If you go
Sonny Landreth with special guest Tom Principato
Where: The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Info: $25; ticketmaster.com
Don’t be fooled by those who might hint there’s a new Sonny Landreth album out. Although “Mississippi Blues” isn’t described as a re-release, it is, says the man himself who doesn’t have anything to do with this CD. What Landreth is involved with is looking ahead to a new all-instrumental album that he hopes to release next year.
“I’ve been thinking about doing this for a long time now and felt this was the time to do it,” Landreth said. “A big part of it is the melody, and we want to push the boundaries and go for it with chord changes and rhythm and a lot of different textures.”
One point Landreth isn’t clear about quite yet is whether he’ll have guests on the new album.
Landreth honed his musical chops at an early age. He learned to play trumpet at age 10, when he became enchanted with the Delta blues sound. When he was about 13, he began to play guitar, emulating his blues heroes.
Ever since the early 1980s, when Landreth’s guitar mastery started gaining him notice, he has collected a huge number of fans, from Eric Clapton to Johnny Winter.
His prowess especially as a slide guitarist has gained him such fame that he’s now called the Frank Sinatra of guitarists because so many great players flock to work with him as they did with Sinatra.
“I love the unexpected,” Landreth said of his joy at working with guests. “They really inspire me and I’d love to do it again, but I don’t want to beat [having guest artists] to death either.”
Landreth and his band plan to take time between concerts this year and return to his Louisiana studio to craft the album. Although he plans fewer concert dates this year, he will tour. He’ll also play some major festivals including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in April. He’s also had a call from Clapton about again taking an opening spot in a future “Crossroads” concert.
“The crowd energy is way up, and the motivation and mind-set is amazing,” Landreth said. “It’s really special; everywhere you turn there are amazing musicians.”
