YEAH YOU RIGHT!!!!!
Like I told you in pm/email, I went to high school on the Westbank (the best bank), and did my first "pro" gigs in NOLA.
Now, I love Derek...don't get me wrong here. But I met him when he was 12, so in some ways, he's still a kid to me. And I love his style, but it ISN'T Louisiana style....it's his own blend of Duane Allman and Nusrat Ali Khan or something. He's very lyrical and very soulful, and I love him to death. Plus, he married the woman of my dreams, Susan Tedeschi (I MET HER FIRST!!!!)
But Sonny Landreth is in another league....as a songwriter, as a lyricist, and as possibly the best slide player alive. His music BREATHES Louisiana....I remember asking Brian Stoltz if he had "stolen any licks on slide from Sonny"...
He laughed at me and said "how do you know it wasn't SONNY stealing LICKS from ME???"
Actually, if you have heard BRIAN pull out his slide and do HIS thing, he doesn't exactly suck at playing slide either. And it has elements of that same style Sonny plays....
I have to say though....when it comes to a full package of songs, voice, talent, and that special something.....Sonny Landreth has it in spades. Maybe you have to have LIVED in Louisiana to smell the difference...or feel it......but "South of I-10" is my favorite Louisiana record EVER, right behind the Meters, Neville Bros, Porter/Batiste/Stoltz, and Brians solo stuff.......which is FANTASTIC as well, and much "funkier" than Sonny.
It takes a lot of flavors to make a good gumbo