This spring, blues-rock guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd will hit the road to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his debut album, Ledbetter Heights, the record that helped bring blues music back to a new generation of fans. The tour will stop at Cincinnati’s Taft Theatre on April 23rd, 2026, giving fans a chance to relive the songs that started it all, alongside material that spans his entire career. I caught up with Kenny to talk about the legacy of Ledbetter Heights, what fans can expect from this tour, and what continues to drive him after three decades of making music.
It’s hard to believe Ledbetter Heights is turning 30 — when you think back to that debut album, what memories or moments stand out most from that time in your life?
We went and recorded a new version of the Ledbetter Heights album for this anniversary tour we are doing. We went and revisited the whole record, and that really brought me back. It brought up a lot of memories and put me back in that time and headspace of a 17-year-old kid making his first record and getting ready to release it to the world. There were so many memories that came up. So many first experiences were happening. I really didn’t have any expectations and didn’t know what to expect. I just went and made a record I was inspired to make, and I did the best I thought I could. I then handed it over to this record company. I didn’t know if anyone was going to care or if it would connect with anyone. Thankfully, the record company got the first single, “Déjà Voodoo” to radio, and it shot up to #5 on the rock charts. Album sales started coming in, and soon the record went gold, sold half a million copies, and went on to go platinum. We then did our first tour across the U.S. in my dad’s suburban, pulling a U-Haul trailer, and then graduated to a tour bus the next year. Things have been on an upward trajectory ever since…