Benoit is his own Cajun brew
Tuesday, September 21, 2010 18:19
by Michael Kinsman | froggerdogger.com
Strangely, the first notes I remember from a Tab Benoit recording were of an organ. It was 18 years ago, but I can still recall this very soothing Hammond B-3 intro to “Nice And Warm,” the title cut from Benoit’s debut CD.
But then comes this piercing, frightening Fender Telecaster with some slow blues that cut deep. Benoit’s solo would last more than a minute and I was already sold on a new guitar hero.
I still go back to that record when I want to feel good. Benoit is a sort of swashbuckling guitarist who produces a simple, down-home sound when he’s traveling, his Telecaster backed only by a bass and drums. On recordings, he can get adventurous when he adds a keyboard player.
After more than two decades as a professional musician, Benoit performs with the fire of his earliest days. Go back to the day a very young Benoit wondered how his guitar would sound over the PA system of his Catholic school in Houma, La. So he locked himself in a room and proceeded to blast the school with his rock ‘n’ roll guitar in a shocking display that the school’s nuns never really got over.
But Benoit is a proud man. He loves the swamps of his homeland and all of the Cajun culture. So he’s developed his own style of blues that are as welcomed at Sunday afternoon fais-do-dos as they are at giant blues festivals.
I just listened all the way through Benoit’s debut and can say there is not a bad song among the 13 there. He’s got some tried-and-true covers “The Killing Floor,” “Drownin’ On Dry Land” and “I Put A Spell On You.” Even those sound more swampy than ever before.
But his coolest songs are his originals. “Up And Gone,” “Bone Pickin’” and “So High” have great energy and a great blues feeling that might be natural only to a this Cajun bluesman.
Tab Benoit plays Anthology in San Diego on Wednesday, Sept. 22.
Tab Benoit jams Cajun-style with Janiva Magness
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WHAT: Tab Benoit
WHEN: Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010, 7:30pm
TICKETS: $15 – $29 BUY TICKETS
MORE INFO: Artist Profile