Tab benoit biography of albert

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Box , Larose, LA Phone: ; One of the most impressive guitarists to emerge from the rich bayous of southern Louisiana in recent years, bluesman Tab Benoit serves as an inspiration to other aspiring players of the region. A guitarist who himself progressed naturally from classic rock and country to the blues, Benoit holds the belief that the next generation of guitarists will likewise discover the style that motivated him to pursue a musical career.

When you are young, you want everything to be make-believe, but as soon as you get older you want something more tangible. Content in his youth to play more popular music until a friend loaned him an album by Buddy Guy, Benoit redirected his energies and set out to recreate the older bluesman's deep-rooted emotion, adopting Guy's style and researching with intensity the blues tradition.

Shunning those who were not receptive to a white man just out of his teens playing blues guitar, Benoit decided to follow his own path. And it was his blues rather than rock and roll that earned him his first record deal with Justice Records, for whom he recorded his debut album, 's Nice and Warm. Since then, he has gone on to record five more albums, including two in Homesick for the Road and These Blues Are All Mine , for the Telarc and Vanguard labels, respectively.

Born on November 17, , in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Benoit grew up in the nearby oil and fishing town of Houma, where he still resides today. Musically, he was exposed early on to traditional Cajun waltzes and the country music broadcast on his hometown's only radio station. Benoit's father was a musician the family home was filled with various instruments.

Falling in love first with the drums while a Catholic school student, Benoit soon switched to guitar because the only gigs to land in rural Louisiana were held in churches and at church fairs, and organizers would not allow loud drums to be played at these events. Nonetheless, Benoit felt grateful for a chance to play. Despite his initial reservations, Benoit took to the guitar with little guidance, and within no time, his natural gift became evident.

In fact, he claims that he barely remembers learning to play at all.