Kenny Wayne Shepherd is ready to resume ‘The Traveler’ at Northern Quest

While touring behind his latest album, “The Traveler,” two years ago, Kenny Wayne Shepherd had to halt road work due to the pandemic.

“It was frustrating,” Shepherd said. “We were booked all the way through 2020 and through half of 2021, and it was all scrapped. I don’t want to complain since everyone’s lives were interrupted. It just slowed everything down.”

The venerable blues guitarist already had an album in the can. “I’m just sitting on all of this new music,” Shepherd said while calling from his San Juan Capistrano, California, home. “I’m trying to figure out when the time is right to release the material.”

The new tunes will have to wait. Shepherd, who is on the road with his band, which includes vocalist Noah Hunt, drummer Chris Layton, bassist Kevin McCormick, keyboardist Joe Krown, trumpet player Mark Pender and saxophonist Joe Sublett, believes the next album will drop in 2023.

When the Shreveport, Louisiana, native performs Sunday at Northern Quest Resort & Casino, don’t expect him to preview tracks.

“I don’t want the first impression for fans to have of this new music to be of a cell phone recording,” Shepherd said. “I want them to hear the best version of the song. I’m old school that way. When we come to town, much of the focus will be on ‘The Traveler.’ That tour never ended, so we’re still focusing on it.”

“The Traveler” is well worth experiencing since it’s Shepherd’s most eclectic album. Blues, country, rock and R&B are part of the sonic mix. Most of the songs are gritty and earnest, such as “We All Alright,” and there is the infectious “Gravity” with soaring harmonies.

And then there’s Shepherd’s cover of the Buffalo Springfield classic “Mr. Soul.”

“A few years ago, I was with my other band (the Rides) with Stephen Stills, and we did a charity event and Neil Young came out and we played ‘Mr. Soul,’ ” Shepherd said. “We played that and Neil’s ‘Rockin’ in the Free World.’ I loved it. That night, I thought that my band could do a kickass version of ‘Mr. Soul.’ “

Shepherd was correct since his high-octane take, which features hot horn action and an incendiary guitar solo, takes Young’s classic to another place. Speaking of the guitar, there’s been much made of the decline of the guitar and the blues, but Shepherd doesn’t believe it.

“I see what’s been written about that, as well, but if it were true, why did Fender sell more guitars in 2020 than in any other year in their history?” Shepherd said. “During the pandemic, a lot of people who never played the guitar had the time to learn how to play it, and they did it. The guitar isn’t going away, the blues isn’t going away, and our band isn’t going away.”

Shepherd is thinking about embarking on a tour to mark the 25th anniversary of his breakthrough album, “Trouble Is.” “There’s so much on our plate,” Shepherd said. “We might be going out behind ‘Trouble Is.’ We have our next album in the can, and we’re still touring behind ‘The Traveler.’

“I’m excited about being out on tour and getting back to the Pacific Northwest. I still remember being (on a bill) with Lynyrd Skynyrd and playing the Gorge in 1997. We were playing, and they stopped the show due to lightning and thunder. But we’ve come back again and again to the Pacific Northwest. The fans up there have always been so supportive.”