Ball bearings – Veteran rock ‘n’ roller brings an Earth Day message to Blues Week

You could never doubt Marcia Ball’s love for Louisiana. It’s in her lyrics. It’s in her blend of swamp rock, blues and New Orleans soul. Ball’s records are immediately identifiable with the state. And even though she is based in Austin, the one-time LSU student felt right at home on the set of the HBO hit Treme, on which she and her band will soon be making an appearance.

Ball—whose latest album, Roadside Attractions, earned her a fifth Grammy nomination—has often used her music and love for Louisiana to further charitable causes.

Sunday, April 22, Ball will join other artists downtown for the Baton Rouge Earth Day Festival to spread the message of renewable and sustainable lifestyles.

“Baton Rouge is an industrial city,” Ball says. “The economy is based on that industry. So reminding people that you need to have, and can have, industry and environmentally conscious efforts at the same time is the point of Earth Day. The day is just trying to remind people that you need both business and conscience. Just do the best you can and respect ourselves and our surroundings.”

Ball believes the purpose of Earth Day goes beyond saving the environment to teach people to live better lives by cutting down on waste.

“It’s everything from not throwing your trash out of a car window to drinking less out of plastic bottles and eating better for a healthier lifestyle,” she says.

Born in Orange, Texas, Ball was raised in Vinton and attended LSU from 1966 to 1968. She studied English in Baton Rouge but left the university to focus on her music.

In 1970, Ball landed in Austin and had a solo career going by 1974. Roadside Attractions is her 15th solo album.

“We’ve gone from the Hole in the Wall to the White House,” Ball says of the diverse venues on her most recent tour. “I’m fortunate that we play all these different types of venues. The honky-tonk one night and a fancy joint the next. We have the fortune to be flexible with what we can do.”

Following the Baton Rouge Earth Day Festival on April 22, Ball can be found in New Orleans for Wednesday at the Square on May 2 and performing at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 4. marciaball.com