These days, Marc Broussard’s Carencro, Louisiana, home is silent. His four children—two sons, two daughters—have reluctantly returned to school. “It’s unfortunate for them,” he says with a laugh. “But it’s nice and quiet around here. It lets me focus on my craft.” Over the course of nearly fifteen years, the singer has distilled an eclectic mix of soul, funk, R&B, and rock, along with a dash of Cajun flavor from his home state into his five solo albums.
He doesn’t have long to enjoy the respite, though. Broussard’s new album, S.O.S 2: Save Our Soul: Soul On A Mission, will be released on September 30, and he starts a U.S. tour on September 24. It’s his second album of classic soul tunes, many of which help make up the fabric of American popular music. Songs from Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, and Sam Cooke get the full treatment of Broussard’s rich, deep voice and his band’s shiny horns.
“Sam was one of those singers that would pop up occasionally on the record player in the house when I was growing up,” he says. “My dad was such a jazz nut, but sometimes he would throw on a record of Sam’s or Otis Redding.” Broussard’s father Ted, an acclaimed guitarist who was a member of the Boogie Kings, also makes an appearance on an acoustic version of Burke’s “Cry To Me.”
Fifty percent of the proceeds from S.O.S 2 will benefit the Atlanta-based City of Refuge, a nonprofit that helps provide food, shelter, and job training to the homeless, via Broussard’s SOS (Save Our Soul) Foundation. Devoutly religious, Broussard is widely admired for his longstanding philanthropic work forming in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. “There was a tug on my faith” he muses. “[It was] a reconnection to what I was raised to believe and motivated to do.”
All of which makes us even more pleased to premiere Broussard’s take on Cooke’s legendary “Twistin’ the Night Away.” The album is available now for pre-order on CD and vinyl and on iTunes.
