Guitar slinger Kenny Wayne Shepherd is set to return to the Summit City on Friday, June 14, for a performance at the Sweetwater Performance Pavilion.

Now twenty-plus years into his recording career, Shepherd continues to create genre-defining blues-infused rock n’ roll. His talent has sold millions of albums worldwide, earned five Grammy nominations, two Billboard Music Awards, and two Blues Music Awards. Our local airwaves have been awfully generous to him during the span, spinning tunes like “Blue on Black,” “Deja Voodoo,” and “Slow Ride.” We’ve even be blessed to have him perform in town on a handful of occasions.

Opening the show that evening will be American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist Samantha Fish.

Tickets go on sale Friday, March 8, at 10 a.m. at the Sweetwater campus, Neat Neat Neat Records, all three Wooden Nickel record store locations, and via eventbrite.com and sweetwaterpavilion.com.

Dio Heads for exit ramp

Big news from the Left Lane Cruiser camp as drummer Pete Dio is stepping down from his duties. After five years of touring the globe with LLC, Dio is turning his attention to family and making up for lost time with his other musical projects such as the Riverbottom Nitemare Band, Old and Dirty, Creepy Neighbors, and his latest creation, Uno Vulture and The Heavy Dose.

It will be weird not seeing Dio with LLC anymore, but, as you can see, we’ll have plenty of chances elsewhere. In fact, you’ll be able to catch Uno Vulture & The Heavy Dose on Friday, March 8, at The Ruin alongside Wolfbearhawk.

As for LLC, original drummer Brenn Beck is returning to the fold and already has a couple of road dates to put on his calendar. There’s also talk of new music from the band, so we’ll have to wait and see when that may be. In any event, good luck to both parties!

All Aboard new Trainhoppers EP

The Legendary Trainhoppers have announced the release of their new EP, It Takes a Lot. In addition to the title track, the three-song EP features the tunes “The Way Up” and “Santa Ana.” It was recorded with Jason Davis at Off the Cuff Sound where they previously recorded 2017’s Let It Breathe.

This fine piece of work will be released at a special performance on Sunday, March 24, in an abandoned commercial space on The Landing. The performance will be entirely acoustic and limited to 50 ticket holders. The precise location will be emailed to ticket holders on or around Friday, March 22. If you would like to attend, you can purchase tickets through Eventbrite. Looking ahead, this new EP will be followed by a full-length in 2020.

Local rockers open for Zoso

We’ll have the pleasure of seeing local jam rockers Earphorik on The Clyde stage on Saturday, May 11. That evening, they’ll be opening for Zoso — The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience which, together, will make for an unbelievable experience. Tickets for this show are going to set you back only $15.

Out and About covers Northeast Indiana’s most interesting music and arts events. Send your announcements to info@whatzup.com.