Let’s take a little trip down memory lane, shall we? The year is 2004. It’s early August, and a young singer/songwriter from Carencro, Louisiana was about to release an album on Island Records. It isn’t his first release – he had independently released an EP called Momentary Setback in 2002. But this is his first shot at a full-fledged album release on a major label.
The singer/songwriter was Marc Broussard, and the album was called Carencro. The title was a tribute to the 22-year old’s hometown.
A lot has happened to and for Marc Broussard in the twenty years since the release of that album. He’s subsequently released ten albums (nine studio and one live). The clean-shaven baby face that graced the cover of Carencro now sports a trademark beard. He married in 2008, and he and his wife Sonya are the proud parents of four children. In addition to his musical success, Broussard is well known for his philanthropic efforts (he regularly donates significant portions of the proceeds from his album sales to charity).
But there’s one thing that has stayed consistent over these two decades. The music the man produces, whether it’s his own original material or covers of soul and R&B standards, has been remarkable. His incomparable singing voice is as powerful and expressive as any we’ve ever heard. It was that way when he recorded Carencro, and it’s every bit the same way today.
Broussard is currently touring to recognize the 20th anniversary of the Carencro album and brought his tribute tour to Denver’s Gothic Theatre this past Saturday evening. A packed house of Broussard fans were on hand to hear a live presentation of everything from the featured album, plus a selection of songs from Broussard’s two-decade plus catalog.
Broussard’s musical style isn’t as easy to classify as some would have you think. To many, he’s a soul and R&B artist. That’s absolutely true, but there’s more to it than that. He’s frequently characterized as a blues artist, but that doesn’t even begin to tell the story. He does play some blues music, but he certainly covers a lot more ground than that. His style has been described as “Bayou Soul,” which combines elements of funk, blues, soul, R&B, rock, folk and pop. It takes a lot of talent to be able to stretch that much, and to do it as masterfully as Broussard does.
This was the fourth time I have seen and covered a Broussard live performance, and he remains at the very top of the list of artists I get most excited to see live. Everything about a Marc Broussard show just feels right. The music, of course, is exceptional and inspiring. The performance is exhilarating. Broussard’s interactions with the crowd run the gamut from honest and heartfelt to playful and a little bit naughty. He’s a supremely talented showman who just happens to be blessed with an equally supremely talented voice.
Broussard’s backup band for this tour includes mostly familiar faces. There’s Jason Parfait doing mixed duty on keyboards, saxophone, and vocals, Devin Cerrigan on bass, and relative newcomer Terry Scott, Jr. on drums and vocals. And, of course, there’s the terrific Bobby Junior, who does double duty on lead guitar and vocals, all the while assuming tour manager responsibilities.
Taking the stage at straight up 9:00 pm, Broussard and company launched into the first of seven songs from the Carencro album – in order, “Hope for Me Yet,” “The Wanderer,” “Where You Are,” “Come Around,” “The Beauty of Who You Are,” “Save Me,” and “Saturday.” This is not the order the songs appeared on the album, but no one seemed to care.
Following a quick respite from the Carencro focus, which included a new song called “Hard Times”, which will appear on Broussard’s new studio album scheduled to drop later this year, the band wrapped up the Carencro album with (again, in order) “Rocksteady”, a funked-up version of “Let Me Leave”, “Lonely Night In Georgia”, “Home”, and “Gavin’s Song”.
“Gavin’s Song,” which was a “hidden track” on the Carencro album, was the first of a four-song encore. Broussard performed “Gavin’s Song” solo, before being rejoined by the rest of the band for “Give You The World,” a newly released single that will also appear on the forthcoming new studio album. The set concluded with two songs from two of Broussard’s S.O.S. series of albums… covers of Johnnie Taylor’s (originally written by Lou Rawls) “I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water,” and Solomon Burke’s “Cry To Me.” That latter tune is Broussard’s standard closer – there’s no way the crowd would have let him out of the building had he not included it in the set.
I was talking to Broussard before he went on about the significance of the Carencro album to his career, and he stated it very simply. He told me, “If it wasn’t for that album, I wouldn’t be here.” Carencro might not have been Broussard’s most commercially successful album, but it certainly put him on the map as a singer/songwriter to pay attention to.
When you revisit the album in its entirety, it’s amazing how well it holds up, twenty years later. There’s no filler on the album – its twelve songs are all keepers. Five of them (“Home,” “Rocksteady,” “The Beauty of Who You Are,” “Lonely Night In Georgia,” and “The Wanderer”) continue to be not only live show staples, but live show highlights. Who else do you know who pulls five tunes from an album released twenty years ago into their live shows?
Even though the night’s 17-song setlist clocked in at an even hour and a half, for most of the faithful the evening ended too soon. I talked to several members of the crowd as they were exiting the venue, and the consensus was that if Broussard wanted to play another full set, they would be delighted to go back in for the entire thing. Well played (pun intended), Marc. P.T. Barnum (“Always leave them wanting more.”) would be duly impressed.
Story and photos by Rick Witt www.rickwittphotography.com
