Sonny and friends

Slide king great adds more guitar royalty to the mix

When Louisiana-based singer/songwriter/slide guitar great Sonny Landreth releases his ninth album in May, it will mark an artistic turning point of sorts.

“From the Reach” features collaborations between Landreth and renowned guitar players Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Robben Ford, Eric Johnson and Vince Gill plus performances by legendary entertainers Dr. John and Jimmy Buffett.

“I’ve been wanting to make this kind of record for a long time — to do an entire album that would feature some of my favorite players as special guests,” Landreth said. “The other thing was how to do it without being yet another clichŽd ‘duets’ album. Then I got the idea to write the songs specifically for each of the artists, and that was the real hook for me, as a writer as well as a guitar player.”

Solo exchanges and multilayered guitar playing are among the musical jewels expected on this album, which shifts from blues to country to rock to genres in between.

Publicists note that the album comes from an “honest place” in Landreth’s history. That’s not surprising when you consider Landreth has made a career of pure, unpretentious playing that literally goes back to his New Orleans’ roots. One recent example is when he recorded his live album “Grant Street” — released in 2005 — at Layfaette’s Grant Street Dancehall to showcase his band’s reinvention of songs from its previous eight albums.

As fans know, slide guitar master Landreth approaches his shows as production pieces, filled with energy and elegance.

Combine that with his incredible skill and it’s easy to understand why so many musical greats jumped at the chance to play with him. Clapton has said publicly that Landreth is “probably the most underestimated musician on the planet and also probably one of the most advanced.”

Landreth honed his musical chops 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. Before long, Landreth had a fan base all his own.

“I have no idea what drove me,” Landreth said. “That is the bliss of youth. No limitations, desire and a ton of energy for adventures.”