This story is featured in CityBeat's April 5 print edition.
With his rugged, old-school rasp, Marc Broussard has become one of the foremost artists of Bayou Soul, a gritty gumbo thick with blues, soul, funk, R&B and pop that boils up out of Louisiana and the South. With the recent release of S.O.S. 4: Blues for Your Soul, the fourth installment of Broussard’s S.O.S. (Save Our Soul) series of covers, he lets loose with 11 blues covers and one original song. Fellow guitar aces Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith co-produced the project and both add their guitars to several songs.
The native of a small Louisiana town, Broussard is the son of acclaimed Louisiana Hall of Fame guitarist Ted Broussard. Music is the family’s lifeblood; like his father and grandfather, Broussard’s oldest son Gavin is developing into a fine guitarist. Broussard’s love for family and home inspires his philanthropic side, as his four S.O.S. record releases generate charity proceeds for Habitat for Humanity, hurricane clean-up and other worthy causes. He explains to Newsweek, “This project is raising money for people coming out of prison. The blues seemed right on the money for it. I called up Joe Bonamassa because he knows more about the blues than anybody I know.”
Broussard’s brawny baritone drives blues covers like Little Milton’s “That’s What Love Will Make You Do,” John Lee Hooker’s “Locked Up in Jail” and Howlin’ Wolf’s “I Asked for Water,” in which he shares steely vocals with J.J. Grey. In concert, Broussard and his band mix covers with his originals, but blues and soul are the main focus on this tour.
Marc Broussard plays Memorial Hall at 8 p.m. April 19. Doors open at 7 p.m. Nicotine Dolls will open the show. Info: memorialhallotr.com.
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