Tab Benoit At Bijou Theater in Knoxville

Catch the first live concert performance of 2022 by much-loved and respected blues guitarist Tab Benoit, who performs at the Bijou Theater, 803 S. Gay St., Friday, January 21. Showtime: 8pm. Tickets: $35.-$45. Info: (865) 522-0832 or visit https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1B005B37C70E3B0D?brand=bijouthtr. Opening for Benoit is Whiskey Bayou Records label-mate and fine guitarist in his own right, Alastair Greene, supporting his most recent WBR release, ‘The New World Blues.”

One of Summer 2021’s great touring ensembles was Tab Benoit’s Swampland Jam (pictured above) featuring Louisiana Bayou musical treasures Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, along with Johnny Sansone, Waylon Thibodeaux, and Benoit.

Big Chief Monk Boudreaux was just honored with a 2021-22 Grammy for his “Bloodstains & Teardrops” album on Whiskey Bayou Records, co-produced by Benoit and Williams. Boudreaux incorporates African Rhythms and Mardi Gras Chants into his own original style of Rhythm and Blues. Boudreaux is the Big Chief of the Golden Eagles, a legendary Mardi Gras Indian tribe. He is widely known for his long-time collaboration with Big Chief Bo Dollis in The Wild Magnolias. In 2016, Boudreaux received a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship in Washington, DC.

Johnny Sansone goes deep into Bayou Blues and Zydeco with his roof shaking vocals, harmonica and accordion. Sansone has won numerous awards in the Crescent City, including multiple categories for Offbeat magazine’s annual “Best of the Beat” competition.

Waylon Thibodeaux rounds out the Jam on vocals and fiddle. Born in Louisiana’s ‘Bayou Country’ just a few miles southwest of New Orleans, Houma native Waylon Thibodeaux has been dubbed “Louisiana’s Rockin Fiddler”. His rollicking, Cajun and zydeco rhythms never fail to serve up a good helping of spicy, high-energy Louisiana fun.

The Grammy-nominated Tab Benoit, known throughout his thirty-plus -year career for his environmental activism, performed two nights in his hometown of Houma at the memorable 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.

an 21 (Fri) BIJOU THEATER Knoxville TN

Jan. 22 (Sat.) THE GREEN TIGER Greensboro NC

Jan. 23 (Sun) NEWBERRY OPERA HOUSE Newberry, SC

Jan. 25 (Tue) CHARLESTON OPERA HOUSE Charleston SC

Jan. 27 (Thur) SAVANNAH CENTER The Villages FL

Jan. 28 (Fri) THE CULTURE ROOM Ft. Lauderdale FL

Jan. 29 (Sat) THE CULTURE ROOM Ft. Lauderdale FL

Jan. 30 (Sun) JANNUS LIVE St. Petersburg FL

Jan. 31 (Mon) KING CTR FOR PERFRMG ARTS Melbourne FL

Feb 2 (Wed) KEY WEST THEATER Key West FL

Feb 4 (Fri) PLAZA LIVE ORLANDO Orlando FL

Feb 5 (Sat) CTR FOR THE ARTS/B SPRINGS BonitaSprings FL