KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD BLUES BELIEVER by Doug Doppler
Kenny Wayne Shepherd has been turning heads with his sensational playing since his teens . Three of his nine solo releases have gone platinum , and he ’ s toured supporting the likes of The Rolling Stones , Van Halen , and Buddy Guy just to name a few . When our friends at Fender let us know they were releasing the latest incarnation of his signature Stratocaster , we jumped at the chance to interview this iconic guitar player and man of faith !
[ WM ] Kenny , congratulations on the new guitar ! Secondly , how are you doing in the midst of the pandemic ?
[ Kenny Wayne Shepherd ] I ’ m good !
[ WM ] So where are ‘ hunkering down ’?
[ Kenny ] I ’ m at home , I ’ m at my house in Los Angeles in the Cars and Guitars lounge that I have setup here .
[ WM ] Fender released your first signature Stratocaster in 2008 . The new guitar is completely awesome . What ‘ signature ’ KWS features stayed on , and what ’ s changed ?
[ Kenny ] They ’ re calling that color is Transparent Faded Sonic Blue . It ’ s a custom color that we came up with for this guitar . Fender has started using it on some other guitars like the Acoustasonic Strat but I believe it was developed first for this guitar . There are a lot of unique things about it , and I really wanted to make a departure from my last signature guitar . Not to suggest that there was anything wrong with it , but as a player I use a lot of