Brian Langlinais - Loud & Clear (2014)

Brian Langlinais has a calling: to bring great songs to life. Whether he’s on a festival stage, in a bar or in the studio, Langlinais’ vibrant singing puts flesh and blood on the lyrical and melodic bones of every number he performs.
His dust-dappled voice rings with the truth of experience and an honesty of expression that few entertainers possess. The Lafayette, Louisiana native’s albums provide a house-rocking intersection for some of the greatest songwriters in American roots music. His fourth release, the new compilation

Loud and Clear, is a fire-breathing collection of numbers by Gary Nicholson, Danny Flowers, Walt Wilkins and other world-champion tunesmiths — all united by Langlinais’ timeless singing and the expert support of studio players whose influences embrace a spectrum wide enough to extend from the Mexican border to the hills of East Tennessee, a few hours from Langlinais’ adopted Nashville home. Langlinais has developed a style that straddles the worlds of pop, country, rock and soul, with an accent on the latter. His high-energy, soulful and emotionally honest live performances have earned him a reputation as a modern torchbearer of the roadhouse tradition. “My job as an entertainer is to make people happy,” he observes. “And I intend to honor that tradition every time I step up to a microphone or stand on a stage.”