Clide Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

musician from southwest

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

who is especially known as a

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

player. He was born in

Canton, Mississippi Canton is a city in Madison County, Mississippi, Madison County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 13,189 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat of Madison County, and situated in the northern part of th ...

, and settled in

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

. He lives in

Breaux Bridge, Louisiana Breaux Bridge (;Jack A. Reynolds. "Breaux Bridge" entry i"Louisiana Placenames of Romance Origin."LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses #7852. 1942. p. 77. french: Pont-Breaux; frc, Pont-(de)-Breaux ) is a small city in St. Martin Parish, Loui ...

Technique

Landreth is known as "the King of Slydeco" and plays with a strong

zydeco Zydeco ( or , french: Zarico) is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers which blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. Al ...

influence. Guitarist

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

has said that Landreth is one of the most advanced guitarists in the world and one of the most under-appreciated. Landreth is best known for his slide guitar playing, having developed a technique where he also

fret A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical instrume ...

s notes and plays chords and chord fragments by fretting behind the slide while he plays. Landreth plays with the slide on his little finger, so that his other fingers have more room to fret behind the slide. He is also known for his right-hand technique, which involves tapping, slapping, and picking strings, using all of the fingers on his right hand. He wears a special thumb pick/flat pick hybrid on his thumb so that he can bear down on a pick while simultaneously using his finger-style technique for slide. Douglas-landreth-fls

Landreth is known for his use of

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...

guitars and

Dumble Amplifiers Dumble was a guitar amplifier manufacturer in Los Angeles, California.In the one-person operation, Alexander "Howard" Dumble (Born 1944-1945, Died January 2022) made each amp personally. Because of this, Dumble amplifiers are the most expensive bou ...

. He is also known to use Demeter and Fender amplifiers on occasion. Landreth uses Jim Dunlop 215 heavy glass slides and Dunlop Herco flat thumb picks. His guitars are fitted with DiMarzio and Lindy Fralin pickups, a special Suhr back plate system, and D'Addario medium nickel wound strings gauges 0.13 - 0.56.

Bands and associated acts

Landreth first played in

Clifton Chenier Clifton Chenier (June 25, 1925 – December 12, 1987), was an American Creole musician known as a pioneer of zydeco, a style of music which arose from Creole music, with R&B, blues, and Cajun influences. He sang and played the accordion and w ...

's Red Hot Louisiana Band, as the only white member of the band. In 1981, he released his first record, ''Blues Attack'', which also featured

C.J. Chenier C. J. Chenier (born Clayton Joseph Thompson, September 28, 1957 in Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur, Texas) is the Louisiana Creole people, Creole son of the Grammy Award-winning "King of Zydeco", Louisiana musician, Clifton Chenier. In 1987, Ch ...

on saxophone and

Mel Melton Mel Melton, is an American musician, singer, and chef. Much of his music is in the Zydeco style and his cooking primarily focuses on the culture of southern Louisiana. Biography A native of Gastonia, North Carolina, Roy "Mel" Melton first went to ...

on harmonica. In 1982, Landreth and Melton formed the band Bayou Rhythm, and eventually added C.J. Chenier to the lineup. The band recorded ''Way Down in Louisiana'' in 1985 Landreth also frequently played in John Hiatt's band, and with

John Mayall John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, musician and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among it ...

and the

Bluesbreakers John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues ...

Other artists

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist b ...

stated that " Tell Me Lover" was based in part on Landreth's song, "Congo Square". In 1998, Landreth was involved in the multi-artist project "Begegnungen (Encounters)" mounted by Germany's Rock-Superstar

Peter Maffay Peter Alexander Makkay (born 30 August 1949), known as Peter Maffay (), is a Romanian-born German musician, singer, and composer. Early life Born in Braşov (german: link=no, Kronstadt), Romania, the son of a German ( Transylvanian Saxon), ...

. They performed together on a new version of Landreth's "C'est chaud" on the album and some more songs in the 30 concerts at the arena tour later the same year, documented on the live album ''Begegnungen Live'', released in early 1999. A further guest of Maffay at the Begegnungen album and tour was

Keb' Mo' Kevin Roosevelt Moore (born October 3, 1951), known as Keb' Mo', is an American blues musician and five-time Grammy Award winner. He is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as "a living link ...

. Landreth has recorded with

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffet ...

, and accompanied him on his 2006, 2007, and 2010 summer tours. Landreth took the main stage at MerleFest in 2011. Landreth appeared on HBO's Treme, Season 3, Episode 8 Landreth performed at Clapton's

Crossroads Guitar Festival The Crossroads Guitar Festival is a series of music festivals and benefit concerts founded by Eric Clapton. The festivals benefit the Crossroads Centre founded by Eric Clapton, a drug treatment center in Antigua. The concerts showcase a variet ...

in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2019. In 2014, Landreth was a guest performer on

Eli Cook Eli Cook (1814–1865) was Mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the he ...

's album, ''

Primitive Son ''Primitive Son'' is the sixth album by Virginia-based blues rock artist, Eli Cook. It was released in April 2014. The album leans more to the grunge/ hard rock side of Cook's work, and features a slew of guest musicians such as Leslie West an ...

''.

Discography

Solo

Landreth has released at least the following albums: * ''Blues Attack'' (1981; re-released 1996) * ''Way Down in Louisiana'' (1985; re-released 1993) * ''

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organizations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt and Kurt Hahn in 1941. Today there are organizations, called schools, in over 35 countries which are att ...

'' (1992) * '' South of I-10'' (1995) * ''Crazy Cajun Recordings'' (1999) - source material from 1973 and 1977 * ''Prodigal Son: The Collection'' (2000) - source material from 1973 and 1977 * ''

Levee Town ''Levee Town'' is the seventh studio album by Sonny Landreth. Released on Sugar Hill Records October 17, 2000 and re-released in an Expanded Edition on Landreth's own LandFall Records April 21, 2009. Overview ''Levee Town'' expands on the them ...

'' (2000; re-released 2009 with five bonus tracks) * ''The Road We're On'' (2003), charted No. 1 on ''Billboards Blues Album Chart. * ''Grant Street'' (2005) - live recording, charted No. 2 on ''Billboards Blues Album Chart. * ''Sonny Landreth - Live At Jazz Fest 2007'' (2007) - live recording * ''

From the Reach ''From the Reach'' is the eleventh studio album from Sonny Landreth. Released on May 20, 2008, it is his first album to be released under his own label Landfall Records. The album features appearances by Jimmy Buffett, Eric Clapton, Robben Ford, ...

'' (2008), charted No. 1 on ''Billboards Blues Album Chart. * ''Voices of Americana'' (2009) * ''Leeve Town (Expanded Addition)'' (2009) * ''Elemental Journey'' (2012), charted No. 4 on ''Billboards Blues Album Chart. * ''Sunrise'' (2012) * ''Bound by the Blues'' (2015) * ''Recorded Live In Lafayette'' (2017) * ''Blacktop Run'' (2020)

Guest appearances

* Marti Jones "Used Guitars" (1988) * Zachary Richard "Manchac" (1988) * Marshall Crenshaw's "Good Evening" (1989) *

Alain Bashung Alain Bashung (, born Alain Claude Baschung; 1 December 1947 – 14 March 2009) was a French singer, songwriter and actor. Credited with reviving the French chanson in "a time of French musical turmoil", he is often regarded in his home country a ...

's ''

Osez Joséphine ''Osez Joséphine'' ''(Dare Joséphine)'' is the eighth studio album by French rocker Alain Bashung, issued in 1991 on Barclay Records. Rolling Stone magazine considered it the greatest French album of all time. Reception Commercial performa ...

'' (1991) * Kenny Loggins "Outside: From the Redwoods" (1993) * Stephan Eicher "Carcassonne" (1993) * Alain Bashung's '' Chatterton'' (1994) * "Then I'm Gonna Make Love To You" on Elliott Murphy's ''Selling The Gold'' (1995) *

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

's '' A Night In London'' (1996) * Mark Knopfler's ''

Golden Heart ''Golden Heart'' is the debut solo studio album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on 26 March 1996 by Vertigo Records internationally and Warner Bros. Records in the United States. Following a successful career l ...

'' (1996) *

Gov't Mule Gov't Mule (pronounced "Government Mule") is an American Southern rock jam band, formed in 1994 as a side project of the Allman Brothers Band by guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody. Fans often refer to Gov't Mule simply as ''Mule''. ...

's ''32/20 Blues'' (2003) * Gov't Mule's ''On Your Way Down'' (2003) *

's Crossroads Guitar Festival (2007) *

Arlen Roth Arlen Roth (born October 30, 1952) is an American guitarist, teacher, and author. From 1982 to 1992, he was a columnist for ''Guitar Player'' magazine. Those ten years of columns became a book, ''Hot Guitar''. His father Al Ross (Abraham Roth) ...

's ''Toolin' Around Woodstock'' (2007) with

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...

Little Feat Little Feat is an American rock band formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving ...

's '' Join The Band'' (2008) * "

When The Levee Breaks "When the Levee Breaks" is a country blues song written and first recorded by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy in 1929. The lyrics reflect experiences during the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. "When the Levee Breaks ...

" and "The Wrong Side" on ''Lay Your Burden Down'' (2009) by

Buckwheat Zydeco Stanley Dural Jr. (November 14, 1947 – September 24, 2016), better known by his stage name Buckwheat Zydeco, was an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He was one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success. His music gro ...

* "Don't Wanna Do It" on ''A Part Of Me'' (2010) by Tom Principato * "T-Bone Shuffle" on ''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

'' (2011) by

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award-win ...

's ''

'' (2014) *

's ''Slide Guitar Summit'' (2016) * Layla Zoe's ''Breaking Free'' (2016) *

Beth Hart Beth Hart (born January 24, 1972) is an American musician from Los Angeles, California. She rose to fame with the release of her 1999 single " LA Song (Out of This Town)" from her second album '' Screamin' for My Supper''. The single was a numbe ...

'' Front and Center - Live from New York'' (2018) * "Wedding Day" and "Break My Heart Gently" on ''Another World'' by Erja Lyytinen (2019) * "Too Far To Be Gone" on ''Done Come Too Far'' by

Shemekia Copeland Charon Shemekia Copeland (born April 10, 1979) is an American electric blues vocalist. To date, she has released ten albums and been presented with seven Blues Music Awards. Career Copeland was born in Harlem, New York City, United States. She i ...

(2022) with

John Hiatt John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues, and country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has been awarded ...

: * ''

Slow Turning ''Slow Turning'' is singer-songwriter John Hiatt's ninth album, released in 1988. It provided Hiatt's only significant radio hit with the title track. The single "Slow Turning" was also featured in the 2002 motion picture drama '' The Rookie'' wh ...

'' (1988) * ''

The Tiki Bar is Open ''The Tiki Bar is Open'' was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's sixteenth album released on September 11, 2001, the day of the 9/11 attacks. It was his last album with Vanguard Records. *Although they are uncredited, the album features backing band ...

'' (2001) * ''

Beneath This Gruff Exterior ''Beneath This Gruff Exterior'' is singer-songwriter John Hiatt's seventeenth album, released on May 6, 2003. It was his first album with New West Records, and it was also the only album on which backing band The Goners received front cover cred ...

'' (2003) with

Eric Johnson Eric Johnson may refer to: Music *Eric Johnson (guitarist) (born 1954) an American guitarist and recording artist * Eric D. Johnson (born 1976), member of multiple indie-rock bands including Fruit Bats, The Shins and Califone Politics * Eric Joh ...

: * '' Up Close'' album (2010) track "Your Book" with others: * Marti Jones's " Used Guitars" (1988) * Zachary Richard's "Manchac" (1988) * Marshall Crenshaw's "Good Evening" (1989) *

's ''

'' (1991) * Alain Bashung's '' Chatterton'' (1994) * "

When the Levee Breaks "When the Levee Breaks" is a country blues song written and first recorded by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy in 1929. The lyrics reflect experiences during the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. "When the Levee Breaks ...

" and "The Wrong Side" on ''Lay Your Burden Down'' by Buckwheat Zydeco * "Then I'm Gonna Make Love To You" on Elliott Murphy's "Selling The Gold" (1995) *

's ''

'' (1996) * Mark Knopfler's '' A Night In London'' (1996) *

's ''32/20 Blues'' *

's Crossroads Guitar Festival (2007) *

's '' Join The Band'' (2008) * Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival (2010) * "T-Bone Shuffle" on ''

'' by

(2011) *

's ''Primitive Son'' (2014). * Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival (2019) * Dion's "I Got the Cure" from '' Blues with Friends'' (2020)

Honors and awards

Americana Music Association The Americana Music Association is a not-for-profit trade organization advocating for American Roots Music around the world. It is a network for Americana artists, radio stations, record labels, publishers, and others with the goal of developi ...

Instrumentalist of the Year: 2005 *

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

in the 'Instrumentalist - Guitar' category 2016.

References

External links

*
Sonny Landreth Interview with Jarrod Dicker (2009)

"The Road He's On"
interview with Sonny Landreth
PREVIEW: Sonny Landreth

Sonny Landreth's Ghost Notes

Sonny Landreth Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2021) {{DEFAULTSORT:Landreth, Sonny 1951 births Living people People from Canton, Mississippi Slide guitarists American blues guitarists Country blues musicians Sugar Hill Records artists Epic Records artists Proper Records artists Provogue Records artists