Jimmy Thackery and Tab Benoit: Whiskey Store

This disc has everything going for it. There is Stevie Ray Vaughan’s rhythm section, Double Trouble. Then, there is that ace harmonica player from Kosciusko, Mississippi, Charlie Musselwhite. And that finally brings us to the two principles, Tab Benoit and James Thackery. The former is a 35 year-old Houma, Louisiana Native who has been stirring up the bayou since the early 1990s with a molten brand of swamp gumbo. The latter is a Steeltown journeyman guitarist/vocalist who fronted The Nighthawks and then The Drivers.

The result is good time, house rockin’ fun! Benoit’s "Nice and Warm" simmers with the pots on, gas on high. Bob Dylan’s "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" kicks the most serious ass any Dylan song has since Johnny Winter covered "Highway 61 Revisited." The title song sung by Benoit turns over with the momentum of a diesel locomotive hitting mid-speed on its way from NO to Chicago. Thackery covers Neil Young’s "Unknown Legend" and presents the most Country of songs on this Blues collection. The disc centerpoint is Benoit's slow blues, "Nice and Warm," which provided a vehicle with shich to haul the guitarists' musical ashes. Steeped in Hammond B-3 Soul and Jazz, Whiskey Store is a sure bet to please.

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