A CONVERSATION WITH SONNY LANDRETH (continued)

PM: What are you reading at the moment?

SL: I'm not reading anything. I just haven't been reading. I've got a pile of books I'm going to catch up with when I get back into my reading groove. I don't know about you, but I go through it like that--

PM: I do too.

SL: I'll read and read, where I just can't stop. I think it's kind of a cycle for me, directly proportionate to songwriting mode. They coincide, usually. And then I go into the recording mode, and the performance mode, which is where I'm at right now.

PM: Yeah, there are some of us who aren't always reading. I'm not always reading.

SL: I love it, though.

PM: Yeah. What CD is likely to be in the player?

SL: Right now, I was actually just listening to someone named Michael Shawn Norton, out of Florida. I was just listening to that, and it's cool. I've been trying to catch up on discs that people give me. I just really don't have time, and I wish I did. But when I do find a couple of minutes at home, some down time, I try to catch up.

PM: Oh, that's right. You just did South by Southwest. [big annual industry festival in Austin] How was that?

SL: It was great. Unfortunately we had a snafu with the flights that day. Houston Airport had to close down twice for the fog, so we were stuck in our own airport for 7 hours here in Lafayette before we could leave, and missed the Hiatt/Goners' set. And then I missed my radio thing at KGSR. But we did make my gig, which was late that night at Antone's. It was great.

PM: Although you've been at it for a long time, I would imagine your best years are still ahead. Don't you agree?

SL: Well, I certainly hope so. [laughs] One always wants to think the best is yet to come. And in many respects I feel a lot more comfortable with everything all around--definitely in the trenches, but it feels good to get out and play for people and still get excited about that. I think that is something in and of itself.

PM: Because I think it's clear that your records are getting better all the time.

SL: Well, I appreciate that, man.

PM: Those last two records are monumental, especially when you take them as a pair.

SL: I appreciate that. Yeah, I think Outward Bound through Levee Town, that's kind of a trilogy. And finishing that was part of saying, "Okay, I've done that." And that's why the timing was so right to shove it to more of the blues side.

PM: Yeah, I see that trilogy idea, yeah.

SL: It has more of a sense of place. And each one, to me, zooms in that much closer. It's like you have three different magnifications of a telescope or a microscope, and things like that, of my old early days of being into that kind of thing, and as I got closer and into more detail about living around a small town with all these characters.

PM: We'll have clips on the site from The Road We're On and from Levee Town. Is there another record that we should go back to, maybe grab a couple of clips of it to put up there? If so, what would you say, Outward Bound?

SL: Wow, it depends on how far back you want to go. But I think certainly Outward Bound, something off of there, maybe "Back To Bayou Teche," or the title cut.

PM: Okay.

SL: And South of I-10. I don't know how far you want to go into it, but--

PM: Yeah, I've got to get South of I-10. I don't have that, but I'm going to get that.

SL: There's a version of "Congo Square" on there that I'm real proud of, because Mark Knopfler and Alan Touissant and Steve Conn, and the whole A-squad gang are on it, and everybody played so well, and I was just sitting there. When we went to mix that song, we said, "How in the hell are we going to do this? Each thing that everybody did was great." And we finally got it. Much credit to my co-producer R. S. Field, whom I can't say enough about.

PM: He is amazing.

SL: Yes he is. And on that song I'm just real proud of the way the whole thing weaves in and out of different verses for different players, so to speak. We were spotlighting, obviously, Alan Touissant and Mark Knopfler, and then our A-team guys, Steve Conn, Dave Ranson, Kenneth Blevins, and Greg Morrow, with both Greg and Kenneth playing drums on it. And it would highlight what they did with that person, you know what I mean?

PM: Wow.

SL: And it's sort of "more to it than meets the ear." You kind of need some time to dig into it. It's pretty rich, I think. I'm real happy with that.

PM: Whenever I think of [producer] R. S. Field, whom I've never had occasion to meet, I always think of a quote that Kenny Vaughan attributed to him years ago. Kenny said that Field said to him once that "I'm not selling out, I just have some intellectual property I'd like to rezone commercial."

SL: [laughs] That's so him.

PM: [laughs]

SL: That kind of stuff is coming out of his mouth all the time. Hanging out with him is a real education.

PM: In parting, I'll ask: Is there anything that you haven't done yet or even attempted that you'd like to do?

SL: Well, I really want to do an instrumental album. And I'm real keen on maybe doing that next. I'd even like at one point to do a jazz kind of album, kind of going back to some of my early jazz heroes, and approaching all that with slide guitar.

PM: Wow.

SL: I've always wanted to call up some of my friends and say, "Hey, I've got this tune here..." Because when I write a song I'll sometimes think something like, "Man, Robben Ford--this would be great if it had Robben on it." That kind of thing.

PM: Right.

SL: But I'd like to actually just do it. Get a little batch of tunes for each one, and get different people to play on them, people I've gotten to be friends with and worked with, and just see what comes out. Because I love playing with other people.

PM: Well, we certainly look forward to hearing that. It's wonderful to talk to you today, Sonny.

SL: All right, Frank. Well, I appreciate it, man. Good luck with everything, and tell all our mutual friends hey. [laughs]

PM: Yeah, I look forward to meeting you up and down the line.

SL: All right, buddy. Take care.

PM: I'll catch you.

All the cool black & white photos of Sonny that illustrate this interview were taken by the inimitable Scott Saltzman. To see these photos large and uncropped, as well as a wonderful selection of Scott's other music images and wide-ranging photographic work, check out barefootphotography.com.

The color shot on the cover and the one below came to us courtesy of Amici Per La Diffusione Della Musica Rock. To learn more about their scene (you've been considering a rockin' little Italian adventure, right?), enjoy their bilingual site at www.admrchiari.it.

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