A CONVERSATION WITH SONNY LANDRETH (continued)

PM: Let's talk a little about Jack Spencer and Megan Barra. [the much lauded photographer and designer for the last few CDs of Landreth's] Jack I've met a couple times in the company or the home of [bassist] Michael Rhodes. He's an amazing guy.

SL: Oh, yeah. He and I go way back. We actually met in Colorado many years ago. And he was like a renaissance guy, could do anything well. He was a singer, songwriter, played guitar.

PM: Really?

SL: Yeah, we played in bands together. He was a painter, he was a chef, he was a master carpenter. He used to have greenhouses, and he did all that. But he'd always get fed up with a job, and that'd be it. And so when he finally settled on photography, it just all came together for him. It's like all his talent served him, you know what I mean? And he really came into his own. And when I saw his work as it was developing, I thought, "My God, man, you really got something here." And he's done really well--done very, very well.

PM: Amazing. And who is Megan Barra?

SL: Megan Barra is my girlfriend.

PM: Ah, that's your girl...

SL: And she's a world class graphic designer. She's won tons of awards, both in her own circle here and internationally. And she's just way, way into music and design and the concept of albums. And she collects lots of vinyl, and was always into that and the whole concept of that design--for the package, for the album--and how it affects the overall experience. And so it was a perfect dream team. These last two albums I'm very proud of. Of course, for Levee Town she got nominated for a Grammy. That's how I got to go to the Grammys last year.

[laughter]

PM: Isn't that ironic?

SL: Yeah. If I have to go through the art department, fine by me.

PM: [laughs] Oh, that's really something. Does she know the great Canadian designer, Michael Wrycraft? [see our review of Jubilee in this issue]

SL: Oh, I'm sure. She does these creative summits every year, and she's really on top of who's who, and she has a lot of respect for everybody's work.

PM: Because he's a new buddy of mine, and I think we might do a piece on him in the webzine. But we should really get up with Megan Barra, too.

SL: Absolutely, if you can get her to talk about herself.

PM: Oh, is it like that?

SL: She doesn't want anybody photographing her, she doesn't like to talk about herself. So when the Grammy thing happened, that was a tough one for her. Everybody wanted to talk to her and take her picture.

PM: Has she done a lot of records, or is most of her design work somewhere else?

SL: She's done quite a bit of work for local performers.

PM: Did she do Sam's record?

SL: No, she didn't. Now, she did do one, let me think about that. I'm not sure because that album was in different incarnations. I mean, I have the tape--he had a cassette. Then he had a disc he put together himself, which is the one I really hauled around to people. I'm pretty sure she did do it.

PM: Yeah. I'll have to look back at my copy. That was a really good record. [Geeks]

SL: Oh, man, yeah. He's just brilliant. Sam is one of a kind, man, I'll tell you. He's a really brilliant dude. His lyrics just blow me away. And certainly a walk on the dark side in some respects, but man, what creativity.

PM: I remember a song he played for me once, in a car, something about a copter on the roof.

[laughter]

SL: Yeah. [singing] "Copter on the roof..."

PM: Trippy dude. How far do you and Steve Conn go back?

SL: Well, he and I met in Colorado back in '74, I think. And we had a band up there. Then we both wound up moving back to Louisiana. He ended up going back to Colorado and staying for many years, and that was kind of my home base out of the Rocky Mountains up there. So we go way back.

PM: So do you know Kenny Vaughan from those days? [yet another great guitarist...]

SL: I didn't know him so well back then, but I got to know him later. I met him, but didn't really know him back then so well as I did later.

PM: He's a classic dude.

SL: Oh, a wonderful player, great guy.

PM: Yeah. I saw Conn play just the other night in a round of four piano players.

SL: Oh, where was it?

PM: It was at Douglas Corner. Him and [Pete] Wasner, and Barry Walsh and Mark Jordan.

SL: Cool.

PM: Yeah, it was something.

SL: Steve Conn, there's another super talented dude. [more about Steve at his site]

PM: Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's deep. He's a deep fellow, and a deep player.
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