sonny landreth

appearing on stage at 7:00 p.m.

The Columbia Blues Festival has never shied away from the spicy steamy stylings rising from the bayous of Louisiana. This year is no exception. Festival goers will get a wonderful opportunity to taste the delectable sound of songwriter, guitarist, vocalist, bandleader and producer Sonny Landreth. Known as the "king of slydeco," Landreth has dazzled them all since he was just a young lad.

Born in 1951 in Canton, Mississippi, Landreth soon moved to Lafayette, Louisiana where he was surrounded by the many musical and cultural influences we hear so much of in his music today. His Faulknerian vision offers listeners "something to sink their teeth into. And I really wanted to stretch the seam with the solo sections of the songs, and with the narrative form of the songs. What that amounts to for me is a lot more words. But there’s a cadence to that, there’s a rhythm to that," according to Landreth.

Landreth’s Louisiana roots run deep, musically speaking — zydeco progenitor Clifton Chenier was an early mentor. Sonny was just 17 when he met Chenier, who pioneered the now-thriving zydeco genre by infusing traditional black Creole music with big-city soul, blues and R&B sounds. After Landreth sat in with Chenier’s Red Hot Louisiana Band, Clifton invited him to join, so the young slide guitarist became the first white member of the band.

In the 1980s, Landreth became a sought-after session player for artists such as John Hiatt, John Mayall, Zachary Richard, Kenny Loggins, Beausoleil, Mark Knopfler and Steve Riley. He has played with greats like Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Steve Conn, Michael Doucet, Jerry Douglas, Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur, Dolly Parton, Zachary Richard and Junior Wells just to name a few.

Sonny uses a style that combines finger picking, palming and slapping the strings as if he’s attempting to conjure and evoke the sound he’s looking for. His slide technique is quite unique in that he also frets behind the slide, giving him a different sound and "feel" than most slide players. He’s able to coax sounds from his guitar that sound completely unique to him.

"You come up with a lick and that’s really cool," Landreth explains. "And you can put it down on tape, and that’s cool too. But to take it to the next step there has to be something behind it. Not like it has to shake the world, and it’s not like you have to make a big statement, but it’s coming from someplace. ‘Cause I know for me — and especially with instrumentals — the whole time I was growing up I would hear something that really would just draw me in and it would immediately make a mental image or a picture. That’s a real intimate experience, and I think music is that for people."

His songs weave wonderful stories and have a way of taking you to the places he sings about, painting incredible visualizations based on life in and around southern Louisiana and the mysterious allure of the Deep South. His eerily hypnotic guitar harmonics combined with his insightful articulate lyrics make for an act that’s hard to surpass and one you definitely don’t want to miss.