"I was 7 years old and Stevie was headlining this outdoor show called the Louisiana Music Festival that my dad was putting on," Shepherd begins. "Before he went out on stage, he just picked me up and set me over on the side and I just watched him play. After that I started begging for a guitar."
Now, 11 years later, the babyfaced Shepherd is commanding attention not seen since the heyday of his inspiration, that man he watched play -- Stevie Ray Vaughan.
At 18, Shepherd arguably is the nation's hottest blues guitarist. He's selling out club shows across the country. Rock radio stations are increasingly playing his songs.
And, in an ironic twist, Shepherd's debut album, "Ledbetter Heights," has just uprooted Vaughan from his hold on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard blues charts.
Shepherd was in Austin last week for the South by Southwest Music & Media Festival, not a bad gig for a teen-ager. But it's not his biggest.
Already he's played with the likes of James Brown and Bo Diddley and Robert Cray. Across town in Austin last spring, he opened for the Eagles, playing for 30,000 fans crammed into Memorial Stadium. He heads back out with the Eagles this summer for their European tour.
Last Saturday Shepherd spent his afternoon killing time on his tour bus, waiting for his 8 p.m. slot at the festival.
Beyond the band members and roadies hanging out up front, past the tiny cubbyholes they squeeze into to sleep, Shepherd slouched against a wadded up comforter in the back of the bus, picking randomly at his Fender Stratocaster guitar.
In conversation, the Shreveport, La., native is like anybody else. He's friendly but not overwhelming. He's talkative but not chatty.
On stage four hours later, he's captivating.
Seemingly unaware of the hundreds of cheering people in the audience at the Austin Music Hall, Shepherd was consumed by his music from the moment his hands touched the guitar's strings. His straight, below-the-shoulder blond hair flew in his face as his intensity increased.
You could hear other influences come through in Shepherd's playing -- a little Jimi Hendrix or Albert King, some Albert Collins or B.B. King. "Each one has their own identity and I take on stage those things I learned from them," he says.
The music of this night's show is as much arena rock as it is the blues and the self-taught Shepherd has grabbed hold of every ounce of it -- not unlike that guy he watched as a kid.
"Stevie just had a presence about him that I guess just really impacted me," Shepherd says. "The minute he took the stage until the minute he was off, it was like my eyes were straight on him. Every time that I saw him it was like the world could have blown up around me and I wouldn't have known it....
"I try to have my own presence. It could be as powerful as Stevie's or it may not be. I guess it's just up to the person watching."
Last updated by John Carnell on 5/12/96