Music Documentary: Kenny Wayne Shepherd - 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads

The beauty of the landscape, along with the harsh heat and humidity make it easy to see why the South was the natural birthplace of the Blues. The difficult life encompassed by the wonder of nature was a stepping-stone for the ability of blues musicians to sing about their lives without creating negative music. That is what Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s CD/DVD 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads is about. It documents the birthplace of the Blues with none other than the men and women who started it.


On the documentary, Kenny Wayne Shepherd says, “Blues has been around this long, I don’t think it’s going anywhere.” But the artists who started the Blues are aging and Kenny Wayne Shepherd wanted to capture their influence and play with them before it was too late. So he set out with a portable recording studio and a film crew on a ten-day journey through the South culminating in a concert with the Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters’ bands at the Church at Blue Heaven Studios.

Along his journey he recorded in juke joints and kitchens, in the woods and on front porches; he recorded the Blues where it was meant to be played and where it was born. He caught up with artists who are household names like B.B. King but he also met up with musicians who were satisfied just getting by and therefore never became famous, but everyone he played with helped shape the Blues and give it heart. Each track on 10 Days Out was recorded as you see it on the DVD. There are no fancy tricks or editing but real artists recording the Blues as it has always been played, and for some that was before music was written down.


Matching the rawness of the music is the intimacy of the documentary. We’re given a glimpse inside their homes and into their pasts. The beautiful shots are balanced with fuzzier ones showing the realness to the grit. Everything about 10 Days Out is real and that is what makes it so important.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd declares he’s “just another soul searching for the answers.” Hopefully he found them on his fifth album, taking it back to the roots with some impressive guests like B.B. King, Henry Townsend, Etta Baker, Big Daddy Pattman, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Buddy Flett, Bryan Lee, and more. Honoring the Blues, Kenny Wayne Shepherd captured some amazing tracks without crowding the talents of the original bluesmen. 10 Days Out is a piece of history, documenting the Blues in an unrepeatable way as six of the Blues veterans he visited passed away before the album’s release.

Check out the trailer for the documentary and hear Kenny Wayne Shepherd play with B.B. King on “The Thrill Is Gone” and you, too, will understand why you need to buy 10 Days Out. Partial proceeds are being donated to Music Maker Relief Foundation, a non-profit organization helping impoverished blues artists. More information about the artists involved and the project itself can be found at the Official Website.