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By Narendra Kusnur Album: The Traveler Artiste: The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band Genre: Blues-rock Label: Concord Records Rating: **** In the 1990s, Kenny Wayne Shepherd rose to fame as a blues guitar teenage prodigy, along with Jonny Lang and Joe Bonamassa. His style was heavily influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters and a host of others, and his Stratocaster solos were magical. By playing with the legendary Stephen Stills in The Rides, Shepherd expanded his horizons a few years ago. It's very evident on his latest album  The Traveler,  which uses a collage of sounds from the American South. Shepherd, who is playing at this year’s Mahindra Blues Festival, is joined on this album by vocalist Noah Hunt. Keyboards, drums and bass flow smoothly, and an assortment of horns is heard on a few tracks. The opening track ‘Woman Like You’ is quintessential blues-rock number with a catchy hook, incisive guitars and lyrics like, “You got something that...

By Narendra Kusnur  Album: Oklahoma Artiste: Keb' Mo' Genre: Americana, blues Label: Concord Records Rating: ***** On February 8, singer-guitarist Keb’ Mo’ will make his second appearance at the Mahindra Blues Festival, having last performed in 2016. He was also in the news a few weeks ago for picking up the Grammy for Best Americana Album for his record Oklahoma . Though Mo’ released the Christmas album  Moonlight, Mistletoe & You  later, we chose Oklahoma  for review as it didn’t get much attention when released, and made headlines only after the Grammy announcement. On this, the musician displays excellent songwriting skills, and his vocal texture has the right blend of masculinity and sweetness. The term ‘Americana’, which became popular just a decade ago, is rather loose, but indicates an amalgam of various American styles like country, blues, bluegrass, boogie and the Tulsa sound. And here, Mo’ does that mixing with amazing effect, and yet ...