August 24, 25 & 26, 2023
Train Boards - 6:30 pm | Train Departs - 7:00 pm
Tyron Benoit hails from Houma Louisiana, where music and culture are plentiful.
“Growing up, around the house, I remember hearing a lot of classic country: George Jones, Hank Williams (Sr. and Jr.), Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, and Ernest Tubb. Going to my grandpa’s house is where I think the Cajun and Folk influences came from. He was a fantastic fiddle and harmonica player. But when we left the house, it was Led Zeppelin, Toto, and Steely Dan. Everybody was into classic rock and it was good!”
Tyron had other obligations before focusing on music in his adult life — including a combat tour as a US Marine in Operation Desert Storm. Serving the country put distance between Tyron and a career in show business, but once he returned home he headed to New York City to study acting. It was in his small West Village apartment where the idea of playing music would become part of his journey.
He began writing and playing songs over a speakerphone with his brother Tate, who was living in Colorado. The two wrote a set of originals and Tyron eventually moved to Colorado to join him. The pair began playing locally, becoming a hometown favorite, performing regularly at Herman's Hideaway. It wasn't long until Tyron on guitar, Tate on bass, and a revolving door of drummers named themselves Too Fish and headed out on the road, playing blues and rock clubs throughout the Midwest.
In 2003 Tyron returned to Louisiana and moved to New Orleans. In 2005, one of the biggest natural disasters in US history hit New Orleans, in form of Hurricane Katrina. Tyron got involved in the rebuilding of a city in shambles, with many neighborhoods still without power due to massive flood damage. And during this season of heavy work, the conversations on the job sites often turned to music. Using generators to power amps and guitars in yet-to-be-finished houses and buildings, Tyron began holding jam sessions with other contractors. They even called themselves the Bywater Rock Group. It only grew from there...
"When I moved back to New Orleans I really started to branch out musically, still fueled by that searching. I put myself in situations where I knew I was going to learn or grow from it. I was super thirsty for exploring beyond the boundaries of what we had been playing on the road. I started playing with many other musicians and bands: reggae, funk, rock, whatever and wherever I could grab a bite of something, I was trying to get a taste. I even had the opportunity to lead a band for Big Chief Monk Boudreaux. He is a true legend, and knew I was now a part of New Orleans musical history.”
Tyron is firmly at home now, with a growing list of gigs and venues, playing alongside a well established supporting cast: Stephen Randall - a seasoned drummer who played with Waylon Thibodeaux and Monk Boudreaux, Jonathan "Cujo" Limjuco - a bass-playing virtuoso and fellow bandmate from Monk Boudreaux days, and Randy Ellis on lead guitar - a Grammy-winning gunslinger who has played with the likes of Chubby Carrier.
His debut album, “Waitin' On Friday,” was released on May 27, 2022. The album was produced by Grammy-nominated, Oscar-winner Donald Markowitz, and features guitarist Shane Theriot (Hall and Oates, Neville Brothers, Willie Nelson), drummer Doug Belote (Zachary Richard, Maria Muldaur, Jerry Douglas), keyboardist David Torkanowsky (Rickie Lee Jones, Sonny Landreth, Bobby Rush), and bassist Kevin Scott (Bernard Purdie, Eddie Roberts, Nate Wood).
