Seeing as how Sonny Landreth's searing, intricate guitar playing style—which involves simultaneously using a bottleneck slide and fretting chords and notes—just got him voted Guitar Player magazine's slide guitarist of the year, it's not like he couldn't handle all the guitar parts on his seventh studio album, From the Reach, on his own. Evidently, he just didn't want to. The blues-rock playing Louisiana-dweller—who fulfilled his post-Katrina musicianly duty to his home state by including a hurricane song, "Blue Tarp Blues," and a guest performance by Dr. John—brought in a bunch of his guitar heroes and peers, from Clapton and Knopfler to our own Vince Gill. But, unlike most who succumb to pack-an-album-full-of-big-name-guests syndrome, Landreth kept it from toppling over with too many slack, symbolic gestures by writing sharp new songs with his guests in mind. There are hip-hop acts that could learn a thing or two from that.
Sun., Sept. 28, 8 p.m., 2008
