Tab Benoit Interview

INTERVIEW WITH TAB BENOIT FROM TheCelebrityCafe.com ARCHIVES

By Dominick A. Miserandino

DM) Do you prefer playing live or recording in a studio?

TB) I prefer playing live, definitely. When you get in front of people, something else takes over. The worrying stops, because there isn't anything to worry about. You're there, it's happening. So that makes you do things you wouldn't normally do in a studio environment. In a studio, you're put under a microscope -- you can hear a pin drop. That doesn't excite me.

DM) What are your favorite tracks from your latest album, Live: "Swampland"?

TB) Oh, don't ask me to pick my favorite tune. That changes every night. This album was a lot of fun for me to make, though. In addition, it means a lot to me. This record was a chance for me to give back to these guys (Henry Gray, Tabby Thomas, and Raful Neal), who treated me right and let me learn the blues from their side. I'm lucky that we still got people like Tabby and Raful and Henry that are nice enough to let us play with them and learn from them and carry it on and keep on going. Not everybody's like that. Not all of the legends are going to go, '"Yeah, you can come play with me, I'll show you some things."

DM) Have you ever studied guitar or are you self-taught?

TB) Man, I barely even remember learning to play guitar. I had a book that showed you how to play chords. After I learned the first three, I got rid of the book. I guess it kinda came naturally. Plus I was always playing gigs and you learn a lot from playing with other musicians.

DM) Who were some of your blues influences?

TB) A lot of my stuff is older stuff. I'm hooked on Albert King, Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters. He was the first electrified. When I was young, I listened to a lot of old country. Real country music, like Hank Williams, George Jones, Willie (Nelson). And I love B.B. King, too. He's got so many albums, he doesn't know how many.

DM) What are some of your hobbies?

TB) I love the outdoors. I live in the same woods I grew up in. You need a four-wheel drive to get back to my house after a good rain. I've always loved camping and now I have a permanent camp you can only get to by boat. I race cars. Me and my brothers built a stock car that we race sometimes on dirt tracks. On the road, I play golf. I started playing golf because, when you're on the road, you can waste away in the inside of a bar or inside of a hotel room. It's a good way to get out and see some sunlight.

DM) Do you play slide guitar?

TB) I play a little slide during each show.

DM) What started you in music?

TB) Man, I've been playing music since I was 9 years old. It's something that's always been big in my life. And blues... well you just know what you like. Blues ain't always about things that get you down. It's also about feeling good. It's about overcoming the feelings that can depress you.