Bonus Q&A with Marc Broussard

Q: Are you looking forward to getting feedback from fans on the new album?

I’m extremely anxious. It’s been a long time coming and I think my fans are really going to respond well to this album.

Q: On the album cover you’re shown running while wrapped in an American flag. Any implied message there?

I’m a patriotic guy, no doubt. But there was no motivation behind the photo. It was a prop the photographer had. We took the shot and I thought it looked good.

Q: This album had a long genesis. Did you have any goals in mind when you first went in?

By the time we started recording, I had a pretty clear picture of what the end product was going to sound like. The writing process was so long. Jamie and I did all the writing together. When he produces demos, they’re pretty well fleshed out. There weren’t really any surprises when we started recording. I was basically trying to get in there and get the best out of all the musicians that we could.

Q: Would you say the new album is a natural progression from ‘Keep Coming Back?’

Completely different. Totally different headspace and I think even a different genre in many ways. Just a different beast altogether.

Q: Did your producer/collaborator Jamie Kenney’s previous production work have any effect on these soul-inflected tunes? 
The relationship that I have with Jamie and the level of comfortability with his skill set as a producer...allowed me to focus really on my job, which is just conveying the lyric and singing. And not having to worry about anything else as a producer...When it came time to mix the record, I took my wife to Jamaica on vacation.

Q: Jamie also pushed you to do things you normally wouldn’t in the studio. Can you elaborate on that?

It wasn’t necessarily anything profoundly stylistic. It was the more emotional stuff. Things like a simple phrase. Instead of singing in time, it’s more of a spoken kind of thing. Things that I wouldn’t have ever thought of. When he’d say, ‘no, sing it this way,’ it made the moment really special.

Q: Last time we talked, for your 'Carencro' album, you said you were trying to bring integrity back to music. Have you succeeded since then?

No. I think my music has integrity, but I don’t know what the hell I was talking about back then.

Q: Is your musical mission to keep traditional R&B and soul relevant?

That would be a pretty bold statement. I don’t think I’m anywhere near the place where I can claim that mantle. I don’t have a stage or platform big enough for that.