Sonny Landreth
Encyclopedia
Sonny Landreth is an American
blues
musician from southwest Louisiana
who is especially known as a slide guitar
player. He was born in Canton
, Mississippi
, but soon after, his family moved to Jackson, Mississippi
, before settling in Lafayette, Louisiana
. When he is not touring and performing, he resides in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
.
s notes and plays chords and chord fragments 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's also known for his right-hand technique, which involves tapping, slapping, and picking strings, using all of the fingers on his right hand.
Landreth has recorded with Jimmy Buffett
, and accompanied him on his 2006, 2007 and 2010 summer tours.
Landreth performed at Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival
in 2004, 2007, and 2010.
:
with John Hiatt
:
with Eric Johnson
:
with others:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musician from southwest Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
who is especially known as a slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
player. He was born in Canton
Canton, Mississippi
Canton is a city in Madison County, Mississippi. The population was 12,911 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Madison County, and situated in the northern part of the metropolitan area surrounding the state capital, Jackson....
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, but soon after, his family moved to Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
, before settling in Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
. When he is not touring and performing, he resides in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
Breaux Bridge is a city in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population is 8,139 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area....
.
Technique
Landreth is best known for his slide playing, having developed a technique where he also fretFret
A fret is a raised portion on the neck of a stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck. On most modern western instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard...
s notes and plays chords and chord fragments 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's also known for his right-hand technique, which involves tapping, slapping, and picking strings, using all of the fingers on his right hand.
Landreth has recorded with Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
, and accompanied him on his 2006, 2007 and 2010 summer tours.
Landreth performed at Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival
Crossroads Guitar Festival
The Crossroads Guitar Festival is a music festival and benefit concert first held in 2004 and again in 2007 and 2010. The festivals benefit the Crossroads Centre founded by Eric Clapton, a drug treatment center located in Antigua. The concerts are also intended to be a showcase for a variety of...
in 2004, 2007, and 2010.
Solo
Landreth has released at least eleven albums:- Blues Attack (1981; re-released 1996)
- Down in Louisiana (1986; re-released 1993)
- Outward Bound (1992)
- South of I-10South of I-10South of I-10 is the 4th studio album from Sonny Landreth. The album features his first collaboration with Mark Knopfler.The album featured the first music video for Sonny Landreth for the song Native Stepson.-Track listing:...
(1995) - Crazy Cajun Recordings (1999) - source material from 1973 and 1977
- Prodigal Son: The Collection (2000) - source material from 1973 and 1977
- Levee TownLevee TownLevee Town is the 5th studio album by Sonny Landreth. Released on Sugar Hill Records Oct. 17, 2000 and re-released in an Expanded Edition on Landreth’s own LandFall Records April 21, 2009.-Overview:...
(2000; re-released 2009 with 5 bonus tracks) - The Road We're On (2003)
- Grant Street (2005) - live recording
- Sonny Landreth - Live At Jazz Fest 2007 (2007) - live recording
- From the ReachFrom the ReachFrom the Reach is the 9th 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, Vince Gill, Eric Johnson, Dr...
(2008)
Guest appearances
with Jimmy BuffettJimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
:
- "USS Zydecosmobile" and "Mademoiselle (Voulez-Vous Danser)" on Far Side Of The WorldFar Side of the World (album)Far Side of the World is the 25th studio album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and was released in March of 2002. It is his first album released on his own record label, Mailboat Records.-Track listing:...
(2002) - License To ChillLicense to ChillLicense to Chill is the 26th studio album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and was released in 2004. It is his album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
(2004) - Live at Fenway ParkLive at Fenway ParkLive at Fenway Park is a live album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and is one of number of Jimmy Buffett sound board live albums recorded directly from the mixing console without further editing thus resembling bootleg recordings....
(2005) - Jimmy Buffett's appearances on the Hoot movie soundtrack (2006)
- Take The Weather With YouTake the Weather with YouTake the Weather with You is the 27th studio album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, released on RCA Records in 2006. It peaked at #1 on Billboards country charts, also reaching #4 on the "Billboard 200"...
(2006)
with John Hiatt
John Hiatt
John Hiatt is an American rock guitarist, pianist, singer, and songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New Wave, blues and country. Hiatt has been nominated for several Grammy Awards - although he has never won- and has been awarded a variety of other...
:
- Slow TurningSlow TurningSlow Turning was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's ninth album, released in 1988. It provided Hiatt's only significant radio hit with the title track, which features the memorable line "I'm yelling at the kids in the back, 'cause they're banging like Charlie Watts"...
(1988) - The Tiki Bar is OpenThe Tiki Bar is OpenThe Tiki Bar is Open was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's sixteenth album, released in 2001. It was his last album with Vanguard Records. It was coincidentally released on September 11, 2001.-Track listing:All tracks written by John Hiatt...
(2001) - Beneath This Gruff ExteriorBeneath This Gruff ExteriorBeneath This Gruff Exterior was singer-songwriter John Hiatt's seventeenth album, released in 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 credit along with Hiatt .-Track...
(2003)
with Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson is an American guitarist. Though he is best known for his success in the instrumental rock format, Johnson regularly incorporates jazz, fusion, gospel and country and western music into his recordings...
:
- On Eric's Up CloseUp CloseUp Close is a sports interview show that aired on ESPN for 20 years.-Early years:The program debuted in 1981 on USA Network and was created by the advertising agency Foote, Cone and Belding to advertise one of its clients, Mazda cars...
album (2010) track "Your Book"
with others:
- "When The Levee BreaksWhen the Levee Breaks"When the Levee Breaks" is a blues song written and first recorded by husband and wife Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. The song is in reaction to the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927....
" and "The Wrong Side" on Lay Your Burden Down by Buckwheat ZydecoBuckwheat ZydecoBuckwheat Zydeco is the stage name of Stanley Dural, Jr. , an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He is one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success... - "Eric ClaptonEric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007" - "Eric ClaptonEric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2010" - "Mark KnopflerMark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
's Golden Heart 1996" - "Mark KnopflerMark KnopflerMark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
's Night In London 1996" - "Gov't MuleGov't MuleGov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
's 32/20 Blues - "Little FeatLittle FeatLittle Feat is an American rock band formed by singer-songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles....
Join The BandJoin the BandJoin the Band is a 2008 album recorded by Little Feat. Their first studio album in five years, it features no new original songs but is a set of collaborations with other artists such as Bob Seger. Emmylou Harris, Dave Matthews and Inara George...
2008" On several tracks of the album.