Kenny Wayne Shepherd reveals what he admires about Billy Gibbons’ songwriting
Like most guitarists, Kenny Wayne Shepherd finds inspiration in many of the artists who paved their way in music before he launched his own career.
As Shepherd recently told Blues Rock Review ahead of the release of his new album, Dirt On My Diamonds, Vol. 2, Jimi Hendrix is, unsurprisingly, one of the “biggest influences” on Shepherd and his music. He has been paying tribute to Hendrix through his years-long involvement with the Experience Hendrix Tour, which kicks off again this month for several U.S. dates running through October 19.
Another significant standout for Shepherd is Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. “I love Billy Gibbons,” Shepherd said during our recent phone conversation. “I’ve loved him my whole life. He’s one of my favorite guys, one of my favorite guitar players.”
As artists, Shepherd and Gibbons have a lot in common musically, from their skill and passion for playing guitar to their love of blues and rock. But there’s another interest outside of music that they share—and Shepherd said he really admires the way that Gibbons is able to make that interest relevant to his songwriting.
That mutual “love for cars” is what inspired Shepherd to record ZZ Top’s “She Loves My Automobile” for his newest album. It’s the only cover on the eight-track collection, and is placed at the very end. It’s a fun, upbeat interpretation of the popular song from 1979’s Degüello that feels like the perfect way to wrap the two-volume Dirt On My Diamonds project, which Shepherd and his band first began working on back in 2019.
“That’s just one of those songs,” Shepherd said while explaining why he chose “She Loves My Automobile” for Vol. 2. He compared the track to “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide” and “Manic Mechanic,” two more Degüello songs that feature lyrics about cars and those who love to drive them.
Gibbons “has so many songs that he’s written where he’s tied together his love for his automobiles and brought it into his music that he’s written,” Shepherd said. “He’s done it in such a clever way, and it just really speaks to me as a car enthusiast and as a lover of this kind of music.”
The two guitarists’ similarities aside, Shepherd said that “She Loves My Automobile” has “always been one of my favorite songs” of ZZ Top’s. When it came time to finalize the material that would appear on Vol. 2, it wasn’t hard for Shepherd to greenlight the track’s inclusion.
“I thought it was a great opportunity to do that, because it pulls all those passions together for me,” he said.
