Bad Brad & The Fat Cats - Take A Walk With Me - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, Take A Walk With Me, by Bad Brad & The Fat Cats and it's a fire breathing blues monster! Opening with Texas style boogie and title track, Take A Walk With Me, Brad pulls out a little Elmore James action and gives it a modern flare for a ripping great opener. Leghound, another boogie track with a more understated attack features Nic Clark on harp and Alec Stivers on drums. This is a cool shuffle with a nice guitar solo to accompany Brads really nice vocals. Ego Trip sounds like a boogie from the John Lee Hooker song book. There's something about that classic Hooker sound that just makes a song cook. Harp player Greg MacKenzie adds icing to this already tasty track and Bad Brad not only understands the Hooker phrasing but also the boogie dynamics. Really nice! Take It Easy has a really sweet Texas lope along the lines of Mr Anson Funderburgh. A real foot stomper, this is a non stop riff dinner. Excellent. Going To The Country, really has the feel of the raw country blues and it's fast tempo especially due to the excellent drum work from Stivers. I'm glad that Brad doesn't need an excuse to lay it all out there because that he does and he certainly know what he's doing. Headin' Out maintains a little bit of that ragged edge but with the addition of Clark on harp and more sophisticated vocals of Bad Brad, this is a solid blues rocker. Lucky Man is that down and dirty slow blues that we all want to hear. Building slowly Brad uses his strong vocal accompanied by Clark on hark and light drumming by Stivers to set that table for the guitar fest. Brad has a super hand for phrasing and lays down some really nice screaming riffs contrasted by genuine feeling. Again, excellent! Other Side opens with Stivers laying down a New Orleans march beat. Brad takes control of the track immediately with super strong vocals. Understated slide guitar work adds a nice texture to this track as does some really cool finger picked riffs. Runnin' Me Down is a nice Chicago style blues shuffle. A really solid groove develops between Brad and Alec Stivers and Clark is right there with an understated cool harp solo. See My Way features Dwight Carrier on accordion and the track has a cajun feel to it. Man On The Move is a driving shuffle with a cool guitar over riff. This is another really strong track with Brad taking advantage of a really nice setting to again rip some really nice guitar riffs. Train Down South is another quick tempo track with train style drums rattling the rails. Brad again steps forward showing his guitar chops and certain dexterity. This is another super track and ready to put in the car for a long drive. Wrapping the release is UMA. Youu'd think that someone actually reads my reviews... a surf rocker! Yeah... this is a great track with with a mixture of Texas blues, California surf and 60's rock for just a perfect combo to pack it in. I really enjoyed reviewing this release and I suggest that if you think that you may enjoy this from my review... you likely will love it!

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Tab Benoit on 2011 Blues Cruise

Jimmy Thackery with Tab Benoit Lionel Young and Curtis Salgado. Pro Jam on Last night on the October 2011 Bluescruise. Main Stage
Tab Benoit (born November 17, 1967, Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is an American blues guitarist, musician and singer. He plays a style that is a combination of blues styles, primarily Delta blues. He plays a Fender Telecaster electric guitar and writes his own musical compositions. Benoit graduated from Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma, Louisiana in May, 1985. In 2003, he formed an organization promoting awareness of coastal wetlands preservation known as "Voice of the Wetlands."

A guitar player since his teenage years, he appeared at the Blues Box, a music club and cultural center in Baton Rouge run by guitarist Tabby Thomas. Playing guitar alongside Thomas, Raful Neal, Henry Gray and other high-profile regulars at the club, Benoit learned the blues first-hand from a faculty of living blues legends. He formed a trio in 1987 and began playing clubs in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. He began touring other parts of the south two years later and started touring more of the United States in 1991- and he continues to this day.

He was featured in the IMAX film, Hurricane on the Bayou.

On May 16, 2010, at the LMHOF Louisiana Music Homecoming in Erwinville, Louisiana, Benoit was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
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