I hear them. This is what inspired me to take up the guitar in the first place.

The secret of using licks effectively is to apply them in such a way that they don't just sound like a bunch of rehearsed, fast licks. The key is to use them tastefully, and follow the "less is more" concept of getting the most mileage out of a single, well-placed lick.

One of my favorite ones is not at all fast; it just sounds really psychedelic! I learned this one from Jimi Hendrix, and it's illustrated in FIGURE 1A, complete with left-hand (or in Jimi's case, right-hand) fingerings. Note the use of reinforced bending. This lick is in A and it's very effective when used in the context of a slow blues. FIGURE 1B shows the same lick in E.

Here's another hot lick that I think most guitar players probably already know (see Figure 2). I use this lick in the title track from Ledbetter Heights; and it never fails to get the crowd going. I've included left-hand fingerings for this lick as well. I always kick on the wah-wah pedal when I'm playing this part, 'cause it makes it sound killer!

FIGURE 3A depicts a similar lick which I also learned from Hendrix. It's from his version of the song "Come On (Part 1)" from Electric Ladyland. FIGURE 3B is also reminiscent of the FIGURE 2 lick, and is played on the G and B strings. Both licks alternate between the middle, index and ring fingers.

One of my all-time favorite guitarists is Albert Collins, who was known for his expressive string-bending. FIGURE 4 illustrates a lick that is inspired by his playing. Collins' playing introduced me to, among other things, the concept of bending the fifth up one-and-a-half steps to the minor seventh, as I do here with the B-to-D bend and release.

Here's another fast lick, inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan, that I like to use in the keys of E or A (see Figures 5A and B, respectively). I like to play these within the context of a slow blues, but they really can be used just about anywhere.

The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band have announced a new album, The Traveler.

Recorded in Los Angeles, and featuring vocalist Noah Hunt, drummer Chris “Whipper” Layton (formerly of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Double Trouble), bassist Kevin McCormick and keyboardists Jimmy McGorman and Joe Krown, the album is set for a May 31 release via Concord Records.

You can check out the album's first single, "Woman Like You," below.

"Because of my family, my friends, and my fans I’ve been able to explore the depths of music and chase songs wherever they may lead me,” Shepherd said in a press release. “We’ve been able to do things and go places that were once just a dream, and it's all because of the music and the people who support it. The Traveler is a return on their investment."

You can check out The Traveler's album art and tracklist below. To preorder the album, step right this way.

For more on Kenny Wayne Shepherd, head on over to kennywayneshepherd.net.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band—The Traveler

1. Woman Like You

2. Long Time Running

3. I Want You

4. Tailwind

5. Gravity

6. We All Alright

7. Take It On Home

8. Mr. Soul

9. Better With Time

10. Turn To Stone

As Trampled Under Foot's longtime bassist, Danielle Nicole won respect and admiration throughout the American blues scene for her soulful, inventive playing, and tireless work ethic. That admiration has only grown since Nicole struck out on her own, and started up her own band.

Nicole is currently preparing to release Cry No More, her second solo effort. Today, GuitarWorld.com presents the exclusive premiere of "Save Me," the album's blistering new single.

"Save Me"—which features Kenny Wayne Shepherd—is a "groovy" (literally) tune, a perfectly measured, emotionally charged rocker that never stretches itself too thin. You can listen to it above.

"This song is about knowing what you’re worth and not letting others define you," Nicole said. "It was great to finally work with Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Recording with him is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and he killed, of course.”

Cry No More is set for a February 23 release via Concord Records.

For more on Nicole, follow along on Facebook.

Twenty-three years into his career, modern blues star Kenny Wayne Shepherd had a single overarching goal for his eighth studio album, Lay It On Down: “I wanted to make the best record I’ve ever made,” he says. “To do that, I had to get out of my comfort zone. I worked with a new producer, Marshall Altman, and I wrote with a bunch of people I’ve never worked with before. I put myself in situations where I had to react differently, and that made the whole thing pretty exciting.”

Shepherd’s last solo album, 2014’s Goin’ Home, was an all-covers, all-blues affair, but Lay It On Down is comprised of all-original material that spans country (“Hard Lesson Learned”), horn-infused R&B (“Diamonds & Gold”) and rootsy rock and roll (“Baby Got Gone”).

“I went in a more contemporary direction on this album,” he explains. “It shows diversity within the band but also the genre of blues. Blues is the foundation, but it runs deep. It’s there in country and soul. You don’t have to play straight blues to be playing a form of blues.”

Over the years, the guitarist has held his own beside players like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and his Rides bandmate Stephen Stills, but he insists that flash playing took a backseat to in-the-pocket grooves on Lay It On Down.

“I didn’t feel the need to show people every lick that I know on these songs,” he says. “Sometimes that’s appropriate, but other times you play to the material. My objective here was to put across great tunes and great stories. But there’s a few tunes where I smoke on guitar—‘Ride of Your Life’ definitely called for a lot of heat.”

While Shepherd doesn’t label himself a purist, he and Altman went old school and recorded the new album to analog tape.

“That was really about making ourselves happy with the end result,” Shepherd says. “Whether listeners can detect the subtle differences with tape, I don’t know, but we feel that we’re giving the people something that’s sonically superior. And that impacts how you play while you work, so in the end the product is just better.”

GUITARS
Various Fender Stratocasters (1958, 1959, 1961), Fender Kenny Wayne Shepherd signature series Stratocaster, Gibson Custom Shop Firebird, Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul, Les Paul Axcess, Martin KWS-16 signature series acoustic-electric

EFFECTS
Vox Clyde McCoy wah, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Tycobrahe Octavia, Analog Man King of Tone overdrive, Analog Man Bi-Chorus, original Uni-Vibe, Jam Pedals Llama delay

AMPS
Fender 1965 and 1967 “Blackface” Bandmasters, Fender 1959 tweed Bassman, Fender tweed 1957 Deluxe, Fender 1964 “Blackface” Vibroverb (all customized by Alexander Dumble)

Walter Trout will release his guest star-studded new album, We're All in ThisTogether,on August 25. Today, we're premiering "Gonna Hurt Like Hell," a track Trout recorded with Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

"When I was trying to figure out what to write for Kenny Wayne to record with us, I just figured it all comes back to the blues, and let's both of us go back to our roots," said Trout of the collaboration with Shepherd. "Musically it's where we both come from. So this is a straight-ahead shuffle, and I think he and I really compliment each other in our playing. This cut was really fun to record, and I think it's smokin'!"

You can preorder We're All in ThisTogetherhere.

For more about Trout and his new record, check out his website.

Today we've gotten together with the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band to premiere “Baby Got Gone,” the first single from their highly anticipated new album, Lay It On Down, which will be released August 4 via Concord Records.

The explosive, chugging track sports a catchy riff (head directly to the seventh fret, gang) and a king-size helping of Shepherd's trademark roots-rocking fireworks.

The album, which was recorded at Echophone Studios in Shepherd’s hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, and produced by Shepherd and Marshall Altman, was largely recorded live in the studio to analog tape.

Shepherd’s band on Lay It On Down features his long-time lead vocalist Noah Hunt, the rhythm section from the Rides, bassist Kevin McCormick and drummer Chris Layton (Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble), plus keyboardist Jimmy McGorman.

“I’m proud of the album we have delivered to the fans, and I think they'll be excited by what they hear,” Shepherd says. “The band we’ve assembled did a fantastic job bringing these songs to life and conveying the musical message to the listener. Now we are looking forward to bringing this new music to the live show to watch it develop even more.”

For more about Lay It On Down, check out the video trailer below and stay tuned for more details.

Shepherd and the band will kick off a U.S. tour on August 9. You can check out all the dates—plus the album's full track listing—below.

For more about the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, visit kennywayneshepherd.net.

LAY IT ON DOWN TRACK LIST
1. Baby Got Gone
2. Diamonds & Gold
3. Nothing But the Night
4. Lay It on Down
5. She’s $$$
6. Hard Lesson Learned
7. Down for Love
8. How Low Can You Go
9. Louisiana Rain
10. Ride of Your Life

THE KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD BAND LIVE
August 9 Westbury, NY The Space at Westbury
August 10 Albany, NY The Egg
August 11 Northfield, OH Hard Rock Live
August 12 Peoria, IL Riverfront Park
August 14 Annapolis, MD Rams Head on Stage
August 15 Annapolis, MD Rams Head on Stage
August 16 Morristown, NJ Mayo Performing Arts Center
August 18 Portland, ME Aura
August 19 Northampton, MA Calvin Theatre
August 20 Derry, NH Tupelo Music Hall
August 22 Bar Harbor, ME Criterion Theatre
August 23 Ridgefield, CT Ridgefield Playhouse
August 25 Harrisburg, PA Whitaker Center
August 26 E. Providence, RI Bold Point Park

To drive home the concept behind Paradigm, Ernie Ball’s new break-resistant and ultra-durable guitar strings, the company brought in a host of players to try their hand at breaking them. We've already shared clips with Paul Gilbert and John Petrucci, and now the latest contender, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, gets his chance in the video below.

According to Ernie Ball, Paradigm represents the most advanced string technology ever created, and the strings are the first to come with a fully backed guarantee: If they break or rust within 90 days of purchase, Ernie Ball will replace them free of charge.

The strings feature a combination of Ernie Ball’s proprietary Everlast nanotreatment coupled with a breakthrough plasma process that further enhances the corrosion resistance like never before.

For more information, visit ernieball.com.

In this new clip from Ernie Ball, Kenny Wayne Shepherd sits down to demo and discuss the new Expression Series Ambient Delay pedal.

Ernie Ball’s Expression Series Ambient Delay provides a hybrid of digital delay layered with plate reverb, for everything from slap-back to extended repeats.

The pedal features settings for delay time (50ms - 1s), delay feedback, reverb level and a foot-sweepable effect level control to create anything from subtle textures to ambient soundscapes, all without taking your hands off the guitar.

"What I look for in a new piece of equipment is something that will take my playing to the next level, or make me approach music in a different way,” Shepherd says.

Find out more at ernieball.com.

This week, Fender quietly announced its new Fender American Professional lineup of electric guitars and basses. We're talking about American Professional Strats, Teles, Jazzmasters, Jaguars, P-Basses and Jazz Basses.

The company says the lineup is "packed with a host of updates aimed at professional players" and that it "combines the best of yesterday and today." Fender also has provided a helpful Q&A to help its fans understand the changes—and what they can expect to see starting in January.

You can read that Q&A—and watch these five brand-new pro-shot demo videos—below:

• Kenny Wayne Shepherd Introduces the Fender American Professional Stratocaster

• Marlon Williams discusses the Fender American Professional Telecaster

• Nick Reinhart demos the Fender American ProfessionalJazzmaster and Jaguar

• Nik West breaks down the Fender American Professional Jazz Bass

• Sean Hurley on the Fender American Professional Precision Bass.

The Q&A is below. Remember we'll be seeing these guitars up close at the 2017 Winter NAMM Show in January. Be sure to stay tuned for more info!

What is the American Professional Series?
Combining Fender's longstanding history of quality, handmade craftsmanship and industry innovation, the American Professional Series features 92 different guitars and basses and offers a number of unique enhancements. American Professional Series instruments are available in a variety of ash and alder body styles, including newly designed Stratocasters, Telecasters, Jazzmasters, Jaguar, Precision Basses and Jazz Basses.

Each guitar features rosewood and maple fretboards, and the series introduces three new colorways: Sonic Gray, Mystic Seafoam and Antique Olive. Other colors included in the series are Olympic White, Black, 3-Color Sunburst, Sienna Sunburst and the return of classic Butterscotch Blonde available only on Telecaster models.

What's happening to the American Standard Series?
For now, American Standard instruments are still available in select stores and online, but availability is limited as our dealers ramp up for the official launch of the American Professional line coming in January 2017.

How is the American Professional Series different from the American Standard Series?
To create the American Professional Series, we revisited a number of elements on each instrument. Here's a quick overview of the key differentiating features.

For more information, check out the demo videos below and visit Fender.com.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Introduces the Fender American Professional Stratocaster

Marlon Williams discusses the Fender American Professional Telecaster

Nick Reinhart demos the Fender American Professional Jazzmaster and Jaguar

Nik West breaks down the Fender American Professional Jazz Bass

Sean Hurley on the Fender American Professional Precision Bass

Although this story isn't about me—in fact, it has nothing to do with me—I will share one of my mottos, something that I live by:

"If you can't do justice to a Stevie Ray Vaughan song, don't bother playing it."

Several people might take offense to that, but whatever. I'm sticking to my motto. It works. (This is pretty much why I stopped performing Stevie Ray Vaughan songs a few years ago, by the way.)

That said, here are five (mostly) live covers that enter the realm of doing justice to the late SRV. Since it is so difficult to capture the essence of SRV with a guitar (I watched some very ordinary guitar covers while compiling this piece, including very ordinary performances by bands that call themselves "the premiere SRV cover band"), you'll notice a few twists below, including a complete lack of guitars in some of these videos.

Please note that Buddy Guy's version of the Vaughan Brothers' "Long Way from Home" belongs on this list but is not available on YouTube at the moment. If anyone can find it, please let me know in the comments below. Enjoy!
12-Year-Old Fredrik Strand Halland Plays "Texas Flood"

Below, watch then-12-year-old Norwegian singer-guitarist Fredrik Halland play an impressive rendition of "Texas Flood," a song made famous by SRV in 1983. Right off the bat, let us mention that this clip is from 2006, but it's worth checking out. While we don't know a lot about the video (no extra information is included), we know it was shot as part of a Norwegian talent show. Regardless, one thing is certain: This kid shreds.

Clay Shelburn and Zac Stokes Play "Pride and Joy" on a Toy Guitar

While visiting an empty Walmart at 3 a.m., musician Clay Shelburn and his buddy Zac Stokes performed this impromptu version of SRV's “Pride and Joy” on a toy guitar. We’re sure neither of them ever thought the video would reach 2 million views, but it’s no surprise that it did, as Shelburn’s licks (and singing) are on point.

Luna Lee Plays "Scuttle Buttin'" on a Traditional Korean Gayageum

Here's Luna Lee performing an iconic SRV track on the gayageum, a traditional Korean zither-like instrument. The gayageum has 12 strings, although some variants have been made with 21 strings. It is probably the best-known traditional Korean musical instrument. (Thank you, Wikipedia!).

Joe Jeremiah plays "Rude Mood" on Piano

Here's Joe Jeremiah's piano version of Vaughan's instrumental shred fest, "Rude Mood," a track that appeared on Texas Flood. We have to admit that "Rude Mood," which was heavily inspired by Lightnin' Hopkins' "Hopkins' Sky Hop"—sounds like a natural boogie-woogie piano piece in this clip. Note that Jeremiah is playing SRV's guitar parts pretty much note for note, which is an achievement for any instrument.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Buddy Guy, Willie Nelson, Doyle Bramhall II, Lukas Nelson, Robert Randolph and Lyle Lovett Play "Texas Flood"

Here's a clip from a special anniversary edition of Austin City Limits that aired last year. While I'm not typically a fan of these "crowd the stage with all-stars" performances, there's no denying that Kenny Wayne Shepherd hits the nail on the head from the get-go (and you're in luck because he's the first soloist). He's not playing SRV's exact lines; he's completely capturing the feel and excitement of SRV, which ain't easy.

This June, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jonny Lang will hit the road together for the first time on a co-headlining U.S. tour.

The tour will begin June 11 in Portland, Maine, and will head down the East Coast and into the Midwest and South, culminating with a show in Louisville, Kentucky, June 28. Both Lang and Shepherd will play full sets at each performance.

Tickets for all shows go on sale March 13. You can see the full itinerary below.

VIP packages will be available for all shows. Details can be found here.

Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd Co-Headline Tour

• June 11 - Portland, ME @ Maine State Pier
• June 13 - Hyannis, MA @ Cape Cod Melody Tent
• June 14 - Wilkes Barre, PA @ Kirby Center
• June 16 - Westbury, NY @ The Space at Westbury
• June 17 - New Haven, CT @ College St Music Hall
• June 18 - Port Chester, NY @ Capitol Theater
• June 19 - Lowell, MA @ Lowell Music Fest
• June 21 - Kingston, NY @ Ulster PAC
• June 23 - Northfield, OH@ Hard Rock Live
• June 24 - Huber Heights, OH @ Music Center at The Heights
• June 26 - Merrillville, IN @ Star Plaza
• June 27 - Columbus, OH@ Scioto Downs Casino
• June 28 - Louisville, KY @ Kentucky Center

Today, GuitarWorld.com presents the exclusive premiere of "Texas Flood" as performed by an all-star band — gathered for a special occasion.

The clip, which you can check out below, features Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Buddy Guy, Willie Nelson, Doyle Bramhall II, Lukas Nelson (WIllie's son), Robert Randolph and Lyle Lovett — all backed by Stevie Ray Vaughan's band, Double Trouble (bassist Tommy Shannon, keyboardist Reese Wynans and drummer Chris "Whipper" Layton, who introduces the song).

The performance of the Larry Davis-penned tune, which was made popular (and downright essential) by Vaughan in the Eighties, is from tonight's broadcast of Austin City Limits Celebrates 40 Years, a special honoring the program’s 40th anniversary.

The show will air 9 to 11 p.m. EST on PBS Arts Fall Festival.

Besides the artists named above, the show features performances by Jimmie Vaughan, Gary Clark Jr., Foo Fighters, Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Bridges, Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow and more. For more information about Austin City Limits Celebrates 40 Years and its complete lineup of artists (plus several photos by Scott Newton), head here.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd has posted a new five-minute video that offers a fly-on-the-wall look at the making of his new album, Goin' Home, which will be released May 19 via Concord Records.

You can check it out below.

"This is a homecoming in more ways than one," Shepherd says of the album, which will mark the studio debut of the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band. "I felt like I was retracing my steps and reliving all the good times that I've had in my life because of this music. And hopefully, that amount of happiness comes through on the album."

The album, which was recorded in 11 days in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, finds Shepherd revisiting a dozen of the vintage classics by B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, Muddy Waters and more.

The new disc features guest appearances by guitarists Joe Walsh, Warren Haynes, Keb' Mo' and Robert Randolph, plus Ringo Starr, Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, the Rebirth Brass Band and one of Shepherd's musical mentors, Pastor Brady Blade Sr.

Shepherd's band features singer Noah Hunt, ex-Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton, former Firm bassist Tony Franklin and keyboardist Riley Osbourn.

For more information, and to pre-order the new album, visit kennywayneshepherd.net. For more about Shepherd and the band, visit shorefire.com.

Also, be sure to check out the band's current 2014 tour dates below the video!

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band on Tour, 2014

Kenny Wayne Shepherd has release the electronic press kit (also known as a video) in advance of his new studio album, Goin' Home, which will be released May 20 via Concord Records.

You can check it out below.

"This is a homecoming in more ways than one," Shepherd says of the album, which will mark the studio debut of the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band. "I felt like I was retracing my steps and reliving all the good times that I've had in my life because of this music. And hopefully, that amount of happiness comes through on the album."

The album, which was recorded in 11 days in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, finds Shepherd revisiting a dozen of the vintage classics by B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, Muddy Waters and more.

The new disc features guest appearances by guitarists Joe Walsh, Warren Haynes, Keb' Mo' and Robert Randolph, plus Ringo Starr, Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, the Rebirth Brass Band and one of Shepherd's musical mentors, Pastor Brady Blade Sr.

Shepherd's band features singer Noah Hunt, ex-Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton, former Firm bassist Tony Franklin and keyboardist Riley Osbourn.

For more info, and to pre-order the album, visit kennywayneshepherd.net.

Below, you can watch the new video, hear a full stream of Shepherd's cover of "Palace of the King" from the new album and check out the album's complete track list.

Track Listing:

• 01. Palace Of The King
• 02. Everything's Gonna Be Alright
• 03. I Love The Life I Live
• 04. The House Is A Rockin'
• 05. Breaking Up Somebody's Home
• 06. You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now
• 07. You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover
• 08. Boogie Man
• 09. Looking Back
• 10. Cut You Loose
• 11. Born Under A Bad Sign
• 12. Still A Fool

Starting in December, Kenny Wayne Shepherd has been releasing brief teaser clips for this upcoming album. He's already released three of them, all of which you can check out below.

In the first one, he asks fans to guess who's playing harmonica. In the second (middle) one, he asks fans to name the guest singer/guitarist. In the third (bottom) clip, he wonders if you can name the guest guitarist.

Feel free to guess; but (spoiler alert), he's already confirmed that the guitarist heard in the bottom clip is Joe Walsh.

The still-untitled album will be the followup to 2011's How I Go.

Last year, Shepherd released Can’t Get Enough, the debut album by the Rides, a blues/rock project that also features Stephen Stills. Check out an excerpt of Guitar World's feature on the Rides HERE; it includes a video teaser for the album.

The eighth edition of the Experience Hendrix Tour will launch in March 2014.

The month-long tour, which is presented by BandFuse: Rock Legends, will bring together a diverse group of artists paying homage to the genius of Jimi Hendrix.

This year’s lineup ranges from Zakk Wylde to Buddy Guy, Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Dweezil Zappa, Los Lobos’ stalwarts Cesar Rosas and David Hidalgo, left-handed blues rocker Eric Gales, Texas guitar gods Doyle Bramhall II and Eric Johnson, Bootsy Collins, Mato Nanji and, from Serbia by way of Memphis, Ana Popovic.

The rhythm section, as always, includes bassist Billy Cox, the only player, apart from Jimi Hendrix, who was part of both the Band of Gypsys and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Chris Layton, the drummer who, along with the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, was a founder of Double Trouble.

Below, you can check out GuitarWorld.com's exclusive videos of Kenny Wayne Shepherd (top) and Billy Cox (bottom) discussing the tour.

The tour officially begins in Dallas at the Verizon Theater March 11 and then roars through the Midwest and mid-Atlantic regions with stops in St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Washington and Detroit with more than 20 dates. For all the dates and ticket information, head here.

This year's Experience Hendrix Tour is the focus of the Jimi Hendrix Guitar Competition, which was announced last week. The competition, backed by Sony Music's Legacy Recordings, IK Multimedia, Talenthouse along with Experience Hendrix, LLC offers entrants a chance to win a performing slot on one of the tour dates next year as well as a cash prize plus gear.

Contestants are invited to submit a video of their performance of a Hendrix track with the winner selected by a team of judges including Janie Hendrix, producer/engineer Eddie Kramer, Guitar World editor Brad Tolinski and musician Dave Stewart.

For more about the contest, and to find out how to enter, visit talenthouse.com.

For more about the tour, visit experiencehendrixtour.com.

This is an excerpt from the December 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the rest of this story and more — including Nirvana, Chris Broderick, Cage the Elephant, a fuzz box roundup and John Petrucci's new column — check out the December 2013 issue at the Guitar World Online Store.

Easy Riders: Stephen Stills and Kenny Wayne Shepherd team up to lead the new blues-rock supergroup, the Rides.

“I wanna make a blues album with some shit-hot kid!” That’s what seminal guitarist, songwriter, singer and all-around rock legend Stephen Stills told his manager, Elliot Roberts, not long ago.

The realization of Stills’ wish is the Rides, the new supergroup that teams Stills with blues guitar slinger Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

At 36 years of age, Shepherd is no longer the kid he was when he first burst onto the scene in 1995. But he’s still “shit-hot,” to borrow Mr. Stills’ adjective, and one of today’s finest exponents of contemporary blues guitar.

For that matter, the entire Rides lineup is highly impressive, featuring artists whose careers collectively span half a century of deep blues and game-changing rock and roll. Veteran keyboardist Barry Goldberg played with Bob Dylan and Mike Bloomfield back in the mid to late Sixties. Drummer Chris Layton laid down the backbeat for Stevie Ray Vaughan for most of the late legend’s career, and bassist Kevin McCormick has distinguished himself with both Crosby Stills & Nash and Jackson Browne. It’s an all-star cast, to say the least.

The Rides recently released their debut album, Can’t Get Enough. Slammed down live-in-the-studio in just a week, it’s a rip-roaring collection of classic blues and rock covers plus half a dozen brand-new, group-written songs that cut to raw essence of American roots music. Naturally, the disc is heavily laden with brilliant guitar work from both Stills and Shepherd.

“It was all very spontaneous,” Shepherd says. “We just set up and started playing. But it soon became obvious that this wasn’t just a one-off project; this is a real band. We’re touring, and we’ve already starting writing our second album.”Stills and Shepherd are a perfectly matched pair of guitar buddies in many ways. Stills brings the old-school swagger and Shepherd brings the speedy energy of youth. Their personalities are diametrically opposed, yet mutually complementary. The 68-year-old Stills is brash, irascible and eloquently, if often bluntly, outspoken. Shepherd is the quiet, reserved product of a younger generation. In fact, Stills said he had to goad Shepherd to ramp up his aggression during sessions for the album.

“At one point, I just had to tell Kenny Wayne, ‘Dude, why didn’t you cut loose there? C’mon, stomp all over me.’ He said, ‘I was being polite.’ ‘Well, don’t be polite! Fuckin’ rip it. All right? I know I can’t play that fast, you know I can’t play that fast. That’s the whole point here. You can do shit that I can’t, ’cause I have carpal tunnel and a weak left hand that won’t make some of the bends that you can. But I’m gonna learn. Because, before this is over, I’m gonna steal you blind.’”

Stills’ bond with Barry Goldberg is of a different nature. Both are veterans of the great, late-Sixties rock explosion, and both played on the mother of all superstar blues jam albums, 1968’s Super Session. However, they didn’t actually meet back then: Goldberg played the first day’s session with Mike Bloomfield, and Stills came in on the second day as a hasty replacement for Bloomfield, who had bailed on the project due to issues with insomnia and drugs.

Stills and Goldberg didn’t meet until Elliot Roberts brought them together for the project that would become Can’t Get Enough.

“Barry Goldberg came over to my house, and we immediately wrote about five great, old-fashioned rock and blues songs in about a weekend,” Stills recalls. “Then I went on the road for so long, and his notes were so sloppy that we forgot two of them.” Among those early songs that made it to the album are the title track and the soul-inflected “Only Teardrops Fall.” But even those didn’t come to fruition until Kenny Wayne Shepherd came onboard.

For the rest of this story and more — including Nirvana, Chris Broderick, Cage the Elephant, a fuzz box roundup and John Petrucci's new column — check out the December 2013 issue at the Guitar World Online Store.