Tab Benoit Kicks Off Winter/Spring 2023 Tour at House of Blues/Cleveland

Tab Benoit, Renowned Louisiana Bayou Blues Guitarist, Kicks Off 2023 Tour at House of Blues in Cleveland, OH, Friday, February 17; Tour Support Act: JD Simo

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Joseph Timmons in news // 0 Comments

Renowned Louisiana Bayou blues guitarist Tab Benoit kicks off his Winter/Spring 2023 Tour at the House of Blues, 308 Euclid Ave., Friday, September 17. Show: 8pm. Tickets: $30.-$90.25. Info: (216) 523-2583 or visit http://houseofblues.com/cleveland.

Opening for Benoit is JD Simo, a Chicago-born, now-Nashville-based transplant and one-man crusader dedicated to keeping music real, raw, and honest. Simo has worked as a songwriter, guitarist, and producer with artists such as Jack White, Tommy Emmanuel, Luther Dickinson, Dave Cobb, Blackberry Smoke, and has even been a member of Grateful Dead founder Phil Lesh’s “Phil & Friends”. Simo’s latest album Mind Control was released in 2021.

Tab Benoit Live! Some Recent Reviews

“The final song of the night was “Night Train” from 2005’s Fever on the Bayou which Benoit jammed on for over ten minutes with explosive guitar licks. It was a bring down the house conclusion,” wrote Blues Rock Revue in their recent review of Benoit’s show in Salem, OR.

“Based on how early the capacity crowd filled The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on a Thursday night, the world still loves a great guitar hero. The good news for concertgoers who came to the legendary venue last night was they got to see two guitar masters (Tab Benoit and JD Simo) on the same bill,” writes Rock ‘n’ Roll Truth.

“Tab Benoit has been a frequent Lincoln visitor over the three-plus decades that he’s been bringing his brand of blues out of Louisiana. Known for his distinctive guitar tone and fiery playing, he’s a powerhouse vocalist who sounds something like Otis Redding,” writes the Lincoln Journal-Star.

“Benoit took the stage, and within ten minutes the rain slowed to a drizzle, then stopped completely. Blues From The Top 1, Mother Nature 0,” writes Denver Entertainment Hub’s Rick Witt. “From his set opening “Why Are People Like That” to his encore “Medicine”, Benoit had the delighted crowd swinging, singing, and swaying. Benoit’s set was the perfect culmination of three fabulous days of extraordinary music at an extraordinary venue in an idyllic location”.

Tab Benoit is renowned throughout his thirty-plus-year career for his passionate environmental activism. To that end, he performed two nights in his hometown of Houma, Louisiana at the 16th Annual Voice of the Wetlands Festival. He also appears prominently in the IMax motion picture Hurricane on the Bayou, a documentary of Hurricane Katrina’s effects and a call to protect and restore the Wetlands, and produced a CD to help restore that state’s Coastal Wetlands. Benoit was inducted into the Louisiana Folklife Center Hall of Master Folk Artists in 2020. Benoit is one of the featured musicians in the Sony Picture Classics 2022 movie JazzFest: A New Orleans Story, Frank Marshall & Ryan Suffern’s documentary on the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

One of the most impressive guitarists to emerge from the rich Bayous of Southern Louisiana in recent time, Tab Benoit’s guitar tone can be recognized before his Otis-Redding-ish voice resonates from the speakers. He doesn’t rely on any effects and his setup is simple. It consists of a guitar, chord, and Category 5 Amplifier. The effects that you hear come from his fingers.