Saw Tab Benoit here in L.A. last week. This New Orleans native was his opening act

I saw Johanson at the Maple Leaf during Po Boy Fest a few years ago. He was phenomenal.

The blues stuff he plays now is very different from his previous projects Cire and Emptyself. Apparently Katrina took everything he had and he moved down to New Zealand for a while. He came back to NOLA and started playing blues. Looks like his long-awaited album is finally out.

Me, a friend and his wife were cruising up and down Oak St. during Po Boy Fest one year. I was outside the Maple Leaf buying bloody marys and my friend went inside to see if anybody was playing. He came back out and said you gotta come see this. So I walked in and Eric was playing. Holy shite I was an instant fan. I kept thinking to myself where else could you walk into a bar on a random Sunday afternoon and hear music like that? With no cover charge?

L.A.,

You seem to be the most up to date on blues around here—give me a couple hard hittin’blues/soul men—-think along the lines of Mighty Sam McClain.

I need something new.

Thanks—I’ll check them all out. I don’t mind newer, younger guys..I just am looking for something that “hits”—something that has some power behind it.