Sonny Rhodes
Sonny Rhodes ( born November 3, 1940 Clarence Edward Smith in Smithville (Texas ) ) is an American blues singer, bassist and lap steel guitar players.
Biography
Rhodes was born as the sixth and last child of a farmer couple in Smithville, Texas. He got his first guitar at age eight for Christmas, but only twelve, he began to turn to the blues. In the late 1950s he joined his first band, Clarence Smith & the Daylighters on in Smithville and nearby Austin. As his musical influences he called T -Bone Walker, Pee Wee Crayton and BB King. After graduating high school he joined the Navy, where he was stationed in California. Here he worked in radio and as a disc jockey on the naval ships. At that time, he learned to play the bass guitar, which he played as a sideman by Freddie King and Albert Collins. After his Navy time it took for various record labels, including his own company Rhodesway Records albums. In 1976, he came to Europe and took plates at different companies, but had little success. In 1989, he played for the documentary " Living Texas Blues " (directed by Les Blank, Alan Govenar ) his Cigarette Blues.
Other works
- Rhodes took the theme song ( The Ballad of Serenity ) on the American TV series Firefly.
- Six times he appeared at the San Francisco Blues Festival, on which Musicamdo Jazz and Blues Festival 2005 and the Fresno Blues Festival 2007.
Awards
Eleven nominations for Blues Music Awards