the Sonny Moorman Group

Genre: Blues
Secondary Genre: Rock Cincinnati, Ohio USA Contact

Moorman and his band take the blues ethos, plant it in the garden of their own experience, and let it grow into something which is natural, unforced, blues-drenched, and rocks like crazy -- Bill Shute, BLUES-L

Artist Information

Biography

"I came to play" says Sonny Moorman. "I was raised in the bars my folks owned in and around Hamilton, OH and got to hear world class artists Lonnie Mack, Cal Collins, Dumpy Rice, Troy Seals, Wayne Perry, and a score of others up close and personal and learned one thing – all the hype in the world doesn't mean a thing unless you can back it up!" Those are words Sonny has lived by through the decades of roadhouses, bars, and juke joints from coast to coast. He backed it up gig after gig, night after night, and year after year until his own "hype" got too big to go unnoticed any longer. After a decade of playing rock bars in Michigan with a variety of bands and a five year "visit" to LA during which he graduated from Musician's Institute and played with "Z Deluxe" (Warren Zevon's former tour band), Moorman returned to Ohio – and to the Blues.

When Cincinnati Blues icon Big Ed Thompson suffered his debilitating stroke, Sonny was brought in to handle the guitar and vocal chores in Big Ed's band – the Cincinnati Blues All-Stars. The CBA's ETH Records release – Live at Burbank's chronicled the band during this period, and Living Blues Magazine was effusive in it's praise for Moorman's playing and singing. Not satisfied with the stylistic limitations of the All-Stars, Sonny moved on – to the Blues/Rock power trio format that is his vehicle to date.

In 1994, Moorman and his band played the Memphis Cross-Cultural Music Exposition and got a recording deal with Sun Studio's 706 Records imprint. "Gary Hardy (then Sun Studio manager) came up to me before I walked off of the stage at Blues City and offered us a deal", says Sonny. Two 706 Records releases followed – L*I*V*E and Telegraph Road. At that point Moorman started what became a four-year tour with Easyriders Magazine playing their events and became a client of manager William Perkins (Allman Bros., SRV, Tinsley Ellis). Sonny recorded his next releases on Perkins' Atlas Records label, including the 2009 Just Plain Folks, Best Blues Album / Best Blues Song nominee – Crossroads Motel, Live as Hell, and and Sonny's current release, More Live as Hell – Up to My Neck in the Blues.

In addition to the critical acclaim from these releases, Sonny is the 2007 International Blues Challenge Solo/Duo 2nd place, 2008 Solo/Duo "Blues Artist on the Rise" – Blues Festival Guide Magazine, and he and his band were finalists in the 2010 International Blues Challenge.

Noted music Journalist Randy McNutt may have said it best,
"He can flat-out play—and sing… Sounds have been passed from blues giant Freddy King to Lonnie Mack to Sonny Moorman."

"Although listeners can hear the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Rory Gallagher, Lonnie Mack, and Peter Green in his music, any comparison does him no justice. Basically, Sonny sounds like Sonny, with a fat, creamy, and wonderful power blues resonance."
Brian D. Holland, Blues Revue Magazine

"In the best tradition of power trios, Moorman delivers the crunch and the wow!" -- Jim Hynes, Elmore Magazine

To learn more about the Sonny Moorman visit his website:
www.sonnymoorman.net

ReverbNation EPK at http://www.reverbnation.com/sonnymoormangroup

Sonicbids EPK at http://www.sonicbids.com/theSonnyMoormanGroup

Sonicbids EPK (Sonny Solo) at http://www.sonicbids.com/SonnyMoorman
Please contact:

William Perkins
Republic Artists Management
2919 Audubon Drive
Macon, GA 31204-1129
ph.. (478) 475-9909
fax (478) 476- 8236
WHP0854@MSN.COM

Sonny Moorman Group
2550 Service Lane
Hamilton, OH 45011
ph. (513) 544-6912
Cmoormanjr@aol.com

Instrumentation

Chris Perreault - Bass
Dave Fair - Drums
Sonny Moorman - Guitar/Vocal

Discography

NEW RELEASE! -- "More Live as Hell". Once again recorded by Erwin Musper, this Atlas Records release shows the band at their best playing Sonny's songs! The Sonny Moorman Group's release, "Live as Hell" on Atlas Records was recorded by acclaimed producer/engineer Erwin Musper (Jeff Beck, Van Halen, Scorpions, etc.) and shows Sonny and the band at their very best! This follows four previous releases on Atlas -- "By Request", "By Request 2", and "Sonny's Blues" -- which also received national airplay and strong regional sales. Sonny has two prior releases on Sun Studio/706 Records --"Telegraph Road" and "L*I*V*E" which received nationwide airplay and positive critical response.

Links

Audio

Lyrics

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

  • "Live as Hell" the Sonny Moorman Group [+ Show ]

    The Sonny Moorman Group: Continuing Cincy’s Blues-Rock Tradition By Randy McNutt The ...

  • Sonny Moorman - Live at the Cincy Blues Fest [+ Show ]

    Live acoustic blues is one of God's great gifts to us, particularly when it is placed in the c...

  • Blues -the Buzz by Frank-John Hadley [+ Show ]

    Sonny Moorman: Live at the Cincy Blues Fest! (Atlas 0008; 49:38) *** (three stars) Solo perform...

  • Cincinnati CityBeat : 10/12/2005 [+ Show ]

    Cincinnati CityBeat : 10/12/2005 : Locals Only: Local Disc-O-Mania · THE SONNY MOORMAN GROUP ...

  • Gritz Music Magazine, Summer 2005 [+ Show ]

    The Sonny Moorman Group have followed up some good time live albums in recent years with a new studi...

  • BLUES-L [+ Show ]

    "[Moorman and his band] take the blues ethos, plant it in the garden of their own experience, and le...

  • BLUES ACCESS Magazine [+ Show ]

    "Power Blues is an apt description for a trio that treads the territory laid out by ZZ Top, Stevie R...

  • Hittin' the Note Magazine [+ Show ]

    "Moorman plays guitar with precision, conviction, and a natural flow. The...songs [on Telegraph Road...

  • GUITAR Magazine [+ Show ]

    "[Moorman] can blister through metal blues, get raunchy with heavy slide, cry like an Atlanta Brave ...

  • LIVING BLUES Magazine [+ Show ]

    "Sonny Moorman...pounding, high-volume blues/rock that opens the throttle..." -- LIVING BLUES Magazi...

  • More Live as Hell Revue -- Blues Revue Magazine [+ Show ]

    Blues Revue Magazine Issue #130 July/August 2011 SONNY MOORMAN More Live as Hell Atlas T...

Setlist

The Sonny Moorman Group's sets can be as long as 4 hours and contain the original songs from their "Crossrads Motel" and "Telegraph Road" releases, as well as selected mini-sets of songs by Hendrix, Cream, ZZTOP, Allman Brothers Band, Robin Trower, Led Zepplin, Fleetwood Mac, Johnny Winter, Lonnie Mack, Stevie Ray Vaughan, etc.

Basic Requirements

Calendar

There are no upcoming dates at this time.