Dec. 13: Blues icon Tab Benoit brings the ‘Thunder’ to Tupelo Music Hall
As part of his tour in support of the release, Benoit and his band are going to be taking the stage at Tupelo Music Hall in Derry on December 13. The show starts at 8 p..m with Austin, Texas, alt-country artist Jesse Dayton kicking things off.
Tupelo Music Hall
10 A St, Derry, NH 03038
Tickets | Tab Benoit / Jesse Dayton Band opens the show
Louisiana native Tab Benoit has been one of the premier figures in blues ever since his guitar skills first got him noticed during the late ‘80s. With his trademark Fender Telecaster, Benoit has a knack for unleashing killer riffs and solos while his voice has a noticeable grit and honesty. He also isn’t afraid to get funky and groovy, which is evident in his latest studio album, “I Hear Thunder,” that came out on August 30. As part of his tour in support of the release, Benoit and his band are going to be taking the stage at Tupelo Music Hall in Derry on December 13. The show starts at 8 p..m with Austin, Texas, alt-country artist Jesse Dayton kicking things off.
For the making of the album, Benoit worked with fellow guitar phenom Anders Osborne, who plays on the majority of “I Hear Thunder.” It was also released via his own label Whisky Bayou Records, which he started back in 2017 with his manager Rueben Williams.
“I decided that I wasn’t giving another album to a record label again,” he says. “The original record deal that I signed was when I was 21 or 22 years old, and I signed it without a lawyer, so I’ve been locked into this bad deal that I finally got out of after 30 years. I was just gonna wait it out and see what happens, and this is what happened. This is the first album where I didn’t have anybody to answer to: no producer, no record label having to approve of anything. To go in there and try to make magic while somebody else on the other side of the glass is analyzing it, there’s that feeling in the back of your mind like, you know, they ain’t gonna like this.”
“That’s going to change how you approach things, how open you are to playing in the moment and I couldn’t talk about it, because they could have come after me.” Benoit adds. “If they saw interviews with me saying I ain’t giving them another record, they could have sued me. I did not want to give another one away, you know, and I think I only owed them one more record, but I wouldn’t have had any control over it. I couldn’t reproduce my own stuff, I couldn’t go put it on vinyl for people, I couldn’t do any of that.”
A prime example of the grooviness and funkiness within the album is “The Ghost of Gatemouth Brown”, which is anchored by Corey Duplechin on bass and Terence Higgins on drums. “Inner Child” exhibits a harder edge that’s forged through the combination of both guitars from Benoit and Osborne. George Porter Jr., who is a founding member of the legendary New Orleans funk act The Meters, jumps in on the low end for “I’m A Write That Down” while establishing his presence within the rhythms. Other highlights include the title track, “Overdue” and “Bayou Man”. With this being said, it’s recommended that whoever listens to “I Hear Thunder” do so from start to finish to get the full experience.
To purchase Tab Benoit’s new album, folks can log into his website at tabbenoit.com. They can also stream it via the platform of their choice, whether it’s Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music or any of the others. If people are looking for a more direct approach, they can buy the album at the upcoming show at Tupelo Music Hall. There, they can hear some of the songs performed live, which is a really cool double-whammy if you ask me.
