Bluesman Tab Benoit saw the devastation to Louisiana's shoreline and wetlands from thousands of feet overhead.
Before he quit his day job and turned his undivided attention to music, he flew planes for the oil companies. He would gaze below with sadness at the devastation brought about by tropical storms and hurricanes relentlessly pounding his native state. Each storm delivered more damage.
He's not sure how badly the last one, Hurricane Isaac, beat up Louisiana. The ground in his hometown of Houma, where he lives with his wife and 9-year-old son, was still saturated when Benoit set out last week for a month of West Coast dates. The tour swings into the Rialto Theatre on Tuesday for his first Southern Arizona show since he played the Bisbee Blues Festival in 2010.
The brunt of Isaac missed Houma. Benoit and his family rode out the storm at home - something they didn't do seven years ago when Katrina struck.
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"The eye came right over my town, which is actually a good thing because it stalled on top of us," he explained during a phone call last week from a Missouri tour stop. "When you're in the eye, you're not in bad, stormy weather," which came out as "weatha" in his lyrical Cajun-inflected Southern drawl.
Benoit will likely talk about the hurricane and Louisiana's eroding wetlands Tuesday night as he blasts through his gritty, soulful Delta blues. For 20 years, Benoit has made a living with his music, leaving flying as more of a hobby.
"It just got to the point that I was getting more offers for more shows and gigs, and it got to the point where I was making more money as a musician than I was as a pilot," he said.
Performing also gives him more opportunities to impact people's lives, he said.
"I can help people feel better about themselves and what's going on in the world," Benoit said. "And it gave me an opportunity to get involved in things like trying to save the coast of Louisiana. I could get in front of people and tell the truth and get in there and help."
Benoit brings to the stage formidable vocal and guitar chops. He eschews set lists, playing off audiences for each show's direction.
"Everything is open to the moment," he said. "People request songs they want to hear. I like to keep it open and let the moments take care of themselves. That way it stays exciting and nobody knows what's going to happen next, including me.
"Every moment is different. Every place is different. We'll play a club with 200 or 300 people in it, and we'll go the next day and play a theater with 2,000 people in it, and then we'll go the next day and play a festival with 10,000 people. So you can't really do the same show for those different venues. ... It's a new toy every night."
If you go
• What: Tab Benoit in concert.
• When: 8 p.m. Tuesday.
• Where: Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St.
• Tickets: $18 in advance at www.rialtotheatre.com or $21 the day of the show.
