‘Red’ Shepherd and his tribute to Willie Nelson

You would be forgiven if you did a double take, shook your head and rubbed your eyes on entering Santee’s combined American Legion Post 364 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9327 any Wednesday evening. You might swear you are seeing Willie Nelson live, in person, but all by his lonesome on stage. You would be wrong. That is Robert “Red” Shepherd, who bills his appearance as a Tribute to Willie, and he looks and sounds the part.

You would be forgiven if you did a double take, shook your head and rubbed your eyes on entering Santee’s combined American Legion Post 364 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9327 any Wednesday evening. You might swear you are seeing Willie Nelson live, in person, but all by his lonesome on stage. You would be wrong. That is Robert “Red” Shepherd, who bills his appearance as a Tribute to Willie, and he looks and sounds the part.

On August 13, Shepherd kicked off his show with “Whiskey River,” for a lively beginning. Shepherd brought the acoustic licks and riffs of that song to life, and then launched into “Pancho and Lefty.” Shepherd demonstrated a soulful, warbled voice, barely less grizzled and smoky than Nelson’s, and his timing with lyrics is a dead ringer.

For the Arlo Guthrie-penned “City of New Orleans,” Shepherd proved he could handle the vocal poetry that Nelson favors in his own compositions and cover tunes. Similarly, for “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” and “Luckenbach Texas,” this Willie Nelson impersonator delivered the challenging vocal inflections to move his listeners. His version of “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” was incredibly worthy. And with “Georgia on My Mind,” he showed off strong singing with a stage presence that left his audience silent momentarily before they broke into applause.

Shepherd has played guitar since he was six years old. He began playing and singing country music with his father at nine and the family moved to Idaho. Shepherd returned to San Diego 20 years ago. He worked in construction for 27 years and was a remodeling contractor for 15 of them. Shepherd recently turned 50. With a divorce behind him, Shepherd now has a second family, including a three-year-old daughter, and he has scaled back his life to spend time with her and concentrate on his music as his career. He is the first from his family to pursue an advanced degree, studying for a bachelor of arts in philosophy at MiraCosta College.

“Red” Shepherd says that he has appreciated Willie Nelson as far back as he can recall. He began his tribute show to Willie five years ago and appears in full costume, signature braids, flag bandanna and all. His favorite period of Nelson’s music is from the 1970’s, the Austin days of “Outlaw Country,” when Willie frequently collaborated with Waylon Jennings.

“I was just a kid,” Shepherd said, but he loved how Willie could tell a story with his songs, move people with a message and bring his audience along. He seeks to emulate that. “I am not a polished vocalist,” Shepherd admits, but he says that too is like Nelson.

Shepherd’s show included covers from other artists, such as classic country singer-writers Alan Jackson, Merle Haggard, Roger Miller and Dwight Yoakam. Shepherd threw in pop rock from Van Morrison and rockabilly from Carl Perkins. He covered Allman Brothers Band and Stevie Ray Vaughan blues material as well. Red confesses to a special fondness for the blues.

“When I sing and play the blues, the audience, they come alive,” he said.

The crowd at Shepherd’s show is multigenerational, and he said “cool younger kids” recognize his Willie outfit and love it.

Shepherd began appearing regularly at the Santee Post a few months ago, when the canteen manager sought live entertainment to accompany the $5 Wednesday night dinners.

American Legion Post 364 Commander Gene Michonski said, “Red is a welcome addition to what we offer. He is definitely a priceless resource for the show he puts on. He plays a wide variety of music and just about everybody likes some music he plays.”

For larger events, Shepherd brings along a band. One of his musicians is Greg Douglass, who played with the Steve Miller Band. Besides the Santee Post, Red Shepherd can be found at area VFW Posts in Lakeside, Mission Valley and Kearny Mesa. His Santee show usually runs from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, and he also appears on occasional Saturdays there. More information on his shows can be found at www.springsparties.com/vfw-post-9327. Post 364-VFW Post 9327 is located at 8790 Cuyamaca Street, Suite F, and contacted at (619) 562-4022 or santeealpost364@gmail.com.