Shepherd was born on an American military base in Okinawa, Japan. His family moved to Texas, then settled in Bainbridge Island, Washington, where Shepherd grew up, playing in numerous punk-rock bands with friends before he was a teenager. After graduating high school, he worked as a carpenter and a laborer. He was being considered for the open guitarist slot (after Jason Everman was fired) in Nirvana when he joined Soundgarden.
