[bluesrockreview.com]

The Blues Foundation announced that they have rescinded Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s 2021 Blues Music Award nomination for “Best Blues Rock Artist.”

The foundation released the following statement, “The decision to rescind the nomination was based upon continuing revelations of representations of the Confederate flag on Shepherd’s “General Lee” car, guitars and elsewhere. The Blues Foundation has also asked Ken Shepherd, father of Kenny Wayne Shepherd, to step down as a member of its Board of Directors. The Blues Foundation states that it is resolute in its commitment to purposefully address racism and contribute to a more equitable blues community.”

The Blues Foundation’s statement also said, “The Blues Foundation unequivocally condemns all forms and expressions of racism, including all symbols associated with white supremacy and the degradation of people of color. We will hold ourselves as well as all blues musicians, fans, organizations, and members of the music industry accountable for racist actions and encourage concrete commitments to acknowledge and redress the resulting pain.”

Shepherd took to Facebook to respond and released the following statement saying,

“We have been told this decision has been made because in recent days, concerns have been raised regarding one of the cars in my muscle car collection. The car was built 17 years ago as a replica and homage to the iconic car in the television series, The Dukes of Hazzard. That CBS show was one of the highest rated and most popular programs of its era and like millions of others, I watched it every week. In the show, one of the central ‘characters’ was a muscle car which displayed a confederate flag on its roof. Years ago I put that car in permanent storage and some time ago, I made the decision to permanently cover the flag on my car because it was completely against my values and offensive to the African American community which created the music I love so much and I apologize to anyone that I have unintentionally hurt because of it.”

Shepherd concluded, “I want to make something very clear and unequivocal; I condemn and stand in complete opposition to all forms of racism and oppression and always have.”



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-03-19 08:50 by JohnnyBGoode.

Pretty stupid, but I guess the award is pretty vapid anyhow. I mean, if the song was so great as to be nominated but it was rescinded because of something completely unrelated to the song, how was the nomination of any merit to begin with. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

Maybe he could switch over to Country music awards?

jb

As a straight, southern, Christian, white male, I have found out that I am the cause of all troubles in this world.

As a younger man, we would wave the Confederate flag at concerts to show pride in being from the south.

I am not a Klan member, I don't want slavery, and I don't hate people based on race. Just proud of where I'm from (as you are probably proud of where you're from).

That said, since the Confederate flag is considered offensive by some, I no longer display it in any shape, form, or fashion.

However, I would defend Kenny's right to own a General Lee car and paint whatever he wants on his guitar. Is the award for music or politics?

That flag is a symbol that is constantly being defined differently by people. To some it’s racism and slavery, to others it’s white supremacy, and believe it or not to others it’s a sign of the geographical southern United States. That’s the thing with symbols, they mean different things to different people. Some people see the American flag as a refuge and a protector, while others that live here want to burn it as it has no significance whatsoever.

I’m from the north, but I had a grandmother from the south. She never had any “rebel” flags but she was damn proud of being southern. She also wasn’t the least bit racist and loved my former biracial girlfriend who was half black. In fact, I’ve met more racist people in cities up north than down south.

I’m from the north, I love NASCAR (more so as a kid than I do anymore) and black music. This might explode a few people’s heads and I suppose I’m about to receive some backlash from that nut that said all NASCAR fans are racist inbreds. People are unique and have their own opinions.

Great posts from Elmo Lewis TravelinMan!

As a Brit - from the south of England, actually - I do find the Confederacy and the relationship present-day southerners have with the flag and what it stands for. Believe it or not: England's flag - the flag of Saint George - is fairly divisive, too.

Somebody say he can't display his General Lee car or paint whatever he wants on his guitar??
No?? Just rescinded an award nomination over it?
Good.

It's actions like this that have made people who used to display it proudly at concerts etc. finally, begrudgingly, acknowledge the hate symbol for what it is/was.
It's not just considered offensive to some, it is offensive.

Off to the ash heap of history with it and anyone who still wants to proudly display it or a swastica.

There is some similarity to the Union Jack in the Confederate flag. History. So much fun.

Quote
GasLightStreet
There is some similarity to the Union Jack in the Confederate flag. History. So much fun.

In the 70's, The Union Jack was vilified due to it's association with the far-right's National Front movement. Since the 90's, it's been the turn of the flag of Saint George. Unless it's been lofted or waved at a football match, it's seen as being the symbol of 'white racist Britain' There's this misconception that to be 'English', you have to be white-skinned, you see. Unfortunately, England's flag has been caught-up in this nonsense.

Quote
GasLightStreet
There is some similarity to the Union Jack in the Confederate flag. History. So much fun.

And the U.K. government's sympathy towards the confederacy, I suppose. It's my understanding that the government of the day were considering building the south battleships in Liverpool.

Hmm....in THAT case....

Eric Clapton said openly fascist and racist things on stage.

let's take away all his awards!!

Jagger said the N-word on Exile....take away ALL awards!

Tom Petty used to use the Confederate Flag....kick him out of the HOF!

Brown Sugar is racist! So is Some Girls (and sexist-mysogynistic)!!!

BAN BROWN SUGAR FROM THE RADIO!! BAN THE ROLLING STONES!!!

Ice-T sang COP KILLER! Take away his awards!!!

ooooh....the Beatles "Revolution" (and TC's "Talkin' Bout a Revolution")....they are SEDITIONISTS!!! NO AWARDS FOR YOU!!

EVERY Allied WWII soldier who keeps a Nazi Souvenir in their display case....take away their Bronze and Silver Stars for BRAVERY!!! YOU SCUM!!!

what a joke....maybe if so-called liberals didn't wield their liberalism like a club, we'd actually get somewhere....

yeah, the confederate flag is garbage....I hear that. Not into it at all. But, that's not the point.

ps...the Swastika is a Buddhist symbol and was looooong before HitlerDouche...so, any Eurocentric "you can't display that" statements are just that....Eurocentric.

pps....don't forget to ban, condemn and/or take away WHATEVER from anybody who owns/wears this shirt....

and certainly the person who sells it should be banned from Ebay

in fact....ban the whole album and/or make the Stones come up w/ a new cover (and take away awards for totally un-related music/things)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-03-19 16:10 by stickyfingers101.

Wow.. all those examples from history.
History being the operative word.

This is what gaslighting looks like.
Taking a current rebuke of racism and its symbols, equating it with things that have occurred in the past that have zero to do with the current topic,
and hyperventilating over it like that's the real issue.

Comical.

Wow. This brought back a memory. Many moons ago on a family vacation we stopped at Luray, Virginia, for a tour of the caverns there. What struck us as odd was that the town was filled with replicas of the General Lee, the car from the Dukes of Hazzard television show. Talking with some of the folks who owned these cars we discovered that they were there as part of an annual celebration of the show and the car. They saw the show as a reflection of the south and its own customs, way of life. Picture a couple of hundred General Lee's parked and or cruising around and you'll get the idea of what Luray was like that weekend. No fan of the show, but I thought it was pretty cool these folks were into it. Same with Kenny Wayne. The car is part of his time, his culture, and yes, there is a southern culture here in the U-S-of A, different from other parts of my country, just as the American southwest where I now live is different from the East coast where I grew up. What I am getting at is that Kenny Wayne's car should have no bearing on him and his music and he need not apologize for it. I feel the same regarding any number of things people now want removed from the history books and the public square. Things happen and happened we may not agree with, but this is how we learn, grow, by discussing them and using them as learning tools for the future.

Reading this thread it is easy to pick out those who fall on the dividing line of the symbols represent history and not meant to be racist and those who are flat out racists.

I fully expect those who are the flat out racists to come after me for this comment. Then again they are also the same same anti-maskers who dismiss Covid as a flu or a hoax. You know who you are and so does everyone else.

My view on the music award is so what. Who cares. Kenny Wayne Shepherd has some talent but he is also not someone who I am going to seek to see but if I had nothing to do and someone had a ticket I might go.

Quote
MisterDDDD
Wow.. all those examples from history.
History being the operative word.

This is what gaslighting looks like.
Taking a current rebuke of racism and its symbols, equating it with things that have occurred in the past that have zero to do with the current topic,
and hyperventilating over it like that's the real issue.

Comical.

You miss the point.

Just wondering: Were you OK w/ Bill Wyman's Movie getting BANNED in certain theaters b/c of his past relationship w/ an underage girl?

(I was not...but I do believe private theaters can do as they wish, as can these Blues Award People...I simply disagree w/ their decision)

what's comical (to me) is being in favor of taking away music awards TODAY for owning a replica car you built 17 years ago and put in storage and had the symbol covered up.

Wondering: Since KWS built the car 17 years ago...is that be enough "history" for you to let it go, as you seem to do w/ the Stones (and others)?

or is the issue that he still owns the car?

The Stones recorded Exile a long(er) time ago in "history"...but, they still "own" it today, do they not?

The album is still for sale publicly (unlike KWS's car which is for personal, private use and not for sale).....It has the same cover and the lyrics are the same as they always were...(not covered up and put away, like KWS's car)

if a private record shop wants to stop selling the album, it's their right....I defend that right....same w/ the Blues Award people.

I simply disagree with such policies b/c it reeks of so-called PC-liberalism run amuck, IMO....and "banning" borders more on extreme conservatism than liberalism, IMO.

I don't like the flag either...and if the Award People (whoever they are) want to ban KWS, that's their choice...

However, I don't have to agree with it....and my point is, if Kenny can catch crap for his "racist" car sitting in storage, I'm not sure how Mick dropping N-bombs is somehow exempt....esp. since the song is still for sale w/ his name on the lyrics.

if you don't agree with me, we can agree to disagree...no problem.

I’m not surprised that Kenny Wayne Shepherd would own a replica General Lee car. It’s an iconic vehicle from a certain era of pop culture, and was never associated with racist connotations during The Dukes Of Hazzard series’ tenure.

The show was built around many cultural archetypes and stereotypes, like other shows set in the South (Green Acres, Miami Vice are two), and like a lot of other shows not set in the South (All In The Family, The Jeffersons, M*A*S*H), helped mold those collective beliefs.

Seems like a guy like Billy Idol would be more of a target than the guy with a trophy car from the tv show he watched as a kid. “Rebel Yell”, “White Wedding”?

Quote
daspyknows
Reading this thread it is easy to pick out those who fall on the dividing line of the symbols represent history and not meant to be racist and those who are flat out racists.

I fully expect those who are the flat out racists to come after me for this comment. Then again they are also the same same anti-maskers who dismiss Covid as a flu or a hoax. You know who you are and so does everyone else.

My view on the music award is so what. Who cares. Kenny Wayne Shepherd has some talent but he is also not someone who I am going to seek to see but if I had nothing to do and someone had a ticket I might go.

There is always the person who will find any reason to call others racist. Here he is. A man full of virtue and wisdom.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-03-19 18:30 by stanlove.

Quote
daspyknows
Reading this thread it is easy to pick out those who fall on the dividing line of the symbols represent history and not meant to be racist and those who are flat out racists.

I fully expect those who are the flat out racists to come after me for this comment. Then again they are also the same same anti-maskers who dismiss Covid as a flu or a hoax. You know who you are and so does everyone else.

My view on the music award is so what. Who cares. Kenny Wayne Shepherd has some talent but he is also not someone who I am going to seek to see but if I had nothing to do and someone had a ticket I might go.

What's it feel like to always be on the correct side of everything?
At least you didn't call anyone stupid, for once.

Quote
nellcote'71

Quote
daspyknows
Reading this thread it is easy to pick out those who fall on the dividing line of the symbols represent history and not meant to be racist and those who are flat out racists.

I fully expect those who are the flat out racists to come after me for this comment. Then again they are also the same same anti-maskers who dismiss Covid as a flu or a hoax. You know who you are and so does everyone else.

My view on the music award is so what. Who cares. Kenny Wayne Shepherd has some talent but he is also not someone who I am going to seek to see but if I had nothing to do and someone had a ticket I might go.

What's it feel like to always be on the correct side of everything?
At least you didn't call anyone stupid, for once.

My favorite part was where he set it up so that any person who questioned anything he said is in fact a racist. Following the playbook perfectly.

His father on law is Mel Gibson. Hes been known to say some stupid things. Maybe thats something to do with it.

Quote
Big Al
Great posts from Elmo Lewis TravelinMan!

As a Brit - from the south of England, actually - I do find the Confederacy and the relationship present-day southerners have with the flag and what it stands for. Believe it or not: England's flag - the flag of Saint George - is fairly divisive, too.

People up north in the USA fly the confederate flag also. In NYS where I live you see them on back of pick up trucks all the time. What does that tell you.?

Hmmm...

Controversy aside, I used like this song when it was released in '98 -
it was on heavy rotation on the local radio station, so it was sort of ingrained.




Decent guitar player and I might have seen him opening for the Stones, but might be confusing him with Johnny Lang (?).
Whatever the case, Sheperd landed at #8 of great current blues guitarists in a recent Guitar World magazine readers poll. Kenny Wayne Shepherd #8

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Quote
More Hot Rocks
His father on law is Mel Gibson. Hes been known to say some stupid things. Maybe thats something to do with it.

Interesting

For a while, in the late 60s, early 70s, it just seemed fun, and kind of that hippie rebel spirit. The Allman Brothers had it around. Other southern bands. But people began to be enlightened on how hurtful it is. I think rescinding Kenny Wayne Shepherd's award is over the top. People need to start using common sense.

On the other hand, why does a subset of mainly working class Southerners cling to his symbol? Intentional hatred? They were the ones used by the Confederacy to fight their war to keep slaves. (And yes, the Southern States themselves said the war was about slavery). You'd think the South was stuck in 1865. They created jazz, and blues, and a whole lot better things than losing a war. Forget statues of loser Confederate Officers. Put up memorials to Elvis, Louis Armstrong, Robert Johnson, hell, Bobbie Gentry, Hank Aaron.

Any one still displaying that flag, and I've seen it up north too, is intentionally trying to hurt and alienate people. Let's be sensitive, not stupid.

I was definitely a sucker for the Dukes 0f Hazzard. The highlight was at least once per show, where the General Lee would take off and go airborne during a car chase. That car could fly across a narrow river! And the furious banjo picking in the background.

Here is 43 minutes of General Lee going airborne. Not banned on youtube!
[www.youtube.com]

Quote
stanlove

Quote
nellcote'71

Quote
daspyknows
Reading this thread it is easy to pick out those who fall on the dividing line of the symbols represent history and not meant to be racist and those who are flat out racists.

I fully expect those who are the flat out racists to come after me for this comment. Then again they are also the same same anti-maskers who dismiss Covid as a flu or a hoax. You know who you are and so does everyone else.

My view on the music award is so what. Who cares. Kenny Wayne Shepherd has some talent but he is also not someone who I am going to seek to see but if I had nothing to do and someone had a ticket I might go.

What's it feel like to always be on the correct side of everything?
At least you didn't call anyone stupid, for once.

My favorite part was where he set it up so that any person who questioned anything he said is in fact a racist. Following the playbook perfectly.

Proves my point. Winner here.

The Confederate flag is not ever meant to be a racist symbol. It is portrayed as that so people can express anger at past wrongs.
At any rate, why would anybody give a @#$%& if somebody is waving a flag. I grew up in Catholic Northern Ireland and if you want to wave a Rangers flag or the Union Jack, why the hell would I care. Why do we want to fight old battles.

Quote
wonderboy
The Confederate flag is not ever meant to be a racist symbol. It is portrayed as that so people can express anger at past wrongs.
At any rate, why would anybody give a @#$%& if somebody is waving a flag. I grew up in Catholic Northern Ireland and if you want to wave a Rangers flag or the Union Jack, why the hell would I care. Why do we want to fight old battles.

It may not be a racist symbol but a large percentage of racists sure think it is. Those waving confederate flags in Washington DC on January 6th were definitely not BLM supporters.

Thank God. Now we can have a truly just and equitable society, freed from the threat of Kenny Wayne Shepherds "Dukes of Hazard" car which is in storage. Very shrewd to get his daddy, who obviously raised him wrong, at the same time. And here I thought the Dixie Chicks sanctimoniously announcing they would now be known as "The Chicks" was the lamest thing I'd heard this year. Id boycott The Blues Foundation on principle but I dont know who they are. What the hell is wrong with people?

Quote
JohnnyBGoode
Shepherd concluded, “I want to make something very clear and unequivocal; I condemn and stand in complete opposition to all forms of racism and oppression and always have.”

His ecuses are a bit flat... He should have rolled the censors into their own sh!t by making a tongue-in-cheek statement like : "I've dedicated my life to the blues to my personal beliefs have only allowed me to listen to white-skinned fair-haired musicians. Therefore I built my knowledge of the blues idiom by listening only to Danish Swedish and Finnish musicians".

Irony and sarcasm are potent weapons against bigotry and stupidity.