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PHOTO COURTESY OF ARTIST

BLUE-ISIANA MAN. Tab Benoit plays Tacoma Community College Oct. 30 and Jazzbones Nov. 1

Rich heritage of Louisiana drives Tab Benoit

By John Larson

Louisiana bluesman Tab Benoit hits Tacoma for two shows this week on his current tour. He is touring in support of his latest album “Night Train To Nashville,” which was released earlier this year.

He had many collaborators on the album from the worlds of blues, country and Cajun music, including harpist/vocalist Jimmy Hall, fiddler/washboard player Waylon Thibodeaux and Kim Wilson, frontman for the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

“Having all those guys on there was a special thing for me,” Benoit said. “They are all artists I have listened to for a long time.”

Benoit lives in Houma, in the bayou country of Louisiana. He believes he started playing music at birth, or soon after. “Where we live everyone is musical,” he said. “Not everyone does it for a living, but everyone can play. We have a get together at someone’s house and the instruments start coming out.

“I did not really have it in my mind to be a musician for a living,” he continued. “It just happened that way. There came a day when my night job started interfering with my day job. Eventually I was making more money playing gigs on weekends than working at my day job all week.”

Benoit did not realize just how rich the musical heritage of his home state was until he began touring. “Growing up in Louisiana, I did not realize it,” he said. “Now I realize how special it is. It helps me to appreciate it. There is something there I cannot get anywhere else.”

In 2007 the Blues Foundation honored Benoit with two awards – B.B. King Entertainer of the Year and Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year. He received the latter award again this year.

Benoit was nominated for a Grammy, but feels the blues awards are more significant. Not every Grammy voter listens to every album in every category, he noted. “In blues, everyone who voted for you listened to your CD. They know what you are about.”

Benoit had a musical role in “Hurricane on the Bayou,” a documentary that chronicled life in Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He is also president of Voice of the Wetlands, an environmental organization he founded in 2003.

In the bayou country where he grew up, there is a major flood every four or five years. “Part of why people are so community oriented, and resilient, is because of that,” he said.

The recovery efforts were more localized and based on people helping their neighbors. He feels things have gotten worse since the Federal Emergency Management Administration was placed under the Department of Homeland Security.

He sees many people forced to stay away from their homes for too long. “People can’t afford to stay in a hotel for a week. The government is screwing things up. They are taking charge, which they did not used to do,” he said. “Storms are bad, but dealing with the government is a lot harder.”

His Tacoma stop will be a change from the typical tour routine of a new city and new hotel room every day. That can wear on a musician, but Benoit understands that is part of the profession.

“As a person, a sense of being away from home plays on your mind,” he said. “But I am a live artist. I get to do this for a living, playing for people every night. I am doing my part to make the world a better place. Music has always been there for me when I needed it, now I get to pay it back.”

Tab Benoit plays Tacoma Community College at 7 p.m. Oct. 30 and Jazzbones at 8 p.m. Nov. 1.

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