Tab Benoit: I Hear Thunder Review

I Hear Thunder is Tab Benoit’s first studio album in over a decade. During the creative sabbatical, Benoit concentrated on his passion directed towards being an advocate for the preservation of Louisiana Wetlands and coastal erosion in the region that he calls home. In 2004, he founded “Voice of the Wetlands” and over the course of his thirty-plus-year career, he performed up to 250 dates a year with a break during the pandemic. Since his first album, Nice and Warm, over thirty years ago, he’s produced nearly 20 albums. During that time period he’s received four Grammy Award nominations and multiple Blues Music Awards.

I Hear Thunder was produced, mixed, and mastered by Tab Benoit at his recording studio, Whiskey Bayou Studios. Benoit used his touring band comprised of drummer Terence Higgins and bass guitarist Corey Duplechin along with his writing partner, guitarist Anders Osborne. Also included was funk band, The Meters, bass player George Porter Jr. who played on three tracks. The album contains 10 tracks written or co-written by Benoit.

The opening cut on the album is the title song “I Hear Thunder,” an explosive guitar driven number co-authored by Benoit, Osborne, and Porter. The driving guitars steer the sound into the stratosphere as Benoit demonstrates his stellar guitar prowess. His gravely vocals has been compared to Otis Redding as he belts out the lyrics that are targeted at his passion for the hurricane eroded coastline of Louisiana.

“I hear thunder, I feel rain

I see lightning, I feel pain”

“The Ghost of Gatemouth Brown” was written by Tab Benoit as a tribute to the multi-instrumentalist legendary Louisiana blues rocker Clarence Gatemouth Brown. It’s an explosive descent into pure bayou rhythm propelled by images of a pipe smoking guitar player in a cowboy hat. Benoit’s wild guitar excursion is accompanied by his drawling vocals pulsating to the rhythmic beat created by Duplechin’s thumping bass and Higgins’ driving drums. “Still Gray” is a soulful Hank Williams sounding song about a broken relationship that gets conjured up by a photo on the wall. Photographs are one of the most important technological innovations of the 19^th century to record history whether personal, social or political. The cut is a slow plodding dirge that becomes a heart rending recollection of the “Picture on the wall” co-written by Benoit and Josh Garrett.

 “In my mind, I see the day

When we were so close together”

Cut number four is “Inner Child,” a driving uptempo number that is a total blowout co-written by Osborne and Benoit and features Duplechin, Higgins and Osborne jamming to high heaven while Benoit wails on his axe. It’s a reflective blues rocker that delves into themes of resilience, self-discovery and strikes a path encountering the difficulties of life through a smile. “Watching the Gators Roll In” was co-written by Benoit, Osborne, and George Porter Jr. as a humorous song that extols the simple pleasures of life on the Bayou. It has a peppy rhythm that makes you want to get up and dance with Duplechin’s thumping bass driving the beat sandwiching Benoit’s stinging guitar solos.

“Everbody ‘round here can sing

The crickets got the highs

The bullfrogs got the bass”

“Overdue” is another solo composition by Benoit that displays his virtuosic guitar prowess as he lyrically explores love, regret and the challenges of communicating with your partner in a relationship. The song is a blend of raw emotion and a soulful melody that traverses the journey of a relational partnership from its beginnings through time to the time when reconciliation is long overdue. “Why, Why” is the third solo song written by Benoit and it asks the age old question, “Why?” It’s performed as a slow and contemplative exploration of the basic facts of life that involve the entire human race with the help of Benoit’s plaintiff vocals and explosive guitar.

“We gotta love one another

We’re all just sisters and brothers”

“Little Queenie” was co-written by Benoit and Porter about unrequited love and self-doubt. The song’s narrator feels unworthy of a woman’s affection because of his lower social status but persists anyway believing that love is more important than material possessions. Porter plays bass on this cut and Benoit belts out his vocals and squeezes out stellar guitar peals on his six string. “I’m a Write That Down” was co-written by Benoit, Osborne and Porter as a lesson on accountability and the consequences of careless actions and words. Once again Porter plays bass guitar and drives the cut with his relentless beat while Benoit spits the lyrics out between screaming guitar runs.

“Your dirty little secrets ain’t gonna let you forget

You keep on yapping and I promise you that I’m a write that down”

The final cut on I Hear Thunder  is “Bayou Man” and it opens with a burning guitar intro that is an undercurrent throughout the song with occasional outbursts. The vivid blues anthem was co-written by Benoit, Osborne, and Terrence Lavoid Higgins. It tells the story of a rugged, swamp born man offering salvation to someone wandering through the treacherous muddy terrain.

“Born and raised on the bayou

Got the spirit of the swamp flowing through my veins”

I Hear Thunder reaffirms Tab Benoit as a powerful voice in the blues rock genre while at the same time expressing his passion for Louisana’s wetlands. This album combines Benoit’s prowess as a blues rock singer/songwriter/guitarist extraordinaire with his writing partners Anders Osborne and George Porter Jr. The result is an album that is a testament to Benoit’s enduring talent by showcasing a collection of tracks that are steeped in the rich cultural and environmental history of his beloved bayou.

The Review: 9/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– I Hear Thunder
– The Ghost of Gatemouth Brown
– Still Gray
– Overdue
– Bayou Man

The Big Hit

– I Hear Thunder