Review: Kenny Wayne Shepherd ‘Dirt On My Diamonds Vol. 1’
By Stephen Guppy
Of all the extraordinary blues guitarists born in the mid-1970’s— Kirk Fletcher, Joe Bonamassa, Eric Gales, Ana Popovic, Philip Sayce, Erja Lyytinen, Aynsley Lister, and so on—Kenny Wayne Shepherd (b.1977) is among the most accessible to a general, cross-genre audience. Gifted with a voice that’s made for country radio and a knack for co-writing hook-laden, memorable songs—in addition to his stellar guitar chops—Shepherd has all the tools required to succeed in blues, R&B, and country. His latest full-length release, Dirt On My Diamonds Vol. 1, puts those qualities on display.
This new set sees the five-time Grammy nominee singing lead on as many songs as co-vocalist Noah Hunt. The contrast between Shepherd’s voice and Hunt’s opens up some intriguing possibilities; KWS works in a slightly higher range, but it’s the difference in tone between Hunt’s straight-ahead rock-singer voice and Shepherd’s down-home country twang that gives the album such an interesting range of textures.
Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 1 was composed in FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and recorded in Los Angeles with Marshall Altman and Shepherd sharing the producer’s chair. Altman co-authored five of the nine songs with Shepherd, while Dylan Altman, Philip White, and James LeBlanc also contributed to some of the songs. In addition to Hunt and Shepherd, the core group of musicians included bassist Kevin McCormick and Chris “Whipper” Layton on drums.
The title track of Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s new album invites comparison to his ““Diamonds & Gold” from Lay It On Down (2017), but the songs don’t have a lot in common thematically. “Dirt on My Diamonds” is a hooky country-style number powered along by an insistent bass line and punchy horn arrangements. This is KWS, however, not some country guitar player straight from the Ryman, so the guitar fills are epic.
On “Sweet & Low” Shepherd puts the pedal to the metal—the wah-wah pedal, that is. This cut should take its place on the podium next to “Blue on Black”, “Woman Like You”, “Baby Got Gone”, and “Born with a Broken Heart”; it’s another irresistible, hook-heavy hit.
“Best Of Times” offers a topical take on small-town America and the hard-working folks who live there. The song was inspired by a drive that KWS and Marshall Altman took through just such a down-at-the-heels but still proud and vibrant community. The arrangement exploits the contrast between the two front-men’s voices: Hunt takes the verses, Shepherd the chorus.
“You Can’t Love Me” is from the country side of Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Once again, the lyric and song structure are perfectly crafted, right down to the catchy lick that frames the chorus. The twang’s the thang here, and were it not for the bluesy solo that takes us into the bridge, this cut would be CMA material.
“You Can’t Love Me”
“Bad Intentions” offers a striking solo while continuing the country-song vocal/hard rock accompaniment approach that characterizes this album. The horns and keyboard contribute to a layered effect, embellishing the brontosaurus bass riff.
Like a lot of country singers and blues-rockers of his generation, KWS seems nostalgic for the “classic rock” of the ‘seventies. His resurrection of “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting”, Elton John’s hit from his 1973 Yellow Brick Road LP, will conjure up the Ghosts of Bacchanalia Past for folks who were around in those halcyon days, while younger peeps will get a taste of the upbeat party-rock that defined that decade. You don’t have to be Nostradamus to predict what song KWS and his mates will be wheeling out for encores on his up-coming tour.
Shepherd stated that he “didn’t want this record to be dark or dreary…There’s not a lot of incredibly heart-wrenching or difficult subject matter…My goal is always to make music that makes people feel good, regardless of what it’s about.” Well, sure, that’s an admirable sentiment, but this is blues-rock, right? On the album’s final cut, “Ease On My Mind” KWS drops the sunny ways and goes to the dark side: “Ain’t nothing as empty, brother/as a house that was once a home”. It’s a near-seven-minute slow blues that’s a showcase for his guitar mastery. If you’re a blues guitar aficionado—and you are—you’ll love this one, deep blue emotions and all.
You come away from Diamonds & Dirt, Vol.1 filled with admiration for the craftmanship of Shepherd and Altman, not to mention the other band members and songwriting collaborators—this set is a master-class in songwriting, arranging, and production. There’s no wasted space, but there’s also no clutter. The song comes first, and the fills and embellishments highlight the story-telling and song-structure rather than pushing those aspects aside. That said, KWS and Altman always find room for the guitarist’s creative and emotive performances, and the other band members remind us why they’re first-call musicians.
That Vol.1 tag on the title of this new release implies that there’s more to come. Did KWS and his associates put another nine or ten tracks in the can before they hitched a ride out of Muscle Shoals? Based on what they’ve offered up in Vol.1, we can only hope so.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd website
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