Tab Benoit

In 1992, Benoit released his first recording Nice and Warm on the Justice Label. The title track became a AAA Radio hit and Benoit’s touring career kicked into high gear. Nice and Warm prompted comparisons to blues guitar heavyweights like Albert King, Albert Collins and even Jimi Hendrix. Tab began playing two-hundred and fifty shows a year, a schedule he has kept up for over twenty years. He recorded four albums for Justice Records before being signed to the Vanguard label, and became Louisiana’s Number One Blues export. Vanguard allowed Tab to produce his own recordings; Tab wanted to record the sound that he was trying to create and in 1999 Vanguard Records released These Blues Are All Mine.

Tab Benoit’s music evolved again after he signed with the Telarc International/Concord Music Group in 2002. He began to strip it down to a three-piece group, where he found more freedom as a guitarist. He was also on a mission in wanting to use his music and his energy to bring attention to Louisiana’s coastal erosion issues. Tab began to spend more time in the Wetlands and it was where he began to write his songs. Wetlands was the title of his first Telac/Concord International release. The record combined many musical styles that are indigenous to Louisiana, while he began to play accordion lines and washboard on guitar. Wetlands was a mile marker that definitively marked Tab’s further musical progression into his own original sound and style.

Following the release of Wetlands in 2004, Benoit founded the Voice of the Wetlands non-profit organization and began to use music and gather other musicians to use their platforms for getting the message out. He put together an all-star band that featured Cyril Neville, Anders Osborne, George Porter Jr, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Johnny Vidacovich, Johnny Sansone, and Waylon Thibodeaux that became The Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars. The Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars have released two CDs and occasionally tour throughout the country.

Benoit recently launched his own imprint, Whiskey Bayou Records, with partner and manager, Rueben Williams. The label has thus far released albums by such established artists as Eric McFadden, Damon Fowler, Eric Johanson, Jeff McCarty, and Dash Rip Rock.

Jesse Dayton isn’t just an unsung hero of modern-day American music; he’s a towering figure in the realm of Outlaw Country, a master storyteller who effortlessly blurs the boundaries between genres and disciplines. With a career spanning multiple decades, Dayton has left an indelible mark as a chart-topping songwriter, guitar virtuoso, author, frontman, sideman, producer, and relentless road warrior. From his early days with the Road Kings, where he fearlessly melded Texas Rockabilly and Country with the raw energy of Punk Rock, Dayton has been a trailblazer. His innovative style not only earned him acclaim but also paved the way for collaborations with legends like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson. Over the years, Dayton’s collaborations have spanned a diverse array of artists, from blues sensation Samantha Fish—his partner on the Grammy-nominated Death Wish Blues—to icons of country like Willie Nelson and Glenn Campbell, rock rebels such as Guns ‘N Roses’ Duff McKagan and Glenn Danzig, and even visionary horror filmmakers like Rob Zombie. Yet amidst this vast spectrum of work, Dayton’s solo albums stand as a testament to his refusal to be confined by genre, earning him recognition as a roots-rock renaissance man.

Collaborating with Shooter Jennings, renowned for his Grammy-winning work with artists Brandi Carlisle and Tanya Tucker, Jesse Dayton once again evolves with The Hard Way Blues. Building on his signature outlaw sound, Dayton explains, “I wanted to make something that reflected where I’m at right now; so, we turned a musical corner and embraced a big sound with a lot of ripping, bluesy guitar leads. Sometimes, it sounds like Freddie King. Sometimes, it sounds like Jimmy Page. This record was completely liberating for me because it goes back to so many of my longtime influences. I don’t care about genres, trends, or buzz words — I just care about being truthful to my own vision, and that’s what The Hard Way Blues allowed me to do.” Crafted in the heart of Hollywood, The Hard Way Blues stands as a testament to Dayton’s esteemed career, meticulously blending his rowdy spirit with timeless influences and showcasing his versatility and artistry in an irresistibly melodic collection of American music.

Jesse’s vision began taking shape during his childhood in Southeast Texas. “Growing up, there were some very loyal scenes — you were either goth or punk or blues or rockabilly or Austin retro country — but I liked a little bit of all of it, to tell you the truth,” he remembers. Years later, his music still mirrors that diversity. “My wheelhouse is rock, country, and blues,” Dayton says. “Whatever I’m doing, it’s somewhere in that world. This record has hints of all of it, but it’s really a rock record with a lot of heavy Texas blues. I’ve been playing big shows lately, and I wanted to do something that was custom-built for bigger stages and not beer joints.”

Big shows, indeed. Dayton’s no stranger to the stage — in addition to playing lead guitar for legends like Willie Nelson and Glen Campbell in the recording studio, he regularly plays more than 100 shows a year, fronting his own band one minute and backing up acts like X and the Supersuckers the next — but he hit a new high-water mark in 2023. Death Wish Blues, his collaboration with blues heroine Samantha Fish, became a global hit and landed the duo a Grammy nomination. Dayton suddenly found himself playing to crowds as large as 4,000. Already a cult hero to legions of fans, Dayton was now something else: a contemporary chart-topper with an audience that continued to soar. Longtime champions like Rolling Stone took note of the new momentum, praising Dayton for “attracting a boisterous crowd at every stage he played [with] his charismatic stage presence and a hard-to-pin-down mix of old-school country, rock and punk.”

“What’s happening to me right now isn’t supposed to happen to someone at my age,” Dayton says. “I’m still getting bigger, and that makes me so grateful. I’m very excited about making the music I want to make.”

Maybe that’s why the new album, The Hard Way Blues, resonates with such energy and electricity. Recorded in less than a week, these songs capture an artist on the ascent, with Dayton honoring his influences even as he molds their inspiration into something new. “The Hard Way” fires twin barrels of ’70s-sized rock & roll and power-pop hooks — “it’s like the Who meets Dave Edmunds,” he explains — while “Navasota” spins its story of small-town conservatism and wanderlust against a backdrop of stomping groove, bluesy muscle, and hard-charging dynamics. Written in the wake of John Prine’s passing, “Angel In My Pocket” unfolds like a gorgeous love letter from a traveling musician to his loved ones back home. Then there’s “Esther Pearl,” a haunting story about a Haitian immigrant’s experience assisting runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad during the mid-1800s. The song is eerie and exhilarating, delivered by Dayton in a burly, barking baritone that’s become richer with each passing year.

Time has been kind to Jesse Dayton. It’s been three decades since he released Raisin’ Cain, a debut album that reached Number 1 on the Americana charts and introduced its creator as equal parts rock & roll greaser, country craftsman, and bluesy rule-breaker. For some artists, that timespan would amount to an entire career. For Dayton, it’s just been prelude to the here and now. He’s a modern artist for the modern moment, and The Hard Way Blues isn’t a victory lap; it’s a rebirth.