The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band to Bring Rock & Blues to Mayo Center

The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band brings its signature blend of rock and blues to Mayo Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, August 16, 2017 at 8 pm. Tickets are $39-$79.

Shepherd will perform hits from his nine previous albums as well as music from his most recent release, Lay It Down. Shepherd's deeply expressive songwriting and fiery, forceful playing are in abundant supply throughout the album.

"I wanted to make an album of great American roots music, and the end result is something that I'm really pleased with." Kenny Wayne Shepherd says about the release. "I wanted to play to our strengths, but I also wanted to make an album full of music that people haven't heard from us before. I'm pulling from a lot of different periods and genres on this one. I wanted to strike a balance between the heavy emotional stuff and the stuff that will put a smile on your face. A new album should feel new and refreshing, and this one definitely feels that way to me."

More than two decades into a recording career that began when he was just 16, Kenny Wayne Shepherd has built a reputation as a visionary recording artist, a riveted live performer and one of the most talented and distinctive guitarists of his generation. He's earned the stature as one of the contemporary blues world's leading lights, standing at the forefront of a widespread revival of interest in the blues.

At 16 years old, he signed his first record deal and burst onto the national scene with the release of his 1995 debut album Ledbetter Heights, which produced the radio hits "Deja Voodoo," "Born with a Broken Heart" and "Shame, Shame, Shame." His relentless touring and success on rock radio helped to drive the album to Platinum sales status. His 1998 sophomore effort Trouble Is. also went Platinum, yielding such radio hits as "Blue on Black," "True Lies" and "Somehow, Somewhere, Someway." 1999's Live On spawned the radio hits "In 2 Deep", "Shotgun Blues" and "Last Goodbye."

2004's The Place You're In was a blistering rock record and was followed up by 2007's ambitious 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads, for which Shepherd and his band traveled throughout the American South to record with such vintage blues greats as B.B. King, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins and David "Honeyboy" Edwards on their home turf. 2010 saw the release of Shepherd's long-awaited first live album, Live! In Chicago, recorded at Chicago's House of Blues during the all-star Legends tour and featuring guest appearances by such blues legends as Hubert Sumlin and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. The live disc debuted at #1 on Billboard's Blues chart, as did 2011's How I Go. In 2013, Shepherd further expanded his musical horizons by teaming with veteran rockers Stephen Stills (Crosby, Stills & Nash) and Barry Goldberg to form THE RIDES, whose first album Can't Get Enough helped to expand Shepherd's audience as well as his musical resume. 2014 saw the release of Goin' Home, Shepherd's sixth # 1 debut on the Billboard Blues charts. Goin' Home features several talented friends who shared Shepherd's enthusiasm for the project's back-to-basics ethos. Those guests include fellow guitar icons Joe Walsh, Warren Haynes, Keb' Mo' and Robert Randolph, longtime friend Ringo Starr, Fabulous Thunderbirds frontman Kim Wilson, the Rebirth Brass Band and co-producer Blade's father, Pastor Brady Blade Sr., who lends a bracing dose of preaching to Shepherd's version of Bo Diddley's' "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover."

In 2016, Shepherd again teamed up with his friend Stephen Stills to record their 2nd record together with their band The RIDES. The record, Pierced Arrow, was released in the spring of 2016 and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues Charts and the band began a national tour.

Shepherd and his bands continue to tour the world extensively blazing a fresh trail for the historical American art form in the 21st Century.

For more information, go to kennywayneshepherd.net.

Mayo Performing Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, presents a wide range of programs that entertain, enrich, and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of Northern New Jersey. The 2017-2018 season is made possible, in part, by a grant the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as support received from the F.M. Kirby Foundation and numerous corporations, foundations and individuals. The Mayo Performing Arts Center has been designated a Major Presenting Organization by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Mayo Performing Arts Center was named 2016 Outstanding Historic Theatre by the League of Historic American Theatres, and is ranked in the top 50 mid-sized performing arts centers by Pollstar Magazine.

Mayo Performing Arts Center is located at 100 South St., Morristown, NJ 07960. Contact the box office at (973) 539-8008 or go online at www.mayoarts.org. All Programs Subject to Change.

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