Kenny Wayne Shepard

For over 20 years at this point, I've been hearing how amazing Kenny Wayne Shepherd is with his guitar work, from news reports, magazine reviews and my musically inclined friends in general. I wasn't terribly sure if he was going to live up to the hype.

This weekend, I learned for certain that he's everything that's been said and so much more. It makes me wonder what I had been waiting for. Having started touring professionally as a teen, I guess I was waiting until he was an 'old man' (all of 37 years old, mind you) to finally experience his music live. With the Los Lonely Boys sharing the stage as an amazing double bill, I'm so glad I did.

The brothers three known as Los Lonely Boys took the stage first. Other than a fun cover of Johnny Cash's "I Walk The Line" and their widely popular single "Heaven," I'm sad to admit that I initially didn't know much more about this band. This changed quickly as they took the stage, full of energy and spirit, winning over any of the audience members (like myself) who were waiting for Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

Guitarist Henry Garza, bassist Jo Jo Garza and drummer Ringo Garza, Jr. have perfect chemistry together performing onstage. It was clear to me that they all were gracious and thankful for the opportunities they've had thus far in the music industry. More importantly, they were having a lot of fun onstage.

Being brothers doesn't necessarily equate with getting along onstage or in the studio (the Gallagher brothers from Oasis and the Davies brothers from The Kinks are two examples that come to mind). The Garza brothers were completely in the zone on Saturday night, with multiple well deserved standing ovations for their efforts throughout the set.

I especially appreciated the 'trickery' that was going on during the songs. At one point, drummer Ringo Garza was playing the bongos with his left hand and the rest of his kit with the right hand. Henry and Jo Jo used four hands to play one guitar. Both feats were impressive to me and added to the fun theatrics of the show. A final highlight for me was their rousing rendition of Steve Winwood's "I'm A Man," which was played just before their final song "Heaven."

Having satisfaction of experiencing Los Lonely Boys for the first time, I knew that my night was about to get that much better. Before Kenny Wayne Shepherd took the stage, a short video played, which included clips of his band recording songs for the new album "Goin' Home." I was impressed with the lineup of musicians he had with him for the recording sessions, including the legendary Chris Layton (from Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble) on drums, Tony Franklin (from The Firm) on fretless bass, and Riley Osbourn (from Willie Nelson's band) on keyboards.

Figuring that Shepherd would tour with other musicians, I was elated to learn that this 'who's who' lineup joined him onstage. The whole set was the perfect blues clinic, with each band member taking their turn to shine. Having had the pleasure of seeing many great rock and blues guitarist in my day (Eric Clapton, Joe Bonamassa, Jeff Beck and Derek Trucks to name a few), Kenny Wayne Shepherd takes his place among the very best and certainly one of my favorites.

During the concert, he explained that with the new album he wanted to pay tribute to the guitar heroes that came before him. Those tributes were on display with Stevie Ray Vaughan's "House Is A Rockin'," Bo Diddley's "You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover," and B.B. King's "You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now."

The absolute highlight for me was their final song, Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile." The band was complimented by the impressive vocals of Noah Hunt, a 17-year veteran of the band. All in all, the near capacity crowd at The Pearl enjoyed two masterful 75 minute sets from two extremely talented acts.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Los Lonely Boys performed on August 1 at The Pearl Concert Theater at The Palms Casino and Hotel, 4321 West Flamingo Road in Las Vegas. For information about upcoming shows, call 702-944-3200 or visit www.palms.com/las-vegas-pearl-theater. For info about Kenny Wayne Shepherd, visit www.kennywayneshepherdband.net. For info about Los Lonely Boys, visit www.loslonelyboys.com.