Kenny Wayne Shepherd
September 12, 2014
Charlotte, NC
The Fillmore
Concert Review by Joseph Hett
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Tears The House Down In Charlotte
Kenny Wayne Shepherd brought an action-packed rocking blues show to the The Fillmore in Charlotte, NC on Friday night. It was a stop on his 2014 Goin’ Home US Tour — to support their new album release “Goin’ Home.” The intimate standing-room venue seemed to suit the KWS Band well, since it seemed to sway with all of the boogying blues.
Shepherd and the band came out of the gate blazing with “Never Lookin’ Back” and “Somehow, Somewhere, 
At the beginning of the set, every time Shepherd would start to blaze away on the guitar, the crowd would immediately hold up their phones to capture the astounding moment. But they soon learned that those moments would be plentiful as the show progressed throughout the night.
It was now time for Shepherd to showcase his vocals with a cover of “The House Is Rockin’” by his idol Stevie Ray Vaughn. And he played just as good as SRV.
Hunt and Shepherd constantly asked the capacity crowd “Who all loves the blues?” And the audience would go wild.
They slowed it down a little with “Heat Of The Sun” which was a mellow, string bending performance by Shepherd.
Shepherd mentioned that the next song, “Talk To Me Baby,” was his favorite track off of the new record “Can’t Get Enough” by the supergroup The Rides (Stephen Stills, Barry Goldberg and Shepherd). Speaking of supergroups, Shepherd has one backing him with drummer Chris Layton (SRV), bassist Tony Franklin (The Firm) and keyboardist Riley Osbourn (Willie Nelson).
Shepherd said that they like to slow it down at least once a night with the traditional blues. They started up a smooth groove and played BB King’s “You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now.”
After a jamming rendition of “Shotgun Blues,” it was time for the encore.
They cranked out the massive radio hit “Blue On Black.” Shepherd shredded his guitar during the solos – as usual. The tongue-in-cheek Slim Harpo song “I’m A King Bee” was next.
Shepherd put on a masterful performance of “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” to close out the show.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd is still going strong. He is still a young man in this game and has many years left to be an ambassador of the blues; the blues are in good hands. Until Kenny Wayne Shepherd comes around again, the fans can enjoy those images captured on their phones since they won’t be able to see a talent like that until the next time Shepherd makes a stop in Charlotte.