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Sonny Landreth – Bound By The Blues

  • Written by  Rob Crozier

Make no mistake, Sonny Landreth is the real deal when it comes to the blues. The 61-year-old has had a rich and rewarding career.

On his latest album Bound By The Blues, he returns to his natural electric blues sound which has seen him play with a host of legends through a very long and illustrious career. Although his career has seen him experiment with jazz, soul and funk it has always been the blues which has remain his love.  This album also pays homage to some of artists that he has played with or simply admired through the last 40 years.

This offering of 10 tracks sees Landreth cover some of the blues standards going back to the early blues of the 1920s which include hits from Robert Johnson’s ‘Walkin’ Blues’ and ‘Dust My Broom’. It is Landreth’s reworking of these tracks that is refreshing and innovative. This is his twelfth album, and he has not lost any of his drive and ability to create monumental sounds with wailing and gut-wrenching guitar sounds.

‘It Hurts Me Too’ is a case in point. Landreth takes a blues standard and throws his own unique guitar playing style into it. The power and depth he manages to create with his guitar displays what he has achieved and learnt over the 40 years. His control is simply something wonderful and at times you can feel the weight of his career in a single screeching note.

The album’s title track ‘Bound By The Blues’ is a reflective yet powerful message about how blues has healed and created communities. Landreth thanks the blues legends such as Muddy Waters as well as other artists including Jimi Hendrix and Buffy Sainte-Marie for their music and the ability all music has to attract and heal people from the world over. Landreth explains that this track meant a great deal to him as he was able to express his love of the genre as follows:

“Singing about the unifying power of the blues and paying tribute to the great artists who’ve helped shape the music in that song means a lot to me.”

The tributes continue on the stunning instrumental track ‘Firebird’ which is dedicated to his late great friend Johnny Winter who died last year. It is an opportunity to hear a true master of their craft as Landreth rolls and wails through a beautifully controlled number.

Throughout his career, Landreth has developed the tag of being a musician’s musician. His ability to create echoing sounds via his almost unique style of slide guitar playing has been reserved for those in the know. We hope that this new album will expose him to a wider audience.

Finally, as Sonny explains in the official press release:

“Developing a style and an approach that is your own musically is not something to be taken for granted. I’m at a point in life where I want to make the most of every moment I can and that changes your perspective, your priorities and how you relate to everyone else. And at the end of the day, I think that’s the essence of what I wanted to express with Bound By The Blues.”

Bound By The Blues is available from Amazon and iTunes.

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