From the Reach – Sonny Landreth

From the Reach – Sonny Landreth

Sonny Landreth, ladies n gentleman is one of the legends.

He however has never been in the public eye, his peers respect him for his uniqueness and brilliant guitar playing. He’s great friends with Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Vince Gill, Robben Ford, Dr. John, Eric Johnson, BB king etc. and plays n record with them on numerous occasions.

One thing I wanna point out about blues players is that, it’s like a big happy family, it doesn’t matter where you’re from or what’s your skin tone, what matters is that you should have a soul and an open heart.

One amazing attribute of this record, besides the appearances by Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Vince Gill, Robben Ford, Dr. John, Eric Johnson, and others, is the manner in which Landreth went about preparing the music. Each song was written specifically for its particular guest performer.

Overall, the approach worked so well that one might be compelled to believe that the guest had written the song instead of Landreth. This is evidence of just how much he values the music of his peers and how attuned he is to their styles.

The opener, “Blue Tarp Blues,” is rocked up from the get go. Lyrically concerned with the damage caused by hurricane Katrina, both environmentally and politically, after Landreth sings: “Air Force One had a heck of a view. Looking down on the patchwork of the blue tarp blues,” Mark Knopfler’s stunning lead guitar makes a warm entry. While his playing exudes from the right speaker, Landreth from the left, the song sizzles along in a strong rhythmic stride. Although both guitarists compliment each other wonderfully, vocally as well, Landreth’s slide work is potent and prominent throughout. “When I Still Had You” is a melodic rocker with amazing tradeoff lead guitar work between Landreth and friend Eric Clapton. EC appears to be enjoying it, too, as he soars off in graceful six-string melody throughout, and he injects wonderful vocal harmony into the chorus as well. Clapton emerges again in the slow blues “Storm of Worry.” The polished guitar icon is in his blues element here, a realm he’s been acquainted with for close to 40 years.