Born Kevin Gullage and raised in New Orleans, Sonny was, in the words of his label, “born with blues wisdom.” He wrote his first song at twelve, about the environmental and economic devastation of the BP oil spill. His father, bassist Tony Gullage, performed with Henry Butler, Dr. John, and other Crescent City musicians; his grandmother, Sister Alberta Gullage, released gospel records in the 1960s; and the family’s surname was originally Ledbetter — making Sonny a believed relative of the seminal blues and folk legend Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter.
Biography
Blues Wisdom Beyond His Years
Sonny cut his teeth as a resident artist at B.B. King’s Blues Club in New Orleans. When the pandemic shuttered the club, he tried out for ABC’s American Idol in 2022, advancing to the Showstoppers round. An official Hammond organ artist and endorser, he has appeared in the films The Last Laugh and Burning Cane, lent his voice to Disney’s 2019 Lady & the Tramp, and composed music for film and podcasts.
“It was almost a revelation when I discovered I could sing the blues — it just flowed out of me — and I realized that’s how I wanted to connect with people.”
— Sonny GullageSigned to the legendary Blind Pig Records in 2024, Sonny released Go Be Free on August 23, 2024 — a twelve-song collection produced by four-time Grammy winner Tom Hambridge, with Christone “Kingfish” Ingram guesting on guitar. He has since toured extensively across the U.S. and Europe, drawing praise from Chicago Blues Guide, Rock & Blues Muse, and Blues Rock Review as a legitimate phenomenon and the future of the blues.
