Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s life was galvanized and his musical sensibilities awakened by Hard Again, an iconic 1977 album by Muddy Waters in collaboration with guitarist/producer Johnny Winter. Now a five-time Grammy-nominated blues legend himself, Shepherd reflects, “Writing and recording Young Fashioned Ways with Bobby Rush is my own personal Hard Again moment. Shepherd and Rush – born about 44 years apart – joined forces for the heart and soul-transforming sessions that led to Young Fashioned Ways’ 10 stunning tracks featuring Shepherd’s electrifying trademark guitarisma and Rush’s soulful vocals, rhythm guitar, and down-home harmonica playing. The lead single from Young Fashioned Ways, the fast and funky, high-octane someone done me wrong romp “Who Was That,” will appear in Flight Risk, a film starring Mark Wahlberg and directed by Mel Gibson that released in January 2025. Rush says “Just as music keeps me young, so does learning something new every day. It’s like he said, this kind of album is a rare thing, and when it comes to the blues these days, you can’t get much better than we have done it.”