Eric Johnson & Kenny Wayne Sheppard
By Ray Anton | Photos Chris Schmitt
Blues guitar music has grown from the Mississippi Delta to worldwide popularity thanks to founding forefathers, like Robert Johnson, Charley Patton and Son House among others over a century ago. The Blues spawned many guitar heroes over the next many decades, from the three Kings (Albert, B.B. and Freddie) to Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Rory Gallagher, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. The list goes on and on. South Florida was fortunate enough to have two generations of blues guitar heroes perform for us at Au Renè Theater in the Broward Center of the Performing Arts on the 14th of April.
Born in Texas in 1954, Eric Johnson started tearing up the blues rock guitar scene as a solo artist after years of session work. He played with artists like Carole King and Christopher Cross in the late '70s and early ‘80s. His blend of rock, jazz, blues and fusion, which include quick, complex chord changes and lightning-fast runs, earned him many ‘Guitarist of the Year’ awards from several publications in the 1980s. His instrumental music eventually won him a Grammy for one of the most iconic guitar instrumental pieces of all time, “Cliffs of Dover.”
Eric‘s three-piece band kicked off the show at 7:30 with a cover of the Beatles’ “Things we said today.” The trio rocked the next two songs, “Righteous” and “Caravan” before Eric picked up an acoustic guitar and played “Song for George,” a song dedicated to a guitarist friend of his named George Washington. The next number was back to his signature Fender Stratocaster and another dedication to a friend, “SRV” for Stevie Ray Vaughan. The guys decided to mix it up a little for the next song. Eric was brought a beautiful sunburst Gibson Less Paul to play the next few songs. The first one was simply an E flat blues jam that really showed off the musical chops of the three performers. To end his set, he was brought back his signature Strat and finished off with two of his most popular songs, “Desert Rose” and the aforementioned, Grammy winning “Cliffs of Dover.” For 50 minutes, Eric, bassist Daniel Kimbro and drummer Tal Bergman delighted the crowd with superb musicianship rarely seen nowadays. I would have liked his set to have lasted longer.
Born in Louisiana in 1977, Kenny Wayne Shepherd helped bring mainstream attention back to the blues in the mid ‘90s with his debut 1995 album, Ledbetter Heights. It went platinum and produced the radio hit “Déjà Voodoo.” The current tour is a dedication to that work, and it’s the first time he’s played it in its entirety.
Shepherd and his seven-piece band took to the stage and rocked the title track, “Ledbetter Heights.” The horn section and piano player traded solos with Kenny, who switched his Fender Stratocaster guitars just about every song. Just past the midpoint of the album, Kenny switched to a Gibson Les Paul set up for a slide during “Aberdeen Mississippi Blues.” From that song on, the Fender Stratocaster came back and was Kenny’s instrument of choice. Once the album was played in its entirety, the crew cranked out a few other of his popular tunes, including “I Got a Woman,” “Watch you Go” and “Talk to Me, Baby.” It was at this point that Kenny introduced his musical accompaniment. With him was longtime vocalist Noah Hunt and drummer Chris Layton. Rounding out the rest of the gang was Chris McCormick on bass, Joe Brown on keys, Doug Wolverton on trumpet and Charlie Diploma on sax.
The band finished the night with Kenny’s most popular tune “Blue on Black” before closing with “Turn to Stone.” All the artists came to the front of the stage and received well-deserved applause as they took their final bows. It’s fabulous to see a crowded house to support the talent. They truly prove the blues are alive and well. Both of the guitarists will keep it going strong into the foreseeable future.
