Sonny Landreth

Many music connoisseurs were introduced to Sonny Landreth’s steel guitar on John Hiatt’s Slow Turning, but Landreth is one of those musicians who have played with everyone, including a host of blues and Cajun giants. Landreth’s previous solo outing, 1995’s South of I-10, pushed his intricately fretted swamp romps to pleasurable new peaks, but fans of that record will find themselves disappointed with Levee Town, which has taken all of the crunch out of his sound. Levee Town has the feel of a band’s first, uninspired set in front of an indifferent crowd. Landreth’s voice, thin and reedy (not necessarily a disadvantage for a Cajun singer), has shouldered his guitar to the side, and the songs, full of pop-bayou mysticism, never catch fire. Even guest appearances by Hiatt, Bonnie Raitt, Herb Pedersen and a crowd of others can’t turn around this lackluster set.