Broussard begins second career in music (7/26)

Posted July 25, 2009 at 10:58 pm
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By ALEX HICKEY
AMERICAN PRESS

Ben Broussard, the only Cowboy baseball player to ever have his number retired, is already considered the greatest slugger to come out of McNeese State. Now, he’s on a quest to become one of the greatest strummers produced by McNeese.

After 10 years of playing professional baseball, “Big Ben” has traded in his bat for a guitar, hoping to turn what was once a part-time hobby into a full-blown vocation. Just a few months after hanging up his cleats for the last time, Broussard has released his second full-length CD, “Renovated.”

“I’m trying to get around people that are about music and having fun with it, and being able to connect with other people through music,” Broussard said.

Music has been a part of Broussard’s repertoire nearly as long as baseball. While at McNeese, he’d play gigs in town after games on Friday nights. Once he made it to the big leagues, he kept his guitar handy for road trips and started writing his own songs.

Broussard’s first appearance on a CD came on a compilation released by Major League Baseball in 2005 entitled “Oh Say Can You Sing?” Broussard and several other big leaguers covered some of their favorite tunes on the 10-song CD that benefited charity.

When Scott Schorr of Lazy Bones Recordings heard that Broussard also wrote his own material, he invited Broussard to record a CD of his own. That self-titled effort was released in the summer of 2005, and several songs were licensed for use in commercials and television programs. But despite the moderate taste of success, there was no question that Broussard was a ballplayer first and a musician second.

This year, Broussard’s priorities have changed.

He spent spring training with the Chicago White Sox before getting assigned to Triple-A Charlotte to start the season. Just seven games into the campaign, Broussard decided it was time to call it quits.

“I kind of felt the pull. I have two little kids … it’s hard to explain how you know, but you know,” Broussard said. “I was fortunate enough to have the music as an outlet post-baseball. It just worked with the second album coming out. I felt like I had accomplished a lot of things.”

Broussard said the competitive drive that had pushed him since his collegiate career at McNeese was simply beginning to fade.

“I guess we all have that competitive fire inside. It’s like a six-, eight-month grind,” Broussard said. “You have to have a mind-set to battle through things. I felt my tank was low. I went to Chicago to make the big-league club and that didn’t work out. I started to wonder, ‘Is this really what I want to do?’ It wasn’t just because I was in Charlotte.

“Doors just open and close. That’s always how I’ve lived my life.”

Broussard is comfortable in knowing that the door has closed on his baseball career. He has plenty of good memories to take with him.

“My favorite moment would be my first home run,” Broussard said. “It was off of Pedro Martinez in Fenway. It was my second game. That moment, it made it all real to me that I’m competing here.”

Should Broussard’s profile continue grow in the music industry, he may have baseball to thank. He said that the material for his new release was all written while on the road, and the songs have much to do with getting over the slumps and various physical ailments that a veteran player goes through.

“All my songs I wrote for these first two albums I was in that grind,” Broussard said. “There was good times and bad times. There was some great material. The new album is called ‘Renovated.’ That’s the whole theme. You can move on.”

Broussard has put himself in a good position to succeed in his new career. He moved his family to Austin, Texas, the “Live Music Capital of the World,” about the same time he recorded his first CD.

“I wanted to be in Texas. It’s a really cool town,” Broussard said. “ We were looking for a place to establish our roots.”

It doesn’t hurt to live in a place with access to the cream of the crop in musicians, either. Broussard’s backing band on his new album is like a Murderers’ Row of studio players, featuring guys who have played alongside the likes of Peter Gabriel, John Mellencamp and King Crimson.

“In my mind I thought I was going to be doing this thing and finding random musicians here and there. I didn’t know I would be in such great company,” Broussard said. “As far as their musical ability, they were gifted in other ways than what I was able to do. They just went right with it.”

The next step for Broussard will be getting out and performing live. Fortunately for him, the chances of stage fright are highly unlikely.

“Playing in front of people, hearing cheers, having fans, talking to kids — it’s taught me how to be confident and be myself,” Broussard said. “I felt I was always down to earth, just being myself. I definitely remember Lake Charles. I may go back there and do a show.”

As to how far his new career might take him, well, that’s something that only time will be able to tell.

“In baseball you know what team you’re on and where you’re going. In music, there’s not one person telling you what to do, there’s a lot of ways you can go,” he said. “You just put your vibe out and hope your music can really relate with people.”

Ben Broussard’s new album, “Renovated,” can be purchased at www.benbroussard.com.

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