The Battalion
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Friday • January 23,
jazzes up Jrd ‘fftcrpr Qantmd
By Travis Hopper
The Battalion
efore his death in 1993, the
great Albert Collins was
known by friends and fans
•as the “Master of the Telecaster”,
ithe type of guitar he made fa-
Jmous while pioneering a new,
caw blues sound.
Tab Benoit looks like the heir
•to the throne.
}; Currently on tour to promote
jthe release of his critically ac
claimed album Live: Swampland
'jam, Tab brings his own unique
iblend of Cajun, country, and
Jow-down blues to the Third
•Floor Cantina Friday night for a
isizzling taste of how the blues
jare supposed to be. Benoit, a na
tive of Houma, La., taught him-
•self how to play guitar at the ten
der age of nine and has never
(looked back.
i Ironically, if it were not for his
{parents, he may never have be-
•come the up and coming star
•that he is today. “My parents got
(tired of listening to me play
(drums,” said Benoit in the Battle
Creek Enquirer. “Drums are still
!my first love.
“But they just got tired of lis
tening to me play drums and
(gave me a guitar. It was like,
•‘■Here, take this, and forget the
drums’.” Benoit then started
lamming with any and every
band that needed a guitarist,
“from country to alternative,
cock to R&B and everything in
between.
-f By the time he was 17, he had
developed his own unique
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Sister 7, Haywood rock the Canw
Tab Benoit and his guitar bring the relaxing sound of blues to the 3rd Floor Cantina on Friday night.
sound and soon earned a regular
spot at the legendary Tabby’s
Blues Box.
It was there that he honed his
skills on blues standards and his
own compositions for a measly
$13 a night. It was also where the
club’s owner, Tabby Thomas,
gave Benoit a piece of advice that
changed his life forever: “If you
play the blues, you will always
have a job.”
Benoit has taken this advice
and run with it: literally.
When he turned 20, he hit the
road full time and developed a
tight, raw sound with his three-
man band that owes just as
much to Howlin’ Wolf as it does
B.B. King.
The thing that sets Tab apart
from all the other “next big
things,” however, is not his gui
tar. With a voice as soulful as Ray
Charles ever was, Benoit sings
with such conviction and yearn
ing that it’s sometimes hard to
believe the man isn’t 80 years old
and living on an old plantation.
He captures this sound on Live:
Swampland Jam, which was
recorded at the House Of Blues
in New Orleans and Grant Street
Dance Hall in Lafayette, La.
The album opens up with the
catchy funk groove of “Let Love
Take Control,” creeps into a slow-
burning cover of the Albert
Collins standard “Too Many Dirty
Dishes,” moves on to the tender,
accordion-driven “Louisiana
Style,” and wraps up with a dash-
board-thumping rendition of “It
Takes A Long Time.”
Please see Benoit on Page 5.
By April Towery
The Battalion
W hat do Blockbuster Rockiest, H.O.R.D.E. Tour,
ESPN’s X Games Xperience Tour, Chesterfield
Cafe in Paris and College Station’s Shadow
Canyon have in common?
Usually nothing, but Austin rock band Sister 7 will
change that when the quartet plays tonight on North-
gate. The band has played to over 300,000 fans with the
likes of Jewel, Bush, Third Eye Blind and Matchbox 20,
a drastic change to playing in the usually sawdust-cov
ered Shadow Canyon.
But Sister 7 band members are used to adjusting to
change. The band recently changed its name from Lit
tle Sister because several other bands on the circuit had
the same name. After the name change, the band re
leased its third album and Arista Austin debut last sum
mer, This The Trip.
The album title proves to fit the band’s style, as it
tours more than 300 dates each year, including regu
larly sold out venues such as Boulder, Chicago, New Or
leans, Memphis and St. Louis.
The band, formed in 1991, is led by vocalist Patrice
Pike. She and a high school buddy, bassist Darrell
Phillips, teamed up with guitarist Wayne Sutton and
drummer Sean Phillips (no relation to Darrell) at an im
promptu jam session in a Dallas club. The band relo
cated to Austin in 1993.
Wayni Sutton, Darreu. Phiilir*, Patrice Pike and SeanPwj
Please see Sister
OPENING ACTS • ••
Friday
Quote for the Day
This week’s theme: New Year’s Resolutions.
People set their goals too high for a New Year’s resolution because they think they
have a whole year to accomplish them. We have this vast amount of time to start work
ing on our goals, so we procrastinate until the end of the year, and it’s always too late.”
— Christine Castaneda
Freshman speech communications major
The Crooked Path Ale
House
• Blue Earth, alternative band.
Dixie Theater
• Haywood, rock band.
Sweet Eugene’s
• Michael McAllister, acoustic.
The Blues Factory
• Ruthie Foster, blues.
The Cow Hop
• Throwaway People, blues
3rd Floor Cantina
• Tab Benoit, blues.
Saturday
Sweet Eugenes
• Patrick, Phil &Co.
El Arroyo |
•Cosmic Earth Band,®
The Crooked Path Ale
House
• Six Mile Bridge.
Fitzwilly’s
• Ruthie Foster, blues.
The Cow Hop
• Squint, punk rock band.
Shadow Canyon
• Haywood, Sister 7.
• Opening Acts is a
compilation of w
events taking plact
the Bryan-Collegek
Station area.
• Contact the listed 1
venues for detailso
appearance times
and/or cover ch
Vo
rot
ARE |
CAvl
>1!
Seniors and Graduate Students
Engineering Business Communications
Career Opportunities in
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Submit Your Resume Electronically via the Web!
Meet Recruiters on Feb. 2-3, 5 - 6:30 p.m. in Exhibit Hall
Renaissance Hotel in Austin, Texas
Limited Student Registration Available for Conference!
Second Annual Telecommunications Conference
February 2-4, 1998 Austin, Texas
Check Out the Details Today!
www.utexas.edu/coe/sqi or call 512-471-4922 or (800) 687-8012
Sponsored by The University of Texas at Austin
AGGIELANDS
ARE HERE.
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