After the dog days of a Louisiana summer, Baton Rouge has been in need of some much-deserved relief. The highly popular concert program “Live After Five” is returning to downtown Baton Rouge. The first “Live After Five” concert for the fall season is scheduled for Friday. Downtown Business Association presents “Live After Five” free to the public alongside food vendors and community program booths.
Singer-songwriter Marc Broussard is slated to perform Friday. Despite being a native of Carencro, Louisiana, Broussard is a newcomer to the admired concert series.
The Daily Reveille: This is your first “Live After Five” event, but do you find yourself best received in Baton Rouge compared to other cities?
Marc Broussard: Absolutely. We’ve done really well traditionally in Baton Rouge and I expect this show to be no different. I’ve been down there for “Live After Five” for a few different bands playing. It always seems to have a nice crowd so I’m looking forward to the show.
TDR: Is Louisiana usually your most welcoming and best receiving state?
MB: I tend to do quite well in Atlanta. We’ve always historically done well in Seattle. I’ve also done really well in Holland overseas. Louisiana is so predisposed to free shows that it’s difficult to gauge. I’ve had my biggest shows here, but they’re free. So it’s difficult to gauge where the most support is actually coming from.
TDR: It’s been about 10 years since your debut album. What do you your music has done for Louisiana’s musical reputation? Has it shown that there is more than jazz here or even put Carencro on the map?
MB: Yeah, I think all of the above. Growing up, my conception of what professional music and a musician looked like really was limited to Cajun and zydeco, the Top 40, and the swamp pop cover scene. There was never really an option in my mind until I actually started to do it that I could make money as a musician from Louisiana and in Louisiana with something other than Cajun and zydeco. I think that it’s opened up with possibilities and reached into the minds of young artists.
TDR: Your new album, “A Life Worth Living,” seems to have this overall theme of retrospection and nostalgia. Is that an accurate interpretation?
MB: It’s absolutely correct. I feel like I’ve reached the age where I’m more than happy to take a look back at my life and share that with my listeners. So I totally dove in headfirst into my personal shit making this record.
Broussard is scheduled to perform at the Galvez Plaza Stage on Friday with opening act Jason Martin. “Live After Five” will begin at 5 p.m. in the North Boulevard Town Square.