Friend of the proGram, Sonny Landreth has been called “the King of Slydeco” and plays with a strong zydeco influence. World-recognized guitarist Eric Clapton has said that Sonny Landreth is one of the most advanced guitarists in the world and one of the most under-appreciated. Sonny is famously known for his slide guitar playing, having developed a technique where he also frets notes and plays chords & chord fragments by fretting behind the slide while he’s playing. He also somehow 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, & 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. This is the kind of singularity I hear as I tune into Sonny’s work. He first played in Clifton Chenier’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 on saxophone and Mel Melton 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 [9] Landreth also frequently played in John Hiatt’s band, and with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. The number of people and albums he has participated with and on is lengthy and wide, with awards and achievements to his name, Sonny keeps on keepin’ on bringing a sense of that good Louisiana lifestylin’ with him wherever he spreads that singular sound.
The deep roots tag team of Cajun slide guitar phenom Sonny Landreth & legendary New Orleans Latin-Americana rockers the Iguanas presents a mind-blowing musical trip through the scenic soundscape of the bayou. Still wet from crawling out of the swamps, this cross-pollinated confection will be both savory and sweet. Louisiana’s calling—here’s your chance to answer at the Stoughton Opera House on Saturday, April 6th. I had the true pleasure of catching up with Sonny once again, as he is very easy to talk to. This time we talk about the diversity of the sets both his band will bring (Acoustic vs. Electric) and well, all that different rhythms & grooves the Iguanas always fill a set with. We talk gumbo, introducing people to that Louisiana feelin’ and what album he’d bring to the studio if I invited him in but forgot all my records. While the entire talk was a treat, getting into how the music find him and how his guitars flow with so much newness, songwriting vs. songwriters and techniques, riffs & grooves. S’cool.
