TAB BENOIT is a Cajun man whos definitely got the blues. Born November 17, 1967, he grew up in Houma, Louisiana. A guitar player since his teenage years, he hung out at the Blues Box, a ramshackle music club and cultural center in nearby Baton Rouge run by guitarist Tabby Thomas. Playing guitar alongside Thomas, Raful Neal, Henry Gray and other high-profile regulars at the club, Benoit learned the blues first-hand from a faculty of living blues legends.
The nightly impromptu gigs were enough to inspire Benoit to assemble his own band a stripped down bass-and-drums unit propelled by his solid guitar skills and leathery, Cajun-spiced vocal attack. He took his show on the road in the early 90s and hasnt stopped since. In 2010, Benoit received the Governors Award for Conservationist of the Year for 2009 from the Louisiana Wildlife Federation.
Medicine, Benoits latest release on Telarc, successfully joins two gifted guitarists/songwriters in a session that proves greater than the sum of its very talented parts. Released in 2011, the 11-track recording features seven new Benoit originals co-written with ace songwriter Anders Osborne. Engineered by David Z, Medicine spotlights the work of keyboardist Ivan Neville, drummer Brady Blade and bassist Corey Duplechin. Fiddler/singer Michael Doucet of BeauSoleil makes a special appearance on three tracks.
ERIC LINDELL writes music that is as at home on your front porch on a summer evening as it is in a hot sweaty club on a Saturday night. It is southern soul music, infused with R&B and a touch of New Orleans funk. It is blues music, glazed with a taste of country. It is simple, heartfelt song writing; melodic guitar solos and energized live performance.
Eric has been writing and recording songs for over 15 years, and is now touring behind the strength of his latest release I Still Love You. His bands rhythm section, Myles Weeks on upright bass and Will McMains on drums, have been with Eric for over three years, making their performance on I Still Love You, as well as their live shows incredibly tight and intuitive. Both players are young, but have a swing feel of much more seasoned musicians. Rounding out the band are saxophonists Brad Walker and Chris Fitzgerald, whose horn section work serves the purpose of the church choir, answering in the affirmative to the soulful vocals, giving the music the feel of a packed bar in Memphis or New Orleans, where soul music reigns supreme.
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