The Suffers bring their socially conscious message with a beat to the Black Swamp Arts Festival

By DAVID DUPONT

BG Independent News

The melody is lilting and then soars. The rhythm is elevating, a mix of funk with Latin overtones. Yet, there’s a mournful tug to the sound.

“How Do We Heal,” from The Suffers’ newest recording “It Starts with Love,” carries a heavy load. The song addresses the death of Black people at the hands of police.

“We’ll say your names til we get to see you again,” Kam Franklin, the seven-piece band’s lead singer and one of its songwriters, sings. As a Black woman, the song strikes close to home.

“It’s important to bring that shit up,” she said with characteristic bluntness. “If we don’t acknowledge this, if we don’t talk in the moment about what’s wrong. people are going to act like everything is fine.”

And that message is rooted deep in the songs. “Even if you’re not listening to the words, the music is making you feel something tonally.”

Now, with the pandemic easing, “the most exciting is to be able to perform it live.”

Franklin and The Suffers will deliver that message at the Black Swamp Arts Festival as one of the headliners on the Main Stage Friday, Sept. 9, at 8 p.m.

“It’s really freaking hard to be on the road right now,” she said. With so many bands searching out gigs, the market is oversaturated, she said, especially given the number of small venues that closed because of COVID-19.

But The Suffers rely on “the power of staying consistent and staying focused on doing this job. This is what you really want to do even through the hardship,” she said. “That’s what makes it worthwhile. Being able to sing about all those things is really special for me, and I don’t take it for granted at all to be able to do this every night.”

The band tackles a number of issues. “’A Cha Cha,” she said, “is just an overall analysis of what it’s like to be a creative in a society that’s driven more by dollars than art.”

But “It Starts with Love,” also includes the party jam, “Take Me To the Good Times,” as well as a celebration of just being alone, “Don’t Bother Me.”

The band is happy to have the chance to get out a play a new festival, and find fans in a new area of the country and “ share our music with different people,” Franklin said.

The Suffers hail from Houston, Texas. They started out as a collective of the top players from the local scene to play covers at weddings and other large events.

The band was rooted in ska, reggae and rock steady. “As we got together more and more, we all had originals and had ideas,” she said, and those started to be the focus.

“It Starts with Love” is the band’s third recording.

The band will spotlight the new music as well as songs from their previous recordings.

The Suffers’ reggae roots are less evident now, but still can be felt in the groove.

The band billed itself early on as Gulf Coast Soul, though one fan recently suggested that now they sound more like Gulf Coast funk. That kind of evolution just naturally happens, Franklin said.

“We’re in a very, very funky era right which is very fun to be in,” she said. It offers plenty of space to be exploratory. “We never wanted to be limited. … It’s a beautiful time to create. Not only is the world falling apart, but we also have all these inspirations.

“It’s never been easier to create,” she said. “You can do it on Garage Band, do it on your phone.”

Some tracks on the new album were done old school – live in the studio with everyone on hand. Others were done with musicians laying down tracks at different times and places. “I did some background vocals in my car,” she said.

But she added: “Being a Texan is a hard thing if you’re Black, or Brown, if you’re queer, if you’re a woman, if you want to exist in a way that’s different than people are used to seeing, if you’re not within White Christian values. It’s a tough place to be right now. I want to make sure I write things that reflect what I’m seeing. That’s what art has the power to do.”

In talking to one of her heroes Marvis Staples, she asked how the Staples Singers dealt with the turmoil of the 1960s and 1970s. Staples said they put it in the music. That’s just what The Suffers do.

No matter how serious the message, it seems to be accepted more when lifted by a beat and melody, Franklin said. “There’s something about putting it in the music and making the truth catchy, the message gets to them differently.”