Cyril "Sonny" Moorman (born 1955) is an American power

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

guitarist. His style is sometimes compared to that of the

Duane Allman Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American rock and blues guitarist and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fam ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

Lonnie Mack Lonnie McIntosh (July 18, 1941 – April 21, 2016), known as Lonnie Mack, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was influential in the development of blues rock music and rock guitar soloing. Mack emerged in 1963 with his break ...

Gov't Mule Gov't Mule (pronounced "Government Mule") is an American Southern rock jam band, formed in 1994 by guitarist Warren Haynes, bassist Allen Woody (both of The Allman Brothers Band at the time) and drummer Matt Abts (whom Haynes had worked with in ...

, and occasionally

Warren Haynes Warren Haynes (born April 6, 1960) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his work as longtime guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was ...

. Moorman's parents owned a nightclub called the "Half-Way Inn" located halfway between

Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located north of Cincinnati along the Great Miami River, Hamilton is the second-most populous city in the Cincinnati metropolitan area and the List of municipaliti ...

and

Middletown, Ohio Middletown is a city in Butler County, Ohio, Butler and Warren County, Ohio, Warren counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 50,987 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area in sou ...

Ohio State Route 4 State Route 4 (SR 4), formerly known as Inter-county Highway 4 until 1921 and State Highway 4 in 1922, is a major north–south state highway in Ohio. It is the fifth longest state route in Ohio. Its southern terminus is at U.S. Route 42 (Oh ...

where he was able to watch musicians who played there, such as Lonnie Mack, from an early age. Moorman attended

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

and also graduated from the

Musicians Institute Musicians Institute (MI) is a private for-profit music school in Los Angeles, California. MI students can earn Certificates and – with transfer of coursework taken at Los Angeles City College – Associate of Arts Degrees, as well as Bachelor ...

in Hollywood. He also owned a music lesson studio in

Fairfield, Ohio Fairfield is a city in southern Butler County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb located about north of Cincinnati and is situated on the east bank of the Great Miami River. The population was 44,907 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1 ...

called Rock School, and now offers guitar lessons out of 3rd Street Music in

. He has been a member of

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer and songwriter. His most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money" and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". All t ...

's touring band and the Tomcats with members of

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band formed in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1966 and active until 1983. Their work, which blended elements of funk, soul music, soul, psychedelic rock, gospel music, gospel, and R&B, becam ...

. One of his signature tunes is his cover of Lonnie Mack's ''Cincinnati Jail''. Moorman sometimes plays a Jamonn Zeiler crafted Acoustic guitar and a 2004 model

Gibson Flying V The Gibson Flying V is an electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1958. The Flying V offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Explorer, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, which was designe ...

Reissue. On some tunes Sonny plays

Slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

either upright or laptop. The band has opened for

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums, live performances, and slide guitar playing from the late 1 ...

in 2012.

Band members

Former members

*Greg Day, drums and vocals *Danny Paul, bass guitar and vocals *Jeff Wilson, drums and vocals *Red MacCormack, drums *Elmer Monk, drums *Gus Delao, drums *Brian Sergi, drums *Jimmy McNeely, drums *Joe Clooney, drums and vocals *Jamie Combs, drums and vocals *"Bad Bob" Logsdon, bass guitar and vocals *Denny Hymer, bass guitar and vocals *Willy D – bass guitar and Vocals *Nick Giese – bass guitar *Jared Manker – bass guitar *Mike Willis – bass guitar and vocals *Raiford Faircloth- bass, guitar, and vocals *Mark Hoffman – Bass Guitar *Chris Perreault -- bass *Dave Fair -- drums *Mike Tetrault - Harmonica *Mark Dudderar, drums and percussion and vocals *Martin Horst – bass guitar *Joe Cowels, guitar, vocals

Current members

Moorman currently does solo acoustic performances and he also makes several appearances a week with his band, the Sonny Moorman Group. They are: *Sonny Moorman, guitar and vocals *Lane Butler, drums *Danny Thompson, bass guitar

Discography

*''Telegraph Road'' *''Sonny's Blues'' *''Crossroads Motel'' *''Sonny Moorman:Live at the Cincy Blues Fest'' *''Live as Hell'' *''More Live as Hell'' *''Lucky 13''

References

External links

The former Sonny Moorman official website
(domain redirects to new website ~ below)
The Sonny Moorman official websiteJamon Zeiler Fine Crafted Guitars
Living people 1955 births American blues guitarists American male guitarists Musicians from Cincinnati Musicians Institute alumni Guitarists from Ohio 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians {{US-guitarist-stub