Marc Broussard, a master of bayou soul, is currently on his 2018 tour which will feature tracks from his new album, Easy to Love. And even though he was 3,000 miles away in Switzerland in the middle of sound check, Broussard was able to carve out a few minutes to talk about his current tour, albums as well as his current and future philanthropic endeavors.
Dave Ostroff: Your father is a renowned guitarist – did he have an influence on you musically?
Marc Broussard: He introduced me to some of my favorite singers in the world; playing records in the house like Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding. My father was and continues to still be one of my biggest influences.
DO: What influences did you take way from him in terms of music?
MB: He’s a lead guitar player – I don’t think I’ll ever be a lead guitar player. I just don’t have the discipline to practice as much as you have to practice to be good at that instrument. But I did get a wealth of knowledge in regards to his theory. He just showed me a ton of different chords that a lot of my friends, that are great guitar players, don’t know how to play. I think, he gave me what I needed to start writing songs.
DO: What can both fans and newcomers expect to see at your FTC show?
MB: We’re a four man wrecking crew. We put on a dynamic show that has a nice ebb and flow to it. And by the end of it, we’ll hopefully bring our audience into a frenzy state. We’re looking to have a good time. I think that’s what our job is, [to give] people a couple hours of time away from the daily grind of life to hang out, drink, and dance a little bit.
DO: Your music is definitely perfect for that. The new album, what sets it apart from your prior work?
MB: This actually wasn’t supposed to be a record project. We were going in to write for a film and TV placement. But after the writing session, we decided to go ahead and make a record out of it, but we only had 6 original songs. So we had to start culling through my back catalogs to find some quality tunes to knock the record out quickly. My goal as a creator is to proliferate as much as I can, to put out as many albums as I possibly can to feed the demand of my audience. I don’t think that I can outpace my fans desire. My fans generally receive new music quite well and within 2 weeks they’re asking me when the next record is coming. So that’s why we went in and knocked this record with a combination of original material and covers. This was the first original indie album of mine. I’ve put out two records prior but one was a cover album and the other was a Christmas album. This was my first, original indie album and I want people to know that I’m definitely back in the driver’s seat. I think that the final product showcases something very authentic.
DO: Half the proceeds from your album, S.O.S. 2, benefited the City of Refuge project. Do you have plans to do anything else of that philanthropic nature?
MB: We have have S.O.S. 3 coming out this year, a lullaby album that is going to benefit the St. Jude Affiliate Hospital in Baton Rouge. It should be coming out the fourth quarter of the year. I wrote a children’s book that goes along with it.
DO: You mentioned that you’re definitely a philanthropist and that you gravitate towards the problem of homelessness and general poverty. Was there someone in your life that makes you think this way?
MB: I encounter homeless people all the time. We generally try and get a hotel close to the venue so we can walk around in major cities. So I encounter a large number of homeless people across the U.S. and the world. After sitting down with some folks that work closely in that area (homlessnes and general poverty charities) it became evident that something needed be done. Lack of housing is the real cause but there are loads of other problems that homeless people encounter in life. It’s difficult to land a job if you don’t have an address. If the boss says, “where do I send the paycheck,” and you don’t have an address to send it to, it can be a big deterrent for an employer because it signifies to the employer that you don’t know how to manage your life. And that most certainly is not always the case. So my goal is to do everything I can to help give those folks another chance. I’m doing a very small thing in reality. I’m donating proceeds from the sale of the record, but there’s folks out there doing the actual ground level work, day in and day out, and those are the folks that I’m trying to support.
DO: Tell me about the S.O.S. foundation.
MB: I started the S.O.S. Foundation. The S.O.S. projects are all going to be single projects that will be associated with a single organization. S.O.S. 2 is affiliated with homelessness, S.O.S. 3 will be for children that are terminally ill and moving forward, we may try to work with ALS on S.O.S. 4 with the Team Gleasons Foundation. I’ll do these records to go after all of my philanthropic passions. And hopefully in the process feed a wealth of money into a wide variety of organizations. Hopefully, each record will be attached to a single organization and vision.
Broussard will come back stateside for a show at FTC in Fairfield on June 19, jump back over seas and finally make his way back home to hit the Brooklyn Bowl on December 15.
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