Kenny Wayne Shepherd - Live On

Being a teenage blues guitar prodigy is a double-edged sword. Stunning technique brings attention, but also criticism that it's all style and no soul. This criticism plagued Kenny Wayne Shepherd since his popular debut album, Ledbetter Heights, and it's warranted to a certain extent. It didn't help that Shepherd so strongly recalled Stevie Ray Vaughan. It also didn't help that some of his material was a little too slick, appealing as much to album rock as to blues-rock audiences. By the time of his third album, 1999's Live On, he had begun to reconcile these two sides of his personality, but the best thing about the record is that it's tougher and stronger than its two predecessors. There's still a fair amount of crossover -- a Hendrix cover and a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well" -- but Shepherd not only seems to be developing a style of his own, the playing of his band has become grittier, or at least it's being captured better on record. Shepherd can still fall prey to excess, but not as often as he used to. He's figuring out how to restrain himself, and his music is all the better for it. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Name Credits Arion Salazar Bass, ?, Guitar Bob Ludwig Mastering Bryan Lee Guitar, Drums Chris Layton Drums Daniel Chase Engineer Dr. John ? James A. Bland Photography James Cotton ?, Harmonica Jerry Harrison Producer, Arranger Karl Derfler Engineer Keith Christopher Bass Kenny Wayne Shepherd Vocals, Guitar, Arranger, Executive Producer Lawrence Azerrad Design, Art Direction Leff Lefferts Engineer, Assistant Engineer Les Claypool ?, Bass Mark Seliger Photography Mauricio Iragorri Mixing Mickey Raphael Harmonica Noah Hunt Vocals Pat Hodges Vocals Reese Wynans Keyboards Robert Daniels Engineer, Assistant Engineer Sam Bryant Drums Stephanie Spruill Vocals Stephanie Sptail Vocals Tom Lord-Alge Mixing Tommy Shannon Bass Warren Haynes Slide Guitar