Platinum-selling, five-time GRAMMY-nominated blues-rock icon Kenny Wayne Shepherd has announced a major new tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his groundbreaking debut album, Ledbetter Heights. The “Ledbetter Heights 30th Anniversary Tour” will launch February 19th, 2026 in Dallas, TX, and will bring Shepherd and his band to Cincinnati, OH for a performance at Taft Theatre on April 23.
The tour will feature songs from Ledbetter Heights, performed in its entirety as well as songs highlighting Shepherd’s remarkable 30-year career. This anniversary celebration marks a new chapter for Shepherd - one that revisits the fire and grit of his 1995 debut while showcasing his evolution as one of modern blues’ most vital and enduring voices.
Thirty years ago, a young Kenny Wayne from Shreveport, Louisiana – armed with a Fender Strat – brought the blues roaring back into the mainstream. With fiery fretwork, pop-rock hooks, and a deep reverence for the genre, Shepherd’s debut album, Ledbetter Heights, became a breakout success - going Gold within months, Platinum by early 1996, and eventually landing the guitarist at No. 3 on Guitar World’s list of top blues artists, behind only B.B. King and Eric Clapton.
“In a lot of ways, this is the album that gave me everything,” says Shepherd. “Revisiting it put me back in touch with the wonder and excitement of those days. I didn’t know what lay ahead. I just knew I loved playing the blues.”
Originally recorded while Shepherd was still in high school, Ledbetter Heights was the culmination of years spent absorbing Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix licks on cassette, then translating them into a sound all his own. He wrote or co-wrote nearly every track on the record - uncommon for a teenage blues guitarist at the time - and named the album in honor of an historic neighborhood in his hometown, paying tribute to local blues legend Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter.
The album catapulted Shepherd into the national spotlight and set the tone for a career that’s seen him tour with the likes of Bob Dylan, Van Halen, The Rolling Stones, and Lynyrd Skynyrd; earn five GRAMMY nominations; and release a string of chart-topping albums that bridge blues tradition with modern rock swagger.
Far from resting on early success, Shepherd has remained one of the genre’s most restless and respected innovators. His 12-album discography (plus two albums with supergroup The Rides, alongside Stephen Stills and Barry Goldberg) reflects a deep commitment to blues history – and a refusal to stand still. His recent collaboration with 91-year-old blues icon Bobby Rush (Young Fashioned Ways) and the genre-busting double album Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 1 & 2 are proof of an artist still stretching, still growing, still listening.
This 30th anniversary chapter promises to bring things full circle, especially for longtime fans who will finally get to hear vocalist Noah Hunt perform the Ledbetter Heights material live. Hunt has appeared on every other Kenny Wayne Shepherd album since his debut, but never sang on the original release – making this tour a meaningful and long-anticipated moment. As Shepherd puts it, “That’s always been the missing piece - and now the circle feels complete.”
