"I know what people must think," says Kenny Wayne Shepherd. "'Oh, Kenny Wayne Shepherd? He's a blues guy. He must listen to blues all the time.' But you know, that's not always the case."

Although he's now regarded as one of the most popular practitioners of modern-day blues, Shepherd's childhood was filled with a varied menu of musical forms. His father was a general manager and on-air personality for several radio stations in the guitarist's hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, and Shepherd recalls hearing "pretty much everything you can imagine on all the formats – Top 40, rock, country, you name it. Plus, I got to see just about any band that came to town. It was a great musical education."