BLUES JUNCTION Productions
7343 El Camino Real
Suite 327
Atascadero, CA 93422-4697
info
This past month, I had the opportunity to see a group that I thought of as a “New Orleans” band. On that night at the Saint Rocke, in Hermosa Beach, CA it was apparent that the Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars are much more diverse than that. Portions of Louisiana permeate the gumbo we think of as the “New Orleans” sound. Some of the different rhythms associated with New Orleans actually originated in the bayous, swamps, and riverbanks that make up the parishes in and around the Gulf Coast region of Louisiana. Over sixteen days many of us west of the Mississippi were lucky enough to have a little taste of that concoction when the Voice of the Wetlands All-stars' “Taking Louisiana on the Road” tour came to town.
This tour started in Boulder, CO and finished up in Bothell, WA. California fans were treated to seven cities in seven days. From San Diego to Humboldt County and from Lake Tahoe to San Francisco, Californians turned out en masse to see Gulf Coast music on the West Coast.
The Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars are musicians supporting an organization founded by Tab Benoit in 2004. The mix is made up of varying artists on the tour including Benoit, Cyril
Neville, Anders Osborne, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Waylon Thibodeaux , “Jumpin” Johnny Sansone, Johnny Vidacovich, and Corey Duplechin. At Sainte Rocke and the Mint (both Los Angeles area clubs), the audience was treated to a guest appearance by Kim Wilson, harp player, singer, front man and co–founder of The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Saint Rocke is an intimate venue with a decent size stage and video screens in all of the remote parts of the room. This was just one of the stops that BLUES JUNCTION Productions would make with the boys on the tour. The Mint in Los Angeles, Moe’s Alley in Santa Cruz and The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco were all on our hit list.
Mike Zito opened the evening’s festivities. He has been playing acoustic sets featuring tunes from his upcoming album which is being produced by Anders Osborne for Eclecto Groove Records. Zito has a great voice and a passion for what he sings. The whole set was made up of Zito originals. Waylon Thibodeaux played fiddle with him on a couple of numbers. After hearing the new songs live, his album is on our list as a “pre-order“. His style and the tunes were the perfect foundation for a night of happy, irresistibly fun music.
From the moment the All-Stars hit the stage, it was like Mardi Gras, only, as Thibodeaux noted in a chat with David Mac a week or so later “We put a Cajun fiddle in Mardi Gras music. We mix all styles of Louisiana music together. It makes for a real good gumbo.” They played songs from the new album, “Box of Pictures” which they were promoting on this tour. Trying to define the All-Stars’ style isn’t easy, but it doesn’t matter. It’s all good. Explaining why it had taken awhile for “Box of Pictures” to be released (it was recorded two years ago), Thibodeaux mused from his hotel room in Tacoma, Washington, “I guess the record company couldn’t find a music bin labeled ‘good music’.”
The All-Stars played plenty of ’good music’ at Saint Rocke. The audience danced the night away to songs like ‘Bayou Breeze‘, ‘Louisiana Rain‘, ’Row that Pirogue’ and numerous others. With seven talented performers on stage, it would be difficult to choose a favorite. They switched up lead singers and solos with ease. Johnny Sansone wailed on the harp and the accordion, then stepped back to let special guest Kim Wilson in on the action. Cyril Neville played percussion. Waylon’s fiddle and washboard added a down home country vibe while Anders Osborne’s guitar raised the voltage in the room. With the rock solid rhythm section of seasoned veterans like Vidacovich and Duplechin, there was no limit to the sound.
Towards the end of the main set, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux came out in all of his feathered glory. One of my favvorite moments of the night was the Big Chief singing ‘Lil’ Liza Jane’ while his massive headdress kept tickling Wilson’s face. Wilson valiantly never missed a note.
The band took some bows and departed, but like most shows, there was an encore. Tab Benoit stepped out onto the stage alone. We would hear the reason these monster talents were doing fifteen shows in sixteen days - the wetlands.
In the last six years, our brothers and sisters in Louisiana have been hit with a double whammy: Mother Nature and Uncle Sam. With the Louisiana wetlands, and the lifestyles and livelihoods of the residents living there, already in danger, Hurricane Katrina was devastating. The further damage caused by a non-responsive government and the gross negligence in properly maintaining the levies protecting the lower Ninth Ward nearly destroyed the city of New Orleans. But Uncle Sam wasn’t finished yet. With a laissez-faire attitude towards foreign oil companies’ reckless methods of drilling, a catatstrophe of the magnitude of the BP spill was a virtual certainty leaving the already struggling Gulf Coast in dire straits.
Benoit and the Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars are passionate about saving their homeland. This is where they were born, raised and where the soul of their music comes from. The organization works to raise awareness of the loss of the natural wetlands in the Gulf Coast region. Louisiana has over 3 million acres of coastal wetlands that support a diverse population. It is an important component of the state’s economy.
Benoit is a talented musician and an equally gifted speaker. His entreaty to ‘stand up for your America’ and his passion about, not only the wetlands, but the government which tries to silence the voice of the people, is clear. He was adamant that we take back our country from the government. We need to insist that they regulate foreign interests. BP, he noted, is a British company with virtually no regulation by our government, even while they are drilling in our waters. Benoit drives the point home at each show by finishing his impassioned speech with a song he wrote, “… in a bayou in Louisiana which is now gone.” ’When a Cajun Man gets the Blues’ is a Benoit classic and was the last ballad of the evening. The All-Stars came out and joined Benoit to fire up some great Mardi Gras/Cajun/Creole/Zydeco. As Waylon Thibodeax later noted we just call it “Louisiana Funk”, and it even had even the most reticent in the crowd dancing. Louisiana native Kenny Neal played with the All-Stars on stage in San Francisco. This spirit of celebration would continue up the coast as several BLUES JUNCTION Productions contributors attest through their photos.
The Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars accomplished many things on this tour -joyous evenings of music, making the audience aware of the need for action to save the wetlands and of course, creating a celebration of life that expands beyond just music. The diverse cultures of Louisiana, part of our history and a treasure of Americana, are in danger of being lost with the loss of the Wetlands. As Thibodeaux said to David Mac, “It’s America’s wetlands not just Louisiana’s wetlands.” Benoit and company are determined to make sure we remember that and they do it in the language that everyone understands. Lucky for us, that language is music.
- Tracy Lynn Morgan
Copyright 2022 BLUES JUNCTION Productions. All rights reserved.
BLUES JUNCTION Productions
7343 El Camino Real
Suite 327
Atascadero, CA 93422-4697
info