Two of modern blues’ most electrifying performers, Tab Benoit and Samantha Fish, will share the stage in New Orleans on Friday, May 1, as their “Two Tours Collide” tour rolls into The Fillmore New Orleans.
Benoit, often dubbed “Louisiana’s Living Legend,” continues a career resurgence following his critically acclaimed album I Hear Thunder, which topped the Billboard Blues Albums chart and earned multiple 2025 Blues Blast Music Awards. Known for his swampy guitar tone and soulful, Otis Redding–influenced vocals, the Houma native has spent more than three decades shaping the sound of modern roots and blues while advocating for Louisiana’s coastal preservation.
Benoit produced a memorable performance at Jazz Fest, where Live Music News & Review wrote, “there are lots of blues musicians that play Jazz Fest each year, but none exemplify the Delta Blues and swampland style better than Tab Benoit.” Renowned for his distinctive guitar tone and Otis-Redding-esque voice, Benoit has been a captivating figure in the roots music world for over thirty years.
I Hear Thunder marked Tab’s personal growth and advancement as a songwriter and musician culminated in a benchmark recording. Tab’s first new album in thirteen years went to #1 on the influential Billboard Blues Album Chart. To complement the release, the I Hear Thunder Tour criss-crossed the country, providing an unforgettable experience reigniting the soul of roots music, while proving artists like Benoit only get better with time.
Benoit’s journey began in 1992 with a radio hit from his debut record *Nice and Warm*. Since then, he has received multiple Blues Music Awards and four Grammy nominations. Beyond the music, Benoit is celebrated for his years of activism, particularly concerning the Louisiana Wetlands and coastal erosion. Tab Benoit does more than play the blues; he defines its future while paying homage to its rich past.
Sharing the bill is Samantha Fish, one of the most dynamic guitarists of her generation. Fresh off a Grammy nomination for Death Wish Blues and high-profile touring milestones—including opening for The Rolling Stones—Fish brings her latest album Paper Doll to the stage. The record showcases her evolving voice as a songwriter, blending raw guitar work with themes of defiance, identity, and personal freedom.
Since first introducing the world to her larger-than-life talent, the multi-award-winning festival headliner has built a triumphant career whose latest milestones include earning a Grammy nomination for Death Wish Blues (her 2023 collaboration with rocker Jesse Dayton) and opening for The Rolling Stones on their final 2024 U.S. tour date. On her new album Paper Doll, Fish offers up nine powerhouse songs that hit with an unstoppable force, each delivered with an exquisite dose of illuminating insight, soul-soothing empathy, and—above all—newly heightened clarity of vision. “It’s taken me years to finally find my voice in a studio setting,” Fish admits. “But with this record I took everything I had, and slammed it right on the table.”
Fish’s first-ever album recorded with her touring band, Paper Doll takes its title from the first song the Kansas City-bred musician penned for the LP: a raw yet reflective battle cry that perfectly encapsulates the album’s spirit of unapologetic defiance. “That song’s a feminist anthem in a way—but then again, every song’s a feminist anthem when you’re a woman writing from your own experience,” says Fish. “It’s about rebelling against other people’s expectations of who you’re supposed to be, which feels pretty relevant for the times we’re living in right now.”
Recorded at The Orb in Austin and Savannah Studios in L.A., Paper Doll marks the latest entry in an uncompromising and endlessly adventurous catalog that’s found her working with luminaries like Jon Spencer of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion as well as Luther Dickinson (co-founder of North Mississippi Allstars and former member of the Black Crowes). This time around, Fish reunited with Detroit garage-rock icon Bobby Harlow, who also produced her 2017 LP Chills & Fever. “When I look back on Chills & Fever I realize that Bobby was pushing me into some cool and dangerous places, but at that phase in my life I was holding back a bit,” she says. “Now I’m at a point where I’m ready to give people something totally unexpected, something that breaks the pop formula and really takes its time to tell a story with the guitar playing.”
Together, Benoit and Fish promise a night that bridges generations of blues, pairing Gulf Coast tradition with a modern, high-voltage edge.
The show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $59–$124.
Tickets are available here.
