Kenny Wayne Shepherd is a blues-rock guitarist and songwriter with one foot in the future and one foot in the past. Honoring the past is something blues artists do, but Shepherd has revisited his own past by rerecording his second album, Trouble Is… (which includes his biggest hit, “Blue on Black”) 25 years after its release—thus interpreting the same material at ages 20 and 45. Now Shepherd is releasing an all-new album, Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 1, that has a modern snap along with those big riffs and expressive solos. How have his playing and writing evolved since he launched his career at age 18 with Ledbetter Heights? How do his songwriting collaborations work? How does he keep his solos fresh? And what happened when he dreamt a great song and then woke up? (Photo by Mark Seliger)

Dave Wakeling (The English Beat)

There may be nothing more inspiring and entertaining than relaxed, candid conversations among creative people. Mark Caro, a relentlessly curious journalist and on-stage interviewer, loves digging into the creative process with artists and drawing out surprising stories that illuminate the work that has become part of our lives. The Caropopcast is for anyone who wants to dig deeper into the music, movies, food and culture that they love.