Seventeen-year-old Sonny B., also known as Sonny Johnson from Burr Oak, opened for Blackwater on Saturday night at the Mankato City Park. This was part of the '96 High School reunion that was put together by Josh Lippold of Blue Earth Studios in Mankato. Sonny has been asked to open for Kill Creek Rising on Saturday, at Burr Oak's 150th Birthday Celebration. Sonny will start his set between 7 and 7:30 p.m. at the Community Center's yard in Burr Oak.

Sonny started playing the guitar at four-years-old. With the starter guitar his parents, Betty and John Johnson, bought him, Sonny taught himself how to play. He doesn't like to limit himself to one genre, so plays music from the '50s to today. Sonny plays other instruments as well, the trumpet, saxophone, banjo, ukulele, bass and drums being among those.

The talented 17-year-old is going to be a senior at Rock Hills High School for the 2021-2022 school year. Sonny's future plans are to continue writing music. He hopes to make it big in the music community. He wants to travel and play gigs, but he knows Burr Oak will always be his home. Sonny hasn't released an album yet, but has written a few songs. Two of those songs were written with his friend, Davin Coil, who is the bassist in Sonny's band.

"I'm so proud of my only son," Betty said. "One of my favorite things in the world has been watching Sonny grow into the determined person he is. I thank God for keeping His hands upon Sonny and for putting the right people in his path to get him where he needs to be in life. John and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for him!"