Tab Benoit, I Hear Thunder, album cover front

Review: Tab Benoit ‘I Hear Thunder’

By Hal Horowitz

“Ain’t no rhythm like a bayou stomp” sings Tab Benoit on “The Ghost of Gatemouth Brown,” and he proves it on this, his first studio album in 13 years. It’s just one of the stellar selections from the long awaited I Hear Thunder (released August 30).

Why it has taken this much time to follow up 2011s multiple Blues Music Award winner Medicine (which itself arrived four years after its predecessor), is unclear. But Benoit and his thick, flowing head of COVID grown hair has probably blown the walls down in a venue near you over the past few years.

Few contemporary musicians can play the bayou stomp quite as effectively, and naturally, as Benoit who was born and raised in Houma, Louisiana. He’s been doing it professionally since before 1992s debut, and, along with a sturdy, soulful, grainy voice—often compared to that of Otis Redding– which alone defines his music, his guitar chops have improved from very good to world class. He wields that beat up Telecaster like a machine gun, shooting out scorching solos with a dense, meaty attack evoking the mosquito and alligator infested humidity and dark, somewhat ominous nuances of his home turf.

It’s all displayed throughout these sizzling ten tracks that capture Benoit at his most, well, thunderous. He’s joined by a solid three-piece which includes another iconic Louisiana guitarist, Anders Osborne. The latter mostly stays in the background but provides a foundation for Tab to let loose and wail.

From the Bo Diddley wallop of “The Ghost of Gatemouth Brown” to the tougher than buckskin riff of the socio-political “Why Why” (which tackles climate change) and the hard charging, Jack White inflected licks defining “Inner Child,” Benoit charges through these tunes with the torrid, pent-up energy he’s been accumulating for the past 13 years.

Benoit’s logo has two alligators standing side-by-side behind his guitar, so it’s no surprise to see a song named “Watching the Gators Roll In.” On it, we are sitting beside him as he chats with the titular reptile, while the music, heavily influenced by Creedence Clearwater Revival’s similarly sounding groove (that band’s breakthrough was aptly named Bayou County) chugs along. Even his guitar has a ripping John Fogerty quality.

The mood gets as funky as the title for “I’m a Write Dat Down” aided by ex-Meters bottom man George Porter Jr. whose bass playing punches the already bouncy offering. Porter also appears on “Little Queenie” (not the Chuck Berry oldie), bringing extra bump to the thump supporting Benoit’s tensile tone as his six strings slice through like a chef’s sharpened knife.

Benoit blends in some country for the bittersweet ballad “Still Gray.” Here he looks at an old photo lamenting past actions that led to a break up with “In my mind I see the colors…when we were so close together/So far, so long, still gray.” Benoit’s earthy voice carries the earnest emotion imbued in those words. In contrast, the opening title track reflects the stormy scene with reverbed chords followed by a nasty, gutsy solo Jimmy Page would be proud to call his own.

Benoit delivers everything with strong yet supple and never overbearing intensity in both his distinctive vocals and guitar heavy approach. The recording has a crisp live in the studio sound making it feel like you’re on the bayou, watching it all go down.

Hopefully he can release his next set, filled with the same roaring bayou stomp as I Hear Thunder, without the extended wait.

Pre-order the album HERE

“I Hear Thunder”