It might be a bit of a stretch to say that guitar virtuoso Sonny Landreth has magic hands, but over the last 30-plus years his singular, highly innovative approach to the instrument has managed to amaze blues fans, six-string aficionados, and such talented, guitar-wielding collaborators as Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler and Eric Johnson. Landreth’s distinctive sound blends expert chops with a Cajun-inflected, rootsy feel, and is created with a unique combination of slide and fingering techniques with his left hand and a mix of picking, plucking and tapping of the strings with his right hand.
After making a name for himself as a local Bayou sensation (he was raised in Lafayette, Louisiana), young Landreth became a member of Clifton Chenier’s Red Hot Louisiana band, in which his guitar style was sometimes referred to as “slydeco.” Landreth released his own debut album, Blues Attack, in 1981 and embarked on a career that has mixed extensive touring, nine solo studio recordings, and work as a highly prized session man for the likes of Dolly Parton, Jimmy Buffett, John Hiatt and Junior Wells, among many others.
Over the course of his career Landreth’s sound has broadened to include just about all varieties of blues and roots music, and he’s also proven himself to be a gifted singer and songwriter. For his most recent release, From the Reach, Landreth wrote songs that paid tribute to some of the artists that have influenced him, and was delighted to be able to feature a handful of them as guests on the album — Clapton, Knopfler, Johnson and Buffett make appearances, along with Vince Gill, Dr. John, Robben Ford and former Arrested Development vocalist Nadirah Shakoor.
Provenance: Canton, Mississippi
Latest Release: From the Reach (2008)
© 2008 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.
Sonny Landreth
