Kenny Wayne Shepherd Curates 'Backroads Blues Festival' With Buddy Guy, Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram (Exclusive)

Kenny Wayne Shepherd, already in the midst of his “Trouble Is… 25th Anniversary Tour,” is carving out some time in August to bring blues great Buddy Guy and emerging contemporary bluesman Christone “Kingfish” Ingram out for the inaugural Backroads Blues Festival.

Shepherd is the curator and featured performer of the Backroads Blues Festival, which he envisions as an annual trek, taking place in Providence, R.I. (Aug. 13); Bethel, N.Y. (Aug. 14); Leiston, N.Y. (Aug. 16); Springfield, Mass. (Aug. 18); Roanoke, Va. (Aug. 20) and Portsmouth, Va. (Aug. 21).

unnamed — (L-R) Buddy Guy, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram

If that wasn’t enough, Shepherd will also celebrate his 45th birthday with friends Samantha Fish, the Ally Venable Band and special guest, Blues Entertainer of the Year, Shemekia Copeland with whom he recorded last year’s Americana chart favorite “Hit ‘Em Back”. The two birthday shows are scheduled in Ft. Wayne, Ind. (June 11) and Dayton, Ohio (June 12).

Taking a few moments off from the “Trouble Is… 25th Anniversary Tour” that celebrates the silver anniversary of the release of his RIAA certified Platinum selling breakthrough album, Shepherd discussed his vision for the Backroads Blues Festival.

“These days nobody mounts a traditional touring blues festival,” Shepherd says. “I conceptualized one that will give people a chance to see the best of the best all in one place. We are extremely excited that Buddy Guy will be with us for each show. He is, after all, the living king of the blues these days. Also worthy of great respect is Christone “Kingfish” Ingram who is revitalizing the blues in a potent and powerful way.”

Shepherd adds, “We’re featuring three successive generations of blues artists, underscoring the resonance of the genre.”

He explains that the overall concept for Backroads Blues Festival is an extension of his award winning earlier 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads film and album project that saw him bring his band and a portable studio on the road to join forces with both notable and unheralded blues artists documenting those collaborations along the way including Etta Baker, Pinetop Perkins, Honeyboy Edwards, Lazy Lester, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Hubert Sumlin and B.B. King, among others. That project was also certified as a Platinum seller by the RIAA. He expressed hope of producing a sequel to the 2007 release in the future.

“In the past, I really looked forward to those blues packages both as a fan and as an artist, so I decided to bring the concept back with the Backroads Blues Festival tour.”

He recalled his transitioning from ticket holder to the B.B. King Blues Festival, where B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Etta James, Joe Cocker and the Neville Brothers performed, to starring as featured performer on several editions of the festival. “Those were very special shows and once that ended there was a void. Our Backroads Blues Festival Tour is firmly rooted in that same tradition.”

Chicago bluesman Buddy Guy, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner and early sideman for Muddy Waters and influenced multiple generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Gary Clark Jr. and John Mayer.

“I’m excited to be part of the first annual Backroads Blues Festival and back out with Kenny Wayne and looking forward to jamming with Kenny and Kingfish,” Guy says.

Shepherd adds that while this year’s festival line-up consists of electric bands, “It’s possible we could do an all-acoustic show; we want to be as inclusive as possible.

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram remarked, ““To be back touring again is really great and the opportunity to join Mr. Guy and Mr. Shepherd on stage will be electric. These tour dates will be lots of fun.”

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band on tour (Backroads Blues Festival Tour dates in bold)

4/6 Des Moines, IA Hoyt Sherman Place

4/7 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater

4/8 Springfield, MO Gillioz Theatre

4/9 New Buffalo, MI Four Winds Casino

4/13 Warren, OH Robins Theatre

4/14 Glenside, PA Keswick, Theater

4/15 Greensburg, PA Palace Theatre

4/16 Carmel, IN Palladium

4/26 Midland, MI Center for the Arts

4/27 Champaign, IL Virginia Theater

4/28 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theatre

4/29 Green Bay, WI Epic Event Center

5/1 Fargo, ND Fargo Theater

5/3 Sioux Falls, SD The District

5/5 Ft. Collins, CO Lincoln Center

5/6 Denver, CO Paramount Theatre

5/7 Pikes Peak, CO Pikes Peak Center

5/19 Norwalk, CT Wallstreet Theatre

5/20 New Brunswick, NJ State Theatre

5/22 Annapolis, MD Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival

5/28 Marksville, LA Paragon Casino

6/11 Ft. Wayne, IN Sweetwater *

6/12 Kettering, OH Fraze Pavilion *

6/17 Aurora, IL Blues on the Fox

6/24 Wichita, KS Hartman Arena (with ZZ Top)

7/9 Nescopeck, PA Briggs Farm Blues Fest

7/15 Houston, TX House of Blues

7/16 Austin, TX ACL Live at Moody Theatre

7/30 Baton Rouge, LA River Center

8/13 Providence, RI Bold Point Park

8/14 Bethel, NY Bethel Amphitheatre

8/16 Lewiston, NY Artpark

8/18 Springfield, MA Symphony Hall

8/19 Wantagh, NY Jones Beach

8/20 Roanoke, VA Elmwood Park

8/21 Portsmouth, VA Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion

8/22 Ocean City, NJ Ocean City Music Pier

9/17 Biloxi, MS. IP Casino & Resort

9/29 San Diego, CA Humphreys by the Bay

9/30 Saratoga, CA Mountain Winery

10/2 Reno, NV Battle Axe & Tracks Festival

*KWS birthday celebration with Samantha Fish, the Ally Venable Band and special guest Shemekia Copeland