Guests who purchased tickets for the concert directly from Fraze FanFare, Fraze ticket office, Etix online or over the phone will automatically receive a refund within 14 days.
For additional information, contact the Fraze at 937-296-3300 or visit Fraze.com.
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Blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd, the father of six children ages 3 to 13, was running errands with his youngest when he took a break to answer some questions over the telephone. The 44-year-old-native of Shreveport, Louisiana, performing at Fraze Pavilion in Kettering on Tuesday, Aug. 31, discussed life during quarantine, new music and returning to the road for a limited number of concerts.
Q: How did the shutdowns impact your plans for 2020 and beyond?
A: We had all of 2020 and most of 2021 booked when the pandemic hit and the lockdowns happened. Everybody has been in this perpetual cycle of having to reschedule shows and reschedule shows. After continuing to do that and getting toward the end of last year, we took a wait-a-see approach because it wasn’t really clear how this year was going to turn out. For some people, it’s still not clear how the rest of this year is going to be.
Q: How did you occupy yourself during the unprecedented break from the road?
A: It’s definitely the most amount of time I’ve stayed home consistently since my wife and I began having children and it’s been pretty incredible. We made a conscious effort we were going to make lifelong memories for our kids. We’ve done a lot of things over the past year-and-a-half that I believe our kids will remember for the rest of their lives and we will too. That’s been great. We made the best of the situation and had a lot of good times together. We did a lot things we wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise. It wasn’t extravagant stuff. It’s like, taking them camping, going out hiking and finding waterfalls in the woods and other things anybody could’ve done given the circumstances.
Q: When did you get back to performing live?
A: We’ve been taking it slowly. We did three shows in June, one in July and three in August. It’s kind of sporadic and that’s not normal for us. We ended up being a little more cautious and decided to roll most of the touring dates we had on the books into next year. We’re going to have like 25 shows by the time this year is over, if they all happen. We usually do around 120 shows a year or more so that’s a huge drop.
Q: What was it like getting back out with the band and playing for people again?
A: It was awesome. This is the thing we live to do. Everybody was just salivating and waiting and ready to pounce on the opportunity to get back out and do what we feel like we’re meant to do, which is entertain people, play music for them and bring joy to their lives through music. We were fired up. We just got up and started doing what we do, man. We followed our instincts and we really had a great time doing those shows.
Q: What’s the plan for the studio album you finished before the March 2020 shutdowns?
A: We’ve got almost two albums worth of material and it’s still sitting there. I’m just waiting and kind of calculating. Some people released albums but we chose to hold off. The whole point of us putting out a record is so we can tour behind it and support it and bring the new music to the people. I’m patiently optimistic we’ll be able to put that album out next year, but until we know that’s going to happen and they’re not going to yank it all away from us again, I’m waiting.
Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or e-mail at donthrasher100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
Who: Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band with special guest Larkin Poe and Shemekia Copeland
Where: Fraze Pavilion, 695 Lincoln Park Blvd., Kettering
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 31
Cost: $30-$55 in advance, $35-$60 day of show
More info: 937-296-3300 or www.fraze.com
Artist info: www.kennywayneshepherd.net
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