Museum of Making Music
Carlsbad, CA
10/11/08

photos and story by Coupe DeVille

Sonny Landreth and David Lindley at The Museum of Making Music

I was really thrilled about seeing Sonny up-close and personal, since I have seen him many times, but usually in a concert setting. The Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California is featuring an exhibit called "The Magic and Mystery of Slide Guitar," and they borrowed 4 of my guitars and 150 of my steel guitar tone bars. Most in-house shows are held in the lobby of the museum, and I wasn't expecting anything different, but they held this show in a hotel ballroom (small ballroom) across the street from the museum. David Lindley was on first, and he was really hot. He was obviously psyched about being in the room with hundreds of slide guitar fans and collectors. After an hour set, Mr. Dave left the stage, and Sonny came on. He had two Fender strats, and played "Back To Bayou Teche", "Broken Hearted Road", and a few instrumentals that wowed the crowd.

His amazing technique had everyone shaking their heads in disbelief. Using his hand to cup the pickup, he created his trademark swoops and shrieks that we all know and love. Then Sonny announced "I've been waiting my whole life to say this...'David Lindley to the bandstand, please' ". Together, they played "Her Mind Is Gone" "Bon Ton Roulie" and ended with "Blues Attack", with Sonny playing Bill Asher's "Electro Sonic" guitar, made especially for bottleneck style playing.



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After the show, both artists stayed around until everyone who wanted to meet them did. They signed anything and everything that was put in front of them. I mentioned seeing Sonny at Congo Square, a coffee house in Santa Monica, and he remembered me! That night, I had him sign some goodies in addition to his own CD, Marti Jones' "Used Guitars", if you haven't heard it, so get one! Sonny's playing is fantastic! I also had him sign John Hiatt's "Slow Turning". There is a CD that accompanies the museum show, you can contact them to get a copy. I gave Sonny a jade slide that he was very happy to get. He signed my own glass slide, and after the show, I bought him a glass of wine! The next morning, we went back to the museum to take pictures of my stuff, and Sonny walked in around 11 a.m.. We chatted a little, and I told him about "Fretboard Journal" magazine. The cover story in the current issue is David Lindley interviewed by Ben Harper. What could be better? I also met one of Sonny's bandmates from the early 1970s. I think his name was Dave, but it was all a blur by that time. He said he lived in Colorado, and had a band. Walking down the street one day, he saw Sonny playing an acoustic Dobro, and asked him if he wanted to be in his band...and to his surprise, Sonny agreed. I should have asked more questions, but I was too busy being a slide guitar nerd!

Coupe DeVille

all photos taken by Coupe DeVille
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