Houma, Louisiana native Tab Benoit has proven to be one of the most credible and enduring
blues artists to emerge in the past 20 years. In the mini-blues revival that has slowly been gaining
steam since the death of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Benoit stands alone in being the practitioner of gritty
Creole swamp blues. His sound has been honed not by hours in the studio, but years on the road.
His composition and performance reflect this fact.
Mr. Benoit began recording a bit over ten years ago with the Vanguard Releas Nice and
Warm, which included the incendiary slow blues title track. He recorded four more discs for the
label before moving to Telarc Blues in 1999. After two well received discs since then, Benoit joined
forces with Jimmy Thackery for the 2002
Whiskey Store , where he and Thackery reprised "Nice and Warm."
Mr. Benoit has taken his regular touring group into The Big Easy Recording Studio (AKA Sea
Saint Studios) for a set of loosely composed and arranged originals and blues standards. The
Sea Saint Sessions is a refreshing take on the blues power trio. Benoit’s guitar is spare and raw
and the studio people resisted the impulse to overproduce this recording. The results are
immediate and real. The songs range from R&B ("Baby Blue") to standard 12-bar
("Monk’s Blues") to the straight zydeco ("Boat Launch Baby"). It is really the
last of these that is the most revelatory. Without accordion and washboard support, this brand of
zydeco is electric with excitement. Barry White plays a spankin’ Cajun beat. Benoit’s voice is
refreshing as well, that Louisiana patois thick as gumbo. I for one would like to hear Mr. Benoit
make an entire recording of zydeco!
It is rumored that Tab Benoit will rejoin Jimmy Thackery for Whiskey Store Live. This
should be great fun.
For more information, please visit Telarc
Blues and Tab Benoit
~ C. Michael Bailey
