ROCKLAND — When Tab Benoit first appeared at the North Atlantic Blues Festival in 1996, not too many people outside his Southernmost Louisiana parish knew his music. But now he is returning to Rockland, a bona fide blues superstar.

Off the heels of his award-winning album, “Medicine,” released on Telarc International last year, Benoit said during a recent phone interview that he is thrilled to be performing in Maine again.

“I like Maine a lot,” Benoit said, shortly after leaving home and on his way to perform in North Carolina. “It’s been a while. I ask them to book me every year. I can open up the phone book up there and see all the same names they got here in Louisiana. I like lobster. I like the people.”

Benoit, from bayou country, mixes a unique roux of Cajun, zydeco and rock into his music that comes through in spicy hot flavors on “Medicine.”

It’s rare that a fiddle can be heard on a blues album, but this one features none other than Michael Doucet of BeauSoleil.

Co-produced by Anders Osborne, the concoction gives a taste of Southern rock in the title track, a healthy slice of traditional Delta blues in “Sunrise,” a dash of funk in “Broke and Lonely” and a heaping serving of Cajun in “Mudboat Melissa.”

“It’s not all that unusual around here,” Benoit said. “It’s just part of the gumbo. I try not to describe it. It’s whatever I grew up around. It’s blues-based but definitely Louisiana.”

Festival co-founder Paul Benjamin of Rockland emphasized how varied the blues artists are.

“People who might not be as familiar think that it’s just Stevie Ray or B.B. King,” Benjamin said. “But there are so many different styles. We try to put together a good mix. There’s going to be some kind of blues that appeals to someone in the audience.”

Benoit received the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, Best Contemporary Male Performer and Best Contemporary Blues Album of the Year awards at this year’s annual Blues Music Awards in Memphis. He also received two awards, formerly known as the W.C. Handy Awards, in 2007.

“It’s a huge honor,” Benoit said. “I like the blues awards because the people who vote on those awards actually listen to what they’re voting on. It’s nice to be recognized and know that they’re behind me.”

Starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 14, the NABF will offer a full slate of headline acts. Benoit, on guitar and vocals, will give the final performance of the day. He will be joined by Corey Deplechin on bass and Trey Landry on drums.

“I’ll play whatever the crowd asks for,” said Benoit, who performs about 200 shows a year. “I’m there for them.”

When asked about his grueling schedule, Benoit allowed that the road gets tiring but insisted that the playing never does.

“Packing up everything each time gets physically tiring,” Benoit said. “But the playing doesn’t get old. I’ll play on the road and then when I’m home, I play for fun. Music is just part of life.”

Benoit also performed at the NABF in 2001 and in 2006, when his album “Brother to the Blues” was released and nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.