#699 : Tab Benoit - I Hear Thunder (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

 

2024 – Whiskey Bayou Records
Release Date : Aug 30, 2024

By Phillip Smith;

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

 

It’s been a long thirteen years since Tab Benoit has released a new studio album. I Hear Thunder, the latest, is well worth the wait.  Benoit delivers ten striking new Telecaster Thinline-fueled tracks he co-wrote with guitarist Anders Osborne. They glisten like rays of sunlight reflecting off a Louisiana bayou. With Tab on vocals and guitar, he is joined by drummer Terence Higgins, bassist Corey Duplechin, Osborne on guitar. And guest George Porter Jr. (The Meters) who plays bass on two tracks.

Title-track “I Hear Thunder” is powered by a quick-setting, lush, swampy groove adorned with thick bass, a heavy pulse, and riveting guitar licks. I absolutely love it.  “The Ghost of Gatemouth Brown” follows next with an infectious beat and a fabulous tribute to the Grammy-winning Louisiana bluesman Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown (April 18, 1924 – September 10, 2005).  Benoit is picturesque with his lyrics as he transports the listener into the swamps and marshes of the delta with “Watching the Gaters Roll In”.  It’s a favorite indeed. When Porter joins in on “Little Queenie”, it makes for a damn fine dance-inducing jam. I can’t help but move my feet when this flows through the speakers. The album comes to its glorious end with “Bayou Man”, a bodacious track oozing with searing guitar licks covered in gator grease.

Tab Benoit’s I Hear Thunder excites me at every turn with his delectable guitar performances and powerful vocals. It truly is a fantastic album.  

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For more information about Tab Benoit, visit his website at https://www.tabbenoit.com/

#598 : Alastair Greene - Alive in the New World (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

 

2023 – Whiskey Bayou Records

By Phillip Smith; Feb. 25, 2023

 

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

 

Alastair Greene’s guitar wizardry coupled with his innate ability to craft songs is just the beginning of why his live albums are as delectable as the ones he recorded in studio.  I love the studio albums, but the live albums make for an entirely different listening experience with Alastair packing more into several of the songs.  Greene’s most recent disc Alive in the New World covers ten of the eleven tracks on his 2020 studio album New World Blues.  Produced by Tab Benoit, these live recordings were taken out of a six-night run in Chicago at City Winery during a 2021 tour in which Greene was opening for Benoit.  The lineup is exactly the same as the original studio album with Greene on guitar and vocals, Benoit on drums, and Corey Duplechin on bass and harmony.  The songs are sequenced very differently than they originally were on New World Blues and omits the inclusion of “Alone and Confused”. 

Alastair’s guitar is ablaze and slathered in Texas blues as he leads the record off with “Back at the Poor House”.  The funky groove on this instrumental whisks me away to my happy place.  “Lies and Fear” gets down and dirty as Greene questions an age-old manipulation tactic.  He takes this song skyward as he opens up and lets loose.  I absolutely love “Heroes” as it crashes ashore riding atop an enormous melancholy wave.  The song still reminds me of The Meat Puppets.  It doesn’t take long for “Bayou Mile” to get swampy after it gently rolls in.  Greene dishes out a whopping helping of slide guitar on this one and it sounds great.  Alive in the New World closes in a bodacious way with “The New World Blues”.  This is when Greene dumps the remainder of grease and swamp-water into an amazing finale. 

The New World Blues was a favorite of mine in 2021.  Alive in the New World is a favorite of mine in 2023.  I recommend getting both.    

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For more information about Alastair Greene, visit his website at : https://agsongs.com  

 

Check out other PhillyCheeze reviews for Alastair Greene at :  https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/search?q=alastair+greene

 

#486 : Alastair Greene - The New World Blues

 

2020 – Whiskey Bayou Records

By Phillip Smith; Feb. 13, 2021

I’ve been a fan of Alastair Greene since reviewing his 2017 release Dream Train.  That album came to fruition soon after his lengthy gig of playing with Alan Parsons.  Hearing his latest album, The New World Blues, only made me more of a fan.  Greene is rocker rooted in blues, and a bluesman rooted in rock.  His songs are solid as hell, and his guitar prowess is absolutely stunning.  Tab Benoit, cofounder of Whiskey Bayou Records produced the album, and took on drums, with bass player Corey Duplechin rounding out this paramount power-trio. 

“Living Today” gets this eleven-track record off to a ripping start, with Greene reminding us to let our love shine through this world gone mad.  The song is quite powerful.  Benoit throws down a monster beat as Greene absolutely tears it up on guitar.  Greene pours a jug-full of delta grease into “Bayou Mile” a ballad of reflection. This one puts a smile on my face and makes me think of home.  Things heat up when Greene breaks out a big ol’ case of Texas-style blues on his instrumental “Back at the Poor House”.  This one evokes the fabulous sounds of Stevie Ray Vaughan.  Sitting atop a delicate framework, is this beautiful and melancholy song called “Heroes”.  It totally captivated me, both lyrically and musically.  When I heard the harmonized vocals, I was instantly reminded of one of my favorite bands in the nineties, The Meat Puppets.  The album comes to a walloping finish on title-track “The New World Blues” with Greene doling out heaping helpings of swampy electric slide.  It sounds so damn good. 

“The New World Blues” is definitely among the best albums I’ve heard this year.  It’s surely one blues-rock fans will want to grab.   

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For more information about the artist, visit this website : https://agsongs.com/

 

Take a listen to the album on Apple Music, and if you decide to purchase it, use my special link.  This helps keep the PhillyCheeze site going.

#408 : J.P. Soars - Let Go of the Reins

2019 – Whiskey Bayou Records

By Phillip Smith; Sep. 14, 2019

Produced by Tab Benoit, Let Go of the Reins delightfully highlights everything I like about the music of J.P. Soars : smokin’ guitar licks, hard-scrabble lyrics, and fearless vocals.  Soars, the Arkansas-based artist who won 1^st place at the 2009 International Blues Challenge in Memphis and pulled down the Albert King Award for best guitarist, rolls out his fifth solo studio album covered in hard-driving blues.  Soars steers the ship on vocals and guitars, with Chris Peet on bass guitar, Tab Benoit on drums, and Tillis Verdin on the Hammond B3.   

Soars begins the album with a jumpin’ cover of J.B. LeNoir’s “Been Down So Long”.  The fresh new arrangement absolutely cooks.  I love the swampy cover of the 1970 hit song “If You Wanna Get to Heaven”, by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils.  Soars definitely makes this one his own.  I thoroughly enjoy his beautiful performance of Django Reinhardt’s intoxicating instrumental “Minor Blues” too. 

A wonderful deep dark groove, preceded by an ominous entrance, guides title-track “Let Go of the Reins” on its hypnotic path to a psychedelic finish.   Soars cut loose on his spirited tribute to Freddie King called “Freddie King Thing”.  It jams indeed.  “Lonely Fire” with its delicate melody and Spanish influence, is a song I simply adore.  

I highly recommend Let Go of the Reins.  It’s among the best albums I’ve heard this year.    

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For more information about the artist, visit this website : jpsoars.com  

Tommy Castro and the Painkillers - The Devil You Know

Alligator Records,  2014

By Phillip Smith; January 18, 2014

Returning to the studio with a new band, The Painkillers, along with a bus load full of special guests which includes Marcia Ball, Tab Benoit, Joe Bonamassa, Samantha Fish, Mark Karan, Magic Dick, Tasha Taylor, and the Holmes Brothers, Tommy Castro has recorded one smoking hot Blues album, The Devil You Know.  The Painkillers consist of bassist Randy McDonald, drummer Byron Cage, and keyboardist James Pace. 

It’s almost impossible to not get down and do some foot-tapping when I hear “When I Cross the Mississippi”.  Tab Benoit and Mark Karan both jump in with guitars. Tab joins along on vocals as well.  I really identify with this song, and the way it invokes a longing to return to wherever we call home.  When I hear him sing the lyrics, ‘That river runs so strong.  The river clears my brain.  When I cross the Mississippi, I got muddy water in my vein.’, I get the urge to hop in my car, drive down to Memphis, and catch some live music. 

I love the slow and swampy infectious groove on the title track, “The Devil You Know”.  Between that groove, Castro’s killer guitar licks and the soulful organ contributions from Pace, this makes for a strong opening track.  Things get even better when Joe Bonamassa joins in on a cover of Savoy Brown’s “I’m Tired”.  Bonamassa handles most of the guitar on this as Castro’s slightly gravely vocals add an extra layer of ‘cool’ to the song.  The jam between the two towards the end of the song is nice as well.  Mark Karan also sits in on another outstanding cover, Wet Willie’s “Keep on Smilin’”.  I might have to even say I like this version a smidge better than the original.  I can’t help but be in a better mood when I hear it.

Joining Castro as he wails on his guitar, in the fast paced original, “Medicine Woman”, is Samantha Fish.  She’s sexy and sultry.  It’s always a pleasure to hear her sing.  It’s also a pleasure to hear the Holmes Brothers who provide spiritually uplifting backing vocals on “Two Steps Forward”, which has an extra boost of richness provided by harmonica master, Magic Dick.     

One of my favorites, “Center of Attention”, is an energetically charged powerhouse of a song with pounding rhythmic drums, splendid guitar riffs, and fierce vocals.  Revolving around a drama queen who just has to be the center of attention, this song definitely ends up on my heavy rotation list. 

The Devil You Know is thirteen tracks of soulful positively charged Blues music. It is a fantastic listen from beginning to end.