I was at a joint last night called the Backstage Cafe. It’s a pretty cool little hang in Beverly Hills of all places. I can’t believe I’ve lived here in LA for a few years now and I’ve never heard of this place before. I feel like an ignorant musician. I was invited down by a new friend Jeffrey Mitchell. He goes there fairly regularly on Tuesday nights. So I went. I met some musicians whom I’ve heard about over the past few years. One in particular – Yogi. I think that’s how his name is spelled. He’s a guitar player that sings. I heard of him when he got the Meredith Brooks gig (I was next pick apparently), then I heard of him again when I turned down the guitar spot for Buck Cherry (He took the gig). It was cool to meet this guy I had heard so much about. Another guy, Tariq, I had heard about the same sorta way. Very nice gents.
Apparently every Tuesday night is Tariq’s band’s night to sit and jam on tunes. It was fun. Next week I’ll head back down there and get up to play a song or two. Thus the title of jammin on a Tuesday night.
I’m willing to put money on today’s post that you’ve likely heard of Marc Broussard before. If you haven’t you’ve been missing out. How did I come to be a fan of Marc? I’ll tell ya…
You might know that I’m a Taylor Guitar player. Well about a year and half ago, I was down to the Taylor Factory to get my guitar repaired. I had my girlfriend at the time, Claire, with me. We were treated to a super lunch meeting with Bob Borbonus. While in his car we were chatting about people we knew including Seth Horan when on came this song over his stereo. Bob asked if we thought the singer was a black or a white guy. I figured the guy was white, cause you don’t ask that question normally. I thought the song was really good, but Claire went the extra mile to buy the CD soon after that lunch meeting.
She began to listen to Marc quite a lot. But this song in particular always got me sayin’ yeah, this guy’s got something great going on. For some reason hearing this song tends to remind me a lot of my time with Claire. We had some great times. What’s not to like about a tall Brit? I love that accent. It rules. I’m happy that my ancestry somehow meanders its way back to the UK. In fact Claire took me to England. What a great trip that was. I got to see a bunch of the country in a short period of time with a great tour guide. She’s also a huge music fan. It was fun helping to expand her musical horizons. She also expanded mine too.
Claire got us tickets to see Marc perform at the House of Blues in Hollywood. I sometimes feel like I don’t get out enough, but I guess I do. Anyway, we met up with a couple of her friends and had a rockin’ time watching Marc. He’s a great live performer, are most of the members of his band – I found particular amusement in watching his lead guitarist. Mind you I didn’t know a lot of his songs, but I knew enough of them to be having a good time. Interestingly enough, I had met Marc a couple months prior to the show. We were both at the Taylor booth for NAMM. Bob Borbonus introduced us briefly. I was slightly shocked to find out how little he was. Mind you, I stand at 6’4″. I believe Bob is around 6’5″ or 6’6″, but Marc is probably around 5’4″ or 5’5″. Wow, what a voice he’s got. It’s scary.
Getting back to the live show. He’s a bundle of energy, much like he was at the NAMM when we were introduced. After the show Claire and I were walking back to the car when lo and behold I spotted Marc walking toward us on the sidewalk. I reintroduced myself and then Claire. We all chatted for a moment and remarked how much we liked the show. He was very gracious. As we parted ways Claire was so giddy about having met Marc it was fun to watch. She also couldn’t believe how little he was. Of course she stands at 5’10” plus a little. So we must have been like the twin towers to him. 🙂
Anyway, this song also reminds of what a New Orleans delta blues type jam would be like, a rip-roaring good time with a large group of people. I plan on sitting in on something like that when I get to New Orleans on tour. I think it would be a blast! If you don’t have this CD, you need to do yourself a favor and get it. At the very least get this song ASAP on iTunes now!
(** Disclaimer: If Marc’s label decides to take me home to the cleaners, I’ll have to remove the audio like a bad stain. The words will remain. **)