American Folk Art - Tab Benoit Concert Assemblage Face
Signed folk art concert assemblage associated with Tab Benoit and Louisiana's LeRoux, annotated for Night Train to Nashville and a live May 9, 2007 performance.
Overview
A distinctive American folk art concert assemblage associated with Louisiana blues guitarist and singer Tab Benoit. The work presents a boldly painted turquoise face built from ordinary hardware and found materials, including nails used as hair, metal plates for the eyes, a hinge-like form for the nose, and a chrome plate element for the mouth. The effect is direct, eccentric, and memorable: part concert relic, part outsider-inflected portrait, and part handmade response to a live blues performance.
The piece is signed or annotated "Fred" on the reverse and carries performance-related text tying it to Tab Benoit, Louisiana's LeRoux, Night Train to Nashville, and a live May 9, 2007 date. It is best understood as a one-of-a-kind folk art object rather than a conventional poster, program, or mass-produced souvenir.
Dating / Background
The reverse inscription reads: Music Tab Benoit; With Louisiana's LeRoux; Night Train to Nashville; Live May 9, 2007; Fred; 6-17-8. The final notation suggests the assemblage was made or dated June 17, 2008, following the 2007 live event referenced on the back.
Tab Benoit is closely associated with Louisiana blues, swamp blues, and roots music. In 2007 he received the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year and Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year honors at the Blues Music Awards. That timing gives this handmade concert object added context: it relates to Benoit during a highly visible period in his career.
Why Collect
This is the sort of object that rewards collectors who look beyond standard music memorabilia. It is not merely signed ephemera, and it is not simply folk art divorced from a cultural moment. Its appeal lies in the overlap: Louisiana blues, live-performance memory, handmade vernacular art, and the use of common hardware to create a face with unusual presence.
For a collector of Tab Benoit, Louisiana music, blues memorabilia, outsider-adjacent folk art, or handmade concert artifacts, the piece has a strong narrative. Its materials are humble, but its specificity is what matters: named performer, named accompanying act, named event context, dated annotation, and a visual language that feels appropriately raw and musical.
Dimensions (inches)
Condition
Very good / excellent condition. Presents well, with the expected character of a handmade assemblage object using painted and applied hardware elements. Any irregularities should be understood in the context of the material and folk-art construction rather than as conventional manufacturing flaws.
