Kenny Wayne Shepherd believes he knows a hit song when he hears one. So it was no surprise to him when "Blue on Black" climbed up the charts for him in 1998. It reached No. 1 six times and stayed on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts for 42 weeks.
What did surprise him was that it took nearly 10 years for someone else to cover it as Five Finger Death Punch did last year. Earlier this year, they recorded a version with Shepherd, country artist Brantley Gilbert and Queen guitarist Brian May.
"I believe it has longevity and crosses boundaries. A rock artist could do it. A blues rock artist or a country artist could cover it," Shepherd said.
If you go
› What: Big Foot Blues Festival› Where: Baggenstoss Farms, 514 Brawley Road, Tracy City, Tennessee› When: 2:30-11 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19; 1:30-3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20; all times Central› Admission: $90 or $170 VIP for one day; $125 or $280 VIP for two-day ticket; camping and parking packages also sold› For more information: https://www.bigfootbluesfestival.com/› Phone: 931-488-8652
That's why both cover versions have worked, he said. Proceeds from the collaborative effort are going to the Gary Sinise Foundation benefiting first responders.
"It has a really cool multigenre thing about it, all coming together doing this amazing song for an amazing purpose and it blew up again," Shepherd said.
Five Finger Death Punch's Zoltan Bathory told Billboard that the collaboration was a "unification" project in the music world.
"We feel like it's a multidimensional, multilevel effort unifying the different genres," he said. "There was a time when music was always a unifying element, when the genre didn't matter - a good song was a good song. This segregation in musical genres came later, and it's still pretty segregated. I think music has to regain this place where it's unification. So for us, it's an honor to have this record with these people and have hard rock, classic rock, country all together on a song. It's not too far from each other, but still far enough so it's definitely a representation of different genres coming together."
Shepherd, 41, is the headliner for this weekend's new Big Foot Blues Festival in Tracy City, Tennessee, on Monteagle Mountain.
Shepherd has a new record out called "The Traveler," and it features him on some of the vocals. Longtime friend and lead singer Noah Hunt is still very much part of the band, and Shepherd said the addition of his voice gives them "more talent in the band and two lead singers."
Hunt has been the group's singer to Shepherd's guitar licks since 1997.
"We get along really well," Shepherd said of Hunt.
"We are like the brothers each never had. We've always related to each other. We've been on the road for so long, and thankfully we haven't had any real issues."
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.