Guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and band leader Brad Faucher has been a fixture on the Boston music scene since he graduated from Merrimack College in 1994.
“It’s fantastic! It’s an incredible experience for us,” Faucher said. “We’re taking a lot of what I used to see at the Cantab with Lee and Roscoe and bringing it to a fancier place. We’ve really been enjoying it, and the crowd has been very supportive. We see people on a week to week basis to get the real thing in an environment that’s comfortable for them.”
Faucher’s love is for blues, R&B, and jazz, and he likes it when they all come together. He also plays guitar in The Philip Pemberton Band, a soul and R&B band fronted by Pemberton when Pemberton isn‘t busy fronting Roomful Of Blues. The material covers Al Green, Otis Redding, and Sly and the Family Stone. “It actually works out perfect because he spends a lot of time working with Roomful, and I do a lot of things working on This Is Soul. We’re really close friends and really close as musical peers.”
What Faucher likes most about being in the Pemberton band is the camaraderie he has developed with the singer in the last five years. The guitarist and the vocalist had met several years ago at Sticky Mike’s in an alley off of Boston Common. Just after college graduation, Faucher moved to Malden, Massachusetts, and he attended an open mike hosted by Pemberton. The pair also used to run into each other at Chris Stovall Brown’s jam at Harper’s Ferry.
Faucher and Pemberton call each other nicknames during meet ups. “He calls me everything,” Faucher said. “He calls me Scrappy. I call him Phyllis, and he calls me Mary. It’s just guys being guys.”
Faucher also works with a band called Musik Makerz that is headed up by Stephen Starr and Maurice Starr Jr. The Starr kids used to be in Perfect Gentlemen. With Musik Makerz, Faucher gets to play contemporary R&B and some hip hop material.
Faucher was the guitarist for The Nicole Nelson Band from 2000 to 2004. Nelson‘s band got gigs in Boston and New York City. They played Symphony Hall, Tanglewood, Scullers, Regatta Bar, Johnny D’s and The Bitter End in New York City. They also toured Canada.
“She’s another incredible talent from Boston,” Faucher exclaimed. “She’s actually originally from New York, but she did most of her work here.” Faucher was a co-songwriter for Nelson, and he continues to write, arrange, and even produce some Hip Hop artists. He is currently working on a marketing project with C.D.I.A., Boston University’s school for graphic arts and video production. The video production will focus on the This Is Soul project.
Faucher majored in marketing at Merrimack College, and he learned a lot of guitar on his own. He did study for a while with Ritchie Hart, a protégé of George Benson. “That was my introduction to any kind of formal music training, but he’s incredible,” the guitarist said.
These days, Faucher uses his business knowledge to organize local talent. He also creatively uses the same time to stretch out as an artist. The opening set at the Beehive’s This Is Soul Sunday is geared toward his own development as a solo artist.
“I want to do more Grant Greene, Wes Montgomery, 60s soul-jazz stuff,” he said. “I also want to provide an opportunity for some of these singers people haven’t heard, such as Bird Taylor and Kenny Williams from Providence. It gives the audience a full range from jazz to blues to R&B to funk that they’ll catch on that night.”
Faucher has worked with many big regional names in the last ten years. Toni Lynn Washington, Chicago Bob Nelson, Diane Blue, Sweet Willie D., and many others.
Faucher, in 2001, won the Boston Blues Challenge of the Boston Blues Society when he was with The Nicole Nelson Band. The Nelson band went on to compete in the International Blues Competition the following winter, placing second among numerous contestants from across the country. A year later, the Nelson band was nominated for Best New Blues Band by the Boston Music Awards.
Faucher has more experience as a sideman than a front man but is equally comfortable in both roles. For the last two years, Faucher has fronted his band The Spoilers, singing and playing New Orleans, blues, and funk material. He has fronted his band at Glen’s Cool Bar in Newburyport, Massachusetts and some rooms in western, Massachusetts. He just hasn’t had as much time for The Spoilers since launching his This Is Soul project.
Faucher might sing a whole opening set at This Is Soul Sunday, but The Beehive gig is, for him, more about developing as a guitarist, developing his arranging and organizational skills, and creating a danceable sound for the patrons. “We’re also supporting and contributing to the healthy music scene,” Faucher said.
Brad Faucher is on Facebook.
www.beehiveboston.com
