The Traveler/ The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, blues-rock

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 I can't explain; Set me on fire when you call my name.”

While ‘Long Time Running’ is a neat driving song, Shepherd gets back into blues-rock on ‘I Want You’, which has a sizzling guitar coda. The mid-tempo ‘Gravity’ is a well-written beauty, lines like “I’ll be the moth, you be the flame, I'll be the lock, you be the chain.”

With its southern rock vibe and country feel, and marvellous build-up, ‘Tailwind’ is one of the picks of the lot. A similar formula is followed in ‘Take It On Home’, to good effect, as it talks of returning to the woman one loves.

The album also has two versions. Shepherd does his own take on Buffalo Springfield’s ‘Mr Soul’, with the main riff reminding you of the Rolling Stones hit ‘Satisfaction’. His take on Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh’s ‘Turn To Stone’ is nearly done.

The songs on The Traveler are crisp, and the guitar parts are stunning but not over-used. Once again, Shepherd impresses with his songwriting and ability to create melodic tunes.