Album: Blues Attack by Sonny Landreth (1996)
Genre: Blues
Format: Album

Artist Background: Clyde Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Music Scene: Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Tags: Blues, 1990s, Album


Album: Down in Louisiana by Sonny Landreth (1985)
Genre: Blues
Format: Album

Artist Background: Clyde Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Music Scene: Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Tags: Blues, 1980s, Album


Album: From the Reach by Sonny Landreth (2008)
Genre: Blues | Mood: Happy
Format: Album

Description: 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, Vince Gill, Eric Johnson, Dr. John, Mark Knopfler, and Nadirah Shakoor.

The album title refers to water imagery that occurred for Landreth during the writing process. It also refers to Landreth asking other musicians to join him on the album

Artist Background: Clyde Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Music Scene: Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Tags: Blues, Happy, 2000s, Album


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, Vince Gill, Eric Johnson, Dr. John, Mark Knopfler, and Nadirah Shakoor.

The album title refers to water imagery that occurred for Landreth during the writing process. It also refers to Landreth asking other musicians to join him on the album

Album: Blacktop Run by Sonny Landreth (2020)
Genre: Blues | Mood: Happy
Format: Album

Description: Louisiana guitar slinger Sonny Landreth returns to the studio with his quartet two years after 2017's Grammy-nominated Recorded Live in Lafayette. Blacktop Run is more than just a new studio outing, however. Landreth reunites with producer R.S. Field for the first time since 2005's Grant Street. Field produced Landreth's three breakout sets for Zoo as well as several later albums. He is a studio empath and extends artists full faith and credit. Landreth possesses a distinct sound to be sure, direct, resonant, and simple, but he's restless when it comes to experimenting with styles. He juxtaposes, combines, and balances them with alarming regularity and reckless abandon. But he always anchors them into easily relatable grooves. He and the band recorded live to tape at Dockside Studios.

Landreth's band includes keyboardist Steve Conn, drummer Brian Brignac, and bassist David Ranson. The guitarist wrote eight of these ten tunes; Conn penned the other two, which include the stellar instrumental "Beyond Borders," a jam that melds hard Southern swamp rock, electric slide blues, and Latin cumbia. The opening title track begins with fingerpicked National Steel guitar, a droning bassline, washboard, and bumping tom-toms. Landreth's singing voice at almost 70 years of age is better than ever: he glides through the lyrics, allowing his guitar to help carry them with his deft plectrum and slide-guitar picking, often in the same line. The tune is a rambling blues, infused with the energy of a pickup rolling down the open highway. "Lover Dance with Me" is a dirty Cajun blues instrumental with funky overtones. Landreth's scorching leads crisscross jazz, R&B, and garage rock on his way to blues while Ranson's bass growls with distorted passion in the backdrop propelling him forward. "Mule" is a Cajun stomper complete with button accordion; zydeco and Delta blues melt together on a honky tonk dancefloor. "Groovy Goddess" is a spiky instrumental showcasing Landreth's electric slide-playing swing. It has a hooky chorus line inserted to break up the pyrotechnics, but only holds them in check momentarily "Somebody Gotta Make a Move" is a cautionary tale with a reggae-cum-R&B backbeat injected into swamp blues. "Don’t Ask Me" brings the acoustic National Steel back to the fore in front of a shuffling drumkit and singing accordion. While "Many Worlds" commences as a slow-ish Americana tune, Landreth's nasty electric slide delves deep into shades of Southern blue. "Something Grand" is a country song written by Landreth. Accompanied by martial snares and a shimmering, soulful Hammond B-3, Landreth's fingerpicked acoustic frames a vulnerable lyric that amounts to narrative poetry. It argues the place for love: one that heals tragedy, ruin, and broken promises. It sends Blacktop Run out on notes of tenderness and mercy born of grit. Landreth and Field bring out the best in one another. They are symbiotic in their restless energies and experimental visions, and have consistently delivered excellence together; Blacktop Run is no exception.

Artist Background: Clyde Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Music Scene: Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Tags: Blues, Happy, 2020s, Album


Louisiana guitar slinger Sonny Landreth returns to the studio with his quartet two years after 2017's Grammy-nominated Recorded Live in Lafayette. Blacktop Run is more than just a new studio outing, however. Landreth reunites with producer R.S. Field for the first time since 2005's Grant Street. Field produced Landreth's three breakout sets for Zoo as well as several later albums. He is a studio empath and extends artists full faith and credit. Landreth possesses a distinct sound to be sure, direct, resonant, and simple, but he's restless when it comes to experimenting with styles. He juxtaposes, combines, and balances them with alarming regularity and reckless abandon. But he always anchors them into easily relatable grooves. He and the band recorded live to tape at Dockside Studios.

Landreth's band includes keyboardist Steve Conn, drummer Brian Brignac, and bassist David Ranson. The guitarist wrote eight of these ten tunes; Conn penned the other two, which include the stellar instrumental "Beyond Borders," a jam that melds hard Southern swamp rock, electric slide blues, and Latin cumbia. The opening title track begins with fingerpicked National Steel guitar, a droning bassline, washboard, and bumping tom-toms. Landreth's singing voice at almost 70 years of age is better than ever: he glides through the lyrics, allowing his guitar to help carry them with his deft plectrum and slide-guitar picking, often in the same line. The tune is a rambling blues, infused with the energy of a pickup rolling down the open highway. "Lover Dance with Me" is a dirty Cajun blues instrumental with funky overtones. Landreth's scorching leads crisscross jazz, R&B, and garage rock on his way to blues while Ranson's bass growls with distorted passion in the backdrop propelling him forward. "Mule" is a Cajun stomper complete with button accordion; zydeco and Delta blues melt together on a honky tonk dancefloor. "Groovy Goddess" is a spiky instrumental showcasing Landreth's electric slide-playing swing. It has a hooky chorus line inserted to break up the pyrotechnics, but only holds them in check momentarily "Somebody Gotta Make a Move" is a cautionary tale with a reggae-cum-R&B backbeat injected into swamp blues. "Don’t Ask Me" brings the acoustic National Steel back to the fore in front of a shuffling drumkit and singing accordion. While "Many Worlds" commences as a slow-ish Americana tune, Landreth's nasty electric slide delves deep into shades of Southern blue. "Something Grand" is a country song written by Landreth. Accompanied by martial snares and a shimmering, soulful Hammond B-3, Landreth's fingerpicked acoustic frames a vulnerable lyric that amounts to narrative poetry. It argues the place for love: one that heals tragedy, ruin, and broken promises. It sends Blacktop Run out on notes of tenderness and mercy born of grit. Landreth and Field bring out the best in one another. They are symbiotic in their restless energies and experimental visions, and have consistently delivered excellence together; Blacktop Run is no exception.

Album: Elemental Journey by Sonny Landreth (2012)
Genre: Blues | Mood: Happy
Format: Album

Description: Elemental Journey is Landreth's 11th solo album, and it's his first all-instrumental outing, and folks, this isn't a blues album. It's a wonderfully bright, woven mesh of blues, strings, rock, zydeco, country, reggae, and jazz that shifts and turns and builds within each track, and all of it fits seamlessly together like a huge musical quilt made for guitar heaven. Track after track surprises and amazes here, from the opening "Gaia Tribe," which features guest Joe Satriani on guitar, through the stirring "Heavy Heart Rising" and the joyous "Wonderide" and "Passionola" (this one features Eric Johnson on guitar) to the Caribbean shuffle of "Forgotten Story," complete with steel drums from Robert Greenidge. Members of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra are here, too, and the touches of violins, cellos, and violas that appear and fade appropriately throughout these tracks keep everything fresh, and there's always some new guitar line coming in. This is a wonderfully bright album, stirring and impressive. This man can play guitar, and while his one-of-a-kind slide playing may always be his bread and butter, he shows clearly in these tracks that he can play the instrument in a thousand different ways. This isn't a typical Landreth album by any means, at least not to date, but it is one of his best.

Artist Background: Clyde Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Music Scene: Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Tags: Blues, Happy, 2010s, Album


Elemental Journey is Landreth's 11th solo album, and it's his first all-instrumental outing, and folks, this isn't a blues album. It's a wonderfully bright, woven mesh of blues, strings, rock, zydeco, country, reggae, and jazz that shifts and turns and builds within each track, and all of it fits seamlessly together like a huge musical quilt made for guitar heaven. Track after track surprises and amazes here, from the opening "Gaia Tribe," which features guest Joe Satriani on guitar, through the stirring "Heavy Heart Rising" and the joyous "Wonderide" and "Passionola" (this one features Eric Johnson on guitar) to the Caribbean shuffle of "Forgotten Story," complete with steel drums from Robert Greenidge. Members of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra are here, too, and the touches of violins, cellos, and violas that appear and fade appropriately throughout these tracks keep everything fresh, and there's always some new guitar line coming in. This is a wonderfully bright album, stirring and impressive. This man can play guitar, and while his one-of-a-kind slide playing may always be his bread and butter, he shows clearly in these tracks that he can play the instrument in a thousand different ways. This isn't a typical Landreth album by any means, at least not to date, but it is one of his best.

Album: South of I-10 by Sonny Landreth (1995)
Genre: Blues | Mood: Happy
Format: Album

Description: South of I-10 is the fourth 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

Artist Background: Clyde Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Music Scene: Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Tags: Blues, Happy, 1990s, Album

Additional Context: Available on Discogs marketplace


South of I-10 is the fourth 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

Album: The Road We're On by Sonny Landreth (2003)
Genre: Blues | Mood: Happy
Format: Album

Description: The Road We're On (2003), charted No. 1 on Billboard's Blues Album Chart

Artist Background: Clyde Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Music Scene: Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Tags: Blues, Happy, 2000s, Album


The Road We're On (2003), charted No. 1 on Billboard's Blues Album Chart

Album: Levee Town by Sonny Landreth (2000)
Genre: Blues | Mood: Happy
Record Label: Sugar Hill Records
Format: Album

Description: 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.

Artist Background: Clyde Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Music Scene: Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Tags: Blues, Happy, 2000s, Album, Sugar Hill Records


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.

Album: Outward Bound by Sonny Landreth (1992)
Genre: Blues | Mood: Happy
Format: Album

Description: 1992 Release by Sonny Landreth.

Artist Background: Clyde Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Music Scene: Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Tags: Blues, Happy, 1990s, Album


Album: Bound by the Blues by Sonny Landreth (2015)
Genre: Blues | Mood: Happy
Format: Album

Description: The last time Sonny Landreth released a stripped-down blues trio date recorded in a studio was 2003's The Road We're On in 2003, and his previous album to this was 2012's maximal Elemental Journey, which ranged over blues, jazz, zydeco, and reggae and had ambitious arrangements that included everything from steel drums to strings and winds. Bound by the Blues features his longstanding group (bassist David Ranson and drummer Brian Brignac) and was recorded at his Comoland Studio in Lafayette, Louisiana. It was co-produced by Landreth and Tony Daigle, and includes originals and standards, vocal tunes and instrumental workouts. A raucous version of Robert Johnson's "Walking Blues" opens it with blazing slide guitar. Courtesy of Daigle, it has an enormous (but natural-sounding) drum mix and offers a killer bridge. Landreth reprises Johnson's "Dust My Broom" later and recombines Elmore James' version with hard-strutting Chicago bravado and a Hendrixian flourish. Speaking of James, his "It Hurts Me Too" is also here; it has a roiling, midtempo churn with Landreth's guitar playing extended by his soulful vocals. The title track is an original, with the guitarist on an acoustic National Steel with his electric, bumping, almost funky bassline and martial snare shuffle adding balance and illustrating the Como style. On "The High Side," he offers an excellent modern take on the country-blues. The instrumental "Firebird Blues" is dedicated to the memory of Johnny Winter. Landreth evokes the late guitarist's slow, wrangling, Delta-cum-Texas style in scorching form. But there's a surprise in the bassline which is mixed like a tuba at a New Orleans funeral march. Landreth's version of Skip James' "Cherry Ball Blues," with its strident pace and distorted, wrangling solo, offers an entirely new interpretation. On Big Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway," Landreth simultaneously pays tribute to Buddy Guy and Jimmy Reed. "Simcoe Street" is another original instrumental, this time a choogling boogie made for the roadhouse dancefloor. Bound by the Blues is certainly a welcome return for the guitarist and his trio doing what they do best, and well worth the wait. Here, Landreth reaffirms his commitment to the blues as a free-spirited and still vibrant creative form.

Artist Background: Clyde Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Music Scene: Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Tags: Blues, Happy, 2010s, Album


The last time Sonny Landreth released a stripped-down blues trio date recorded in a studio was 2003's The Road We're On in 2003, and his previous album to this was 2012's maximal Elemental Journey, which ranged over blues, jazz, zydeco, and reggae and had ambitious arrangements that included everything from steel drums to strings and winds. Bound by the Blues features his longstanding group (bassist David Ranson and drummer Brian Brignac) and was recorded at his Comoland Studio in Lafayette, Louisiana. It was co-produced by Landreth and Tony Daigle, and includes originals and standards, vocal tunes and instrumental workouts. A raucous version of Robert Johnson's "Walking Blues" opens it with blazing slide guitar. Courtesy of Daigle, it has an enormous (but natural-sounding) drum mix and offers a killer bridge. Landreth reprises Johnson's "Dust My Broom" later and recombines Elmore James' version with hard-strutting Chicago bravado and a Hendrixian flourish. Speaking of James, his "It Hurts Me Too" is also here; it has a roiling, midtempo churn with Landreth's guitar playing extended by his soulful vocals. The title track is an original, with the guitarist on an acoustic National Steel with his electric, bumping, almost funky bassline and martial snare shuffle adding balance and illustrating the Como style. On "The High Side," he offers an excellent modern take on the country-blues. The instrumental "Firebird Blues" is dedicated to the memory of Johnny Winter. Landreth evokes the late guitarist's slow, wrangling, Delta-cum-Texas style in scorching form. But there's a surprise in the bassline which is mixed like a tuba at a New Orleans funeral march. Landreth's version of Skip James' "Cherry Ball Blues," with its strident pace and distorted, wrangling solo, offers an entirely new interpretation. On Big Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway," Landreth simultaneously pays tribute to Buddy Guy and Jimmy Reed. "Simcoe Street" is another original instrumental, this time a choogling boogie made for the roadhouse dancefloor. Bound by the Blues is certainly a welcome return for the guitarist and his trio doing what they do best, and well worth the wait. Here, Landreth reaffirms his commitment to the blues as a free-spirited and still vibrant creative form.

Album: Prodigal Son by Sonny Landreth (2004)
Genre: Blues | Mood: Happy
Format: Album

Description: Prodigal Son: The Collection (2000) - source material from 1973 and 1977

Artist Background: Clyde Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Music Scene: Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Tags: Blues, Happy, 2000s, Album


Prodigal Son: The Collection (2000) - source material from 1973 and 1977

Album: The Crazy Cajun Recordings by Sonny Landreth (1999)
Genre: Blues
Format: Album

Artist Background: Clyde Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Music Scene: Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Tags: Blues, 1990s, Album


Album: Grant Street by Sonny Landreth (2005)
Genre: Blues | Mood: Happy
Format: Live

Description: Grant Street (2005) - live recording, charted No. 2 on Billboard's Blues Album Chart.

Artist Background: Clyde Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Music Scene: Part of the Breaux Bridge, LA music scene. Emerged in the classic era. Associated with Blues movement.

Tags: Blues, Happy, 2000s, Live


Grant Street (2005) - live recording, charted No. 2 on Billboard's Blues Album Chart.

Sonny Landreth

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