Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band Cooks Up Baton Rouge’s River Center Theatre (SHOW REVIEW/PHOTOS)

If there could be only one word chosen for the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band’s performance on Saturday, July 13, 2024, at the River Center Theater in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, it would be “holy shit!” Having covered this Shreveport, Louisiana, native since 2010, I don’t think I have ever seen Shepherd and his band this on fire, this good, and this in synch with each other to the point of near perfection. Each band member – including Noah Hunt on vocals, guitar, and tambourine, Chris Layton on drums, Kevin McCormick on bass, and Joe Krown on organ/keys – was at the top level; and if this is any indication, how this leg of the Dirt On My Diamonds tour will go, you need to run to wherever they are playing.

All gushing aside, the KWS band had a remarkable something cooking. From the first notes on the resonator for “Was” to the last strains of “Voodoo Child,” it was all about digging into the heart of the blues and making those notes vibrate, making them moan and hum and reach down into the gut. To do that, you have to have the chemistry, or it’ll be a one-man show. 

Case in point, Krown’s organ/keys solo on “You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now.” He captured that slow burn bluesy feel that BB King had in his recording of it but Krown has stirred in some Dixieland hints that his New Orleans home base has seeped into his fingers. It’s like sunrise coming on a Sunday morning but the blues doesn’t want to go home yet and it’s just there sweating and swaying with it’s eyes closed. Delicious. McCormick did a humdinger bass solo on “Diamonds & Gold” that made the hips move, while Layton just rocked those drums, especially on “Ease My Mind.” Add in the horns with their cool blue jazz intonations and you’ve got yourself a fever.

It should also be noted regarding the band that when they have their turns in the spotlight, whether it be on the aforementioned “Diamonds & Gold” or the Elmore James classic “Talk To Me Baby,” Shepherd and Hunt will ease into the background to let them shine. This was something Clapton was notorious for doing, the signs of a true bandleader, and Shepherd has taken on this role with poise and patience.

Hunt, who came into the band with 1997’s Trouble Is … album, continues to be a vital presence onstage. He is always reaching for the right feel and emotion, giving the songs a depth of new character, even on covers. “I just sing it like I hear it. I don’t really think about it. That’s just how it comes out,” Hunt told me during a 2014 interview for Glide. “In my head, I’m singing it like I’ve heard them sing it, but somehow, when it actually comes out of my mouth, it’s my own thing, and that’s the only way I can explain it. I guess hearing other people do great renditions of blues over the years helped me to just approach it like that.”

But realistically, Shepherd is this band’s jewel in the crown. It’s not that he can take the blues to places so electrified they sizzle on your skin but it’s that he can find the nuances within those strings and make them into pieces of art. On “Heat Of The Sun” and the instrumental “While We Cry,” his touch is so soft the notes are like whispers on nerve endings. With “Blue On Black,” he took something more mainstream up the charts without losing any of his blues integrity. And his vocals have only gotten stronger, his last several albums proof. “The best part about my band is that I have Noah there, and he’s a fantastic singer, and I can just let him sing all night long if I want, and I can just sit back and play guitar,” Shepard told me in 2014. “Or I can jump up and sing as many songs as I want to whenever I want to. So it’s really like the best scenario for me.”

Speaking of new material, Shepherd has Volume 2 of his Dirt On My Diamonds series coming out on September 20^th, and it’s sounding like another must-have if the first released singles are a good indication. Wish he would have added in either “Never Made It To Memphis” or “I Got A Woman” but perhaps they will be showing up soon, as they are made for the live stage. But from Volume 1, the band played four of those tunes live: the title track, “Sweet & Low,” “You Can’t Love Me,” and “Ease My Mind.” Other songs from his setlist hit upon a good number of his previous albums, including fan favorites such as “Deja Voodoo” from Ledbetter Heights, “Diamonds & Gold” from Lay It On Down, “Blue On Black,” “While We Cry” and “Voodoo Child.”

The Leif Meche Band, a trio from the Lafayette, Louisiana, area, was chosen to open for KWS in Baton Rouge via an old-fashioned, always fun, Battle Of The Bands a few weeks ago. The trio played a 30 minute set that started and ended with covers – Gary Clark Jr’s “Bright Lights” and Pearl Jam’s “Black” – with originals filling the center: “The Cowboy & The Lady,” a touching acoustic number with only lead singer/guitarist Leif on a spotlighted stage; “Tonight” and “What If I Do.” Drummer Blake pounds his minimal kit like a young and hungry Brian Tichy while bass player Jordan holds so steady Leif can easily go from subtle to powerful at a moment’s notice. A band that needs to be kept an eye on.

Prior to Shepherd and his band taking the stage, Ken Shepherd – Kenny Wayne’s father, manager, and well-respected former Shreveport DJ – introduced Mike Shepherd, President of the Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame, who presented Kenny Wayne with a plaque as their newest inductee. It was a fun moment not only for Shepherd but the nearly sold-out crowd as well, who were primed and ready for their home state son to fill them up with the blues. With sparkly sneakers and swapping out guitars after practically every song – the “Copperboy” on “I Want You” & “Diamonds & Gold,” the “Crossroads” on “Deja Voodoo” and of course, the “Monterey” on “Voodoo Child” – Shepherd’s solos were on fire, with his band right there with him.

Unfortunately, all good things seem to come to an end sooner or later and Saturday’s show was no exception. But this was indeed one of the band’s (as a whole) best of the best. 

SETLIST: Was, Dirt On My Diamonds, Sweet & Low, Deja Voodoo, You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now, Talk To Me Baby, Heat Of The Sun, You Can’t Love Me, Ease My Mind, I Want You, Diamonds & Gold, While We Cry ENCORE: Blue On Black, Voodoo Child.