Take a little Cajun; add a touch of blues and a sprinkle of Louisiana, and you have the right combination for lyrical and environmental greatness.

Tab Benoit, a blues guitarist, musician and singer from Baton Rouge, La., was in Warwick over the weekend for the Voice of the Wetlands (VOW) charity golf tournament. Voice of the Wetlands is an organization that Benoit started in 2004, focused on driving awareness and developing educational outlets about the loss of the wetlands in southern Louisiana.

“People have been led to believe they are powerless and that’s just not true,” said Benoit.

The wetlands protect the Louisiana coastal regions by acting as a sponge to soak up storm surges from hurricanes.

“New Orleans flooded in 2005 by a hurricane that missed New Orleans because the wetlands weren’t strong enough to absorb the storm surge,” said Benoit.

In 1927, the federal government altered the flow of the Mississippi River for shipping purposes, thus redirecting the movement of the silt into the wetlands. Levees were built and shipping channels were kept open via jetties, causing the Mississippi to drop the sediment into deep waters. Now saltwater is flowing into the wetlands killing plants and species that live there.

“You can’t mess with mother nature,” said Ray Harrison, an organizer of the second annual tournament.

According to the VOW Web site, coastal Louisiana has lost an average of 34 square miles of land, primarily marsh, per year for the last 50 years.

“These people have been interested in helping for a long time, they understand even more what we’re talking about,” said Benoit.

Seventy-five golfers played in the tournament and after dinner Benoit delighted 140 guests with a powerful jam session and educational crash course on the damage being done in the Gulf.

“Our organization has always been about having fun and getting something done,” said Benoit.

His smooth blend of swamp blues, soul blues and Chicago blues, coupled with a voice that is eerily similar to that of Barry White’s, makes his sound uniquely his own.

“Obviously we will never be able to raise enough money to fix the problem,” said Benoit.

Through a combination of donations, silent auction items and ticket sales, the day’s event raised almost $12,000, up from the $10,000 it raised last year.

“We definitely consider it a success and will do it again next year, we hope to broaden our scope and appeal,” said Ray Parenteau, one of the VOW golf organizers.

Benoit says that a lot of the fundraising proceeds will go to the VOW festival that they hold every year in October. The three-day, free festival is held in Houna, La. and features artists such as Josh Garrett, Southern Cross and Benoit.

“Because it’s free we can say what we want and we do what we want,” said Benoit.

The festival is entering its seventh year and Benoit believes that educating people about what exactly is happening in the wetlands is the best agent for change.

“It’s to get people in tune to what’s happening,” said Benoit.

Benoit believes that in order for people to have their “switch triggered” they have to see and feel the direness of a situation. Hosting the festival and inviting people to Louisiana allows him to do that.

“The biggest thing is to show up and go there,” said Benoit.

Parenteau and Harrison will travel down to the festival, something that has turned into an annual tradition for them, to present the money raised to the VOW foundation.

Benoit believes that many people make a living claiming they are fixing the wetlands when they aren’t. He says this is what he does outside of his job.

“Volunteering yourself, your time and your heart is one of the most rewarding things in life,” said Benoit.