CMT Blog: Marc Broussard

Singer-songwriter and producer Radney Foster celebrated his 50th birthday last night (July 20) with a performance at Nashville's Exit/In, and the list of guests that joined him onstage was incredible. I'm still trying to sort the whole thing out -- Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Vince Gill, Sam Bush, the Randy Rogers Band ... the list goes on. It was a night of reunions, big grins, hugs and birthday song singalongs, but above all, Foster's border-straddling country songs. His music feels as comfortable in mainstream country circles as it does in Americana, and the group of friends that showed up to jam only reinforced that idea.

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Once again I'm sifting through the stacks of older albums, listening to a few discs I haven't picked up in a while. So I'll start this entry with Wade Bowen's Lost Hotel, which the native Texan released in 2006. His material sounds like it could fit into mainstream country radio (especially "Walking Along the Fenceline"), but his rough-hewn voice and vulnerable perspective set him apart from the pack. Check out "It's All Over Town" to see what I mean. If I had to bet on anyone on the Red Dirt scene to break through, my money's going on Wade Bowen.

Here are a few more discs to check out:

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In the last few months, many magazines have closed up shop for good, but thankfully Paste magazine found a way to keep their presses humming -- and it's a great deal for music fans. They've set up a donation page on their Web site where you can give any amount you wish and, in return, get access to the Paste Station Download Vault. The Vault is full of rare or exclusive songs donated by artists that also want to save the music and entertainment mag, and some of my favorite Americana and folk-rock acts are in there. Here's a short list: the Avett Brothers, Marc Broussard, Brandi Carlile, Neko Case, Deer Tick, Emmylou Harris, the Jayhawks, Shawn Mullins, the String Cheese Incident, Todd Snider and the Watson Twins. As of now there are about a hundred other tracks in there ready to be yours -- and more being added all the time. It's got to be one of the cheapest ways to get your hands on this much newer and hard-to-find music. And in doing so, you can help save an awesome music publication.

Three bona fide country videos, along with an Americana-country hybrid, showed up and threw themselves on the mercy of the CMT New Video Evaluation Team this week. There are pickup trucks in three of these four videos, and there would have been one in the fourth, if it didn't consist entirely of stage performance footage.

Artist: Billy Ray Cyrus
Video: "Back to Tennessee"
Director: Declan Whitebloom

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This song isn't claiming love is a fairy tale. Love isn't flawless and love isn't perfect. Marc Broussard and LeAnn Rimes nicely portray this rocky relationship in their recent collaboration, "When It's Good." His smoky, sexy vocals complement her soft, yet strong sound. He's a bit scruffy, she's refreshingly refined. And though they've both made mistakes, hurt one another and feel remorseful, they're still trying to be better. Because, like the song says, even when it's bad, it ain't really that bad. I suppose that's why I feel so connected to the truth behind these lyrics. They're not pretending relationships are a blissful ride into eternity. Instead, they're learning from their pangs of heartache and mistake, opening their eyes to just how much they truly care. Finally, a love song that's light on the sap -- but rich in candor.

All year long, I listen to every CD that comes my way – so you don’t have to! Anyway, here’s a list of songs I couldn’t get enough of in 2007, and the reasons why.

1. “Missing You,” Alison Krauss & John Waite – Something about the way he sings the line “You don’t know how desperate I’ve become...”

2. “The Story,” Brandi Carlile – You know that part where she kind of screams? I love that.

3. “Hard Edges,” Chris Knight – A little girl’s dreams of becoming a dancer come true, sort of.

4. “Talking in Your Sleep,” Crystal Gayle – I was late to find this classic. Even when he’s asleep, he can’t say the right thing.

5. “In a Perfect World,” Gene Watson – With so many things going wrong for him, you’ll feel better about your own life.

6. “Falling Slowly,” Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova – My favorite song from my favorite scene in my favorite movie, Once.

7. “Love is a Battlefield,” Jann Arden – I was always too busy finger-snapping on Pat Benatar’s version to realize what a heavy, intense lyric this has.

8. “Pistol Packin’ Mama,” John Prine & Mac Wiseman – Cracks me up every time, and I get a kick out of whoever’s wailing in the background.

9. “Right Moves,” Josh Ritter – I was giving a friend a ride home one night and she said, “Who is this? I like it!” Me too. A great groove.

10. “Your Next Lover,” Lori McKenna – “She puts her pocketbook down and smiles at you” … and you know this isn’t going to turn out well.

11. “Let the Music Get Down in Your Soul,” Marc Broussard – It’s a remake but advice like this never goes out of style.

12. “The Calling,” Mary Chapin Carpenter – Some things you just don’t have control over. It’s OK to embrace those things.

13. “People Change,” Nick Lowe – He’s right, of course, but only a randy chap like Nick can tell a story like this.

14. “Someone Somewhere Tonight”, Pam Tillis – She’s still got it. A fine reminder that the great circle of life goes on.

15. “Heavenly Day,” Patty Griffin – An upbeat love song about her dog!

16. “Because of You,” Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson – My friend cries every time she hears this because it reminds her of her dad.

17. “Follow the Lights,” Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – Such words of encouragement are always welcome.

18. “Fallen,” Storyhill – They sing, “This year the winter will not break me,” and I always think, “Me neither, I hope.”

19. “If You Leave Me Now,” Suzy Bogguss – With her pristine voice, this Chicago oldie sounds like a whole new song.

20. “Don’t Ask Me to Be Friends” (bonus track), Teddy Thompson – If you really don’t want to be friends after a breakup, please don’t pretend otherwise.

21. “This is Me You’re Talking To,” Trisha Yearwood – It’s inevitable that you’ll run into old flames in Nashville. What can I say? This song gets it just right.

I recently came across a new CD called The Greatest Country Love Songs – now that’s a brave title. I rarely listen to love songs so I’m rather surprised to be telling you that it’s a pretty cool compilation of covers, sung by country artists who don’t get played on the radio anymore. Most of the selections are familiar but a few artists dig deeper, like Daryle Singletary’s fine rendition of Keith Whitley’s “That’s Where I Want to Take Our Love.” (George Strait recently recorded the song too.) Tammy Cochran succeeds greatly with “Help Me Make It Through the Night” and there’s a real sparkle to Gene Watson and Rhonda Vincent’s “Together Again.” My favorite track is Neal McCoy’s lively take on Charley Pride’s “Mountain of Love.” You can tell he’s having a blast bringing it back to life.

Usually I am reluctant to give props to covers but I’ve had to relax my standards lately. My favorite CD this year is bound to be Teddy Thompson’s understated Up Front and Down Low, which almost entirely consists of classic country songs. (I am obsessed with the hidden track, “Don’t Ask Me to Be Friends,” from the Everly Brothers' vault.) Close behind is John Prine and Mac Wiseman’s Standard Songs for Average People, a carefree collection of other people’s songs that they both like, including Tom T. Hall’s insightful “Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine.”

On the R&B side, just wait until you hear Bettye Lavette’s scorching interpretation of George Jones’ “Choices.” Also, try out Marc Broussard’s “Let the Music Get Down in Your Soul” (originally by Rance Allen) and Joan Osborne’s “Break Up to Make Up” (by the Stylistics). Sometimes a melody provides enough inspiration – for example, James Alan Shelton’s instrumental, acoustic take on Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence.” By the way, I recommend the full albums by all these artists.

Do you know Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield”? Of course. But have you ever considered what it’s really about? You will when you hear Jann Arden sing it on her new CD, Uncover Me. Her version slows down the melody just enough to get you wrapped up in the words. I’ve heard this song a hundred times before, but now I can see myself in it – a lot. The pulsating introduction is definitely killer, but when it comes to the inevitable contradictions and unexpected turns in relationships, this song’s got it covered.

Fats Domino was one of the first artists I saw play at the late, lamented Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin. And he was a sensation. Dressed in a flamboyant red velvet suit, Fats wowed the hippies there with a long set of his rock ‘n’ roll hits and some Hank Williams songs such as “Jambalaya” (which he also recorded). I visited with him a bit afterwards and he said that he considered what he was doing musically was the same as the best country music – just telling stories. He totally connected with that audience.

When he went missing in the Bush administration’s Hurricane Katrina disaster, I was concerned about him and was glad to see that he finally emerged all right – although his Ninth Ward house did not. Now there’s a CD event to benefit him and other New Orleans musical endeavors. Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino will be released Sept. 25 as a two-CD set. Artists contributing to it range from Tom Petty to B.B. King to Robert Plant to Bonnie Raitt to Elton John to Toots and the Maytals. I especially like Willie Nelson’s rendition of “I Hear You Knockin’” as a slow sax-laden blues rocker and Marc Broussard’s jaunty collaboration with Sam Bush on “Rising Sun.” After all these years, it’s very reassuring to hear just how sturdy Fats’ songs are and how happy most of them sound, no matter who performs them.