Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band
We look forward to having Kenny Wayne Shepherd back in Notodden.
Platinum-selling, five-time GRAMMY-nominated blues-rock icon Kenny Wayne Shepherd has just announced that he is embarking on a major new tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his groundbreaking debut album, Ledbetter Heights. The “Ledbetter Heights 30th Anniversary Tour” kicks off February 19th in Dallas, Texas, and we are happy to announce that this tour will take Kenny Wayne Shepherd and his band all the way to the Notodden Blues Festival 2026.
Thirty years ago, a Fender Strat-wielding teenager from Shreveport, Louisiana, named Kenny Wayne Shepherd, brought the blues back to the mainstream. While the world was in the midst of a dominant musical period of Grunge in 1995, a blond-haired guitar prodigy appeared out of nowhere and thundered to the top of the charts with a genre that had struggled to gain attention. With his fierce guitar work, melodious pop-rock hooks and reverence for the blues, Shepherd was welcomed with open arms as a long-awaited innovator of the blues genre. Now, three decades later, Shepherd is still warmly present. He is no longer a child prodigy, but an established star who tours the world's major stages, constantly records new music, receives Grammy nominations and awards in buckets and buckets, collaborates with other artists on new musical projects and is constantly evolving.
“Recreating this album put me in touch with the wonder and excitement of that time. I didn’t know what lay ahead of me,” he reflects. “I’m so grateful for this album – it gave me everything.” The concerts on the tour will include performances of Ledbetter Heights in its entirety as well as highlights from a long career.