Number one Funkateer Bootsy Collins takes us to Funk University! From his days in James Brown's group, to his work with Parliament/Funkadelic and Booty's Rubber Band, to his recent single that raises awareness about domestic violence, "the world's only rhinestone rock-star doll" tears the roof off the sucker and breaks it all down for us. Songcraft wants the funk!

PART ONE:
Paul and Scott discuss particularly recognizable bassists and chat about their expectations of what they thought Bootsy would be like before he landed the mother ship on Songcraft.

PART TWO:
Our in-depth conversation with the legendary Bootsy Collins

ABOUT BOOTSY COLLINS:
Named among the top 5 bassists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, Bootsy Collins is one of funk and R&B’s most iconic musicians, singers, frontmen, producers, and characters. He started out playing sessions for King Records in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, then kickstarted his career with James Brown’s backup band, The J.B.'s. He was credited as a songwriter on classic J.B.’s songs such as “The Grunt” and “These Are the J.B.’s.” In 1972, he joined George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic, and is a co-writer of classics such as “Up for the Down Stroke,” “Chocolate City,” “P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up),” “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker),” “Mothership Connection,” “Dr. Funkenstein,” and “Flash Light.” In 1976, Bootsy’s Rubber Band captivated audiences with his flashy star-shaped glasses and bass, and hits such as “I’d Rather Be With You” and the chart-topping “Bootzilla.” Since then, Bootsy has launched Bootzilla Productions and Funk University to help mentor younger creatives to reach their full potential. His inescapable influence on pop culture can be heard in the music of Snoop Dogg, Outkast, Dr. Dre, Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rick James, Prince, Daft Punk, Primus, Thundercat, and in Childish Gambino’s Grammy-winning platinum hit “Redbone,” which paid homage to “I’d Rather Be With You.” Bootsy is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. His latest album is called Album of the Year #1 Funkateer.

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We're celebrating our 10th anniversary all year by digging in the vaults to re-present classic episodes with fresh commentary. Today, we're revisiting our 2021 conversation with Richard Marx.

ABOUT RICHARD MARX:

Grammy-winning performer Richard Marx has sold more than 30 million albums as an artist, but if you only know him from late 1980s ballads such as “Hold on to the Nights” and “Right Here Waiting,” you only know part of the story. A prolific songwriter, Marx has landed fourteen songs at the top of various Billboard charts, and has written a #1 single in each of the last four decades. His genre-crossing songwriting success includes “What About Me” and “Crazy,” which Kenny Rogers carried to the top of the Adult Contemporary and Country charts, respectively; “Edge of a Broken Heart,” a hit for the female metal band Vixen; “This I Promise You,” a Top 5 pop single for NSYNC that stayed at #1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart for 13 weeks; Josh Groban’s debut single “To Where You Are,” which also reached #1; and “Dance With My Father,” which Richard wrote with the song’s performer, Luther Vandross, and which earned the pair the prestigious Grammy Song of the Year award in 2004. Additionally, Richard has scored three major hits with Keith Urban: the Top 5 “Everybody,” and the #1 singles “Better Life” and “Long Hot Summer.”

Despite all his songwriting success, however, Marx is best known as a singer and performer who today jokes about his 80s hairstyle and of-the-era drum sounds. But the songs are undeniable, all of which Marx wrote and produced himself. His debut self-titled album yielded four Top 5 singles: “Don’t Mean Nothing,” “Should’ve Known Better,” “Endless Summer Nights,” and “Hold on to the Nights.” His follow-up, 1989’s Repeat Offender, was even more successful, going quadruple-platinum and earning two number one Billboard pop singles, “Satisfied” and “Right Here Waiting,” in addition to the Top 5 “Angelina.” More hits followed, including “Keep Coming Back,” “Hazard,” “Take This Heart,” “Now and Forever,” and “Until I Find You Again.”

In addition, Richard’s songs have been integral to a number of successful film soundtracks. He earned a Grammy nomination for his contributions to St. Elmo’s Fire; scored a Top 10 pop hit with “Surrender to Me,” which Ann Wilson of Heart and Robin Zander of Cheap Trick recorded for the movie Tequila Sunrise, and wrote “At the Beginning,” a hit duet for the film Anastasia that Richard performed with Donna Lewis.

Over the course of his career, Richard’s songs have been recorded by Barbra Streisand, The Tubes, Sarah Brightman, Monica, Natalie Cole, Michael Bolton, Paulina Rubio, Emerson Drive, Chicago, Billy Ray Cyrus, Vince Gill, Kenny Loggins, LeAnn Rimes, Celine Dion, Julio Iglesias, Berry Manilow, Daughtry, Vertical Horizon, Lifehouse, Dave Koz, Jennifer Nettles, Ringo Starr, and many others.

His memoir, Stories to Tell, is available from Simon & Shuster.

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From "King Tut" to the top of the bluegrass charts! Grammy and IBMA award-winning banjoists and songwriters Steve Martin and Alison Brown join us to chat about their respective careers and their first full-length collaborative album, Safe, Sensible and Sane.

PART ONE
Paul and Scott chat about how impressed they are with all the various hats Alison Brown and Steve Martin wear, while also trying to wrap their heads around the seeming complexity of the banjo.

PART TWO
Our in-depth conversation with Steve Martin and Alison Brown

ABOUT STEVE MARTIN AND ALISON BROWN

Though he began his career as a stand-up comedian, Steve Martin has released more musical albums than comedy albums. Between 2009 and 2017 he issued six, many of which were collaborations with Steep Canyon Rangers, Edie Brickell, or both. They all reached number one on the bluegrass chart, and nearly all appeared on the Billboard 200. He has been nominated for 15 Grammy awards and has won five, including Best American Roots Song, Best Bluegrass Album, and Best Country Instrumental Performance for his appearance on “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” alongside Earl Scruggs, Vince Gill, Albert Lee, and Glen Duncan on the 2001 album Earl Scruggs and Friends. Martin’s latest album, his seventh bluegrass chart topper, is called Safe, Sensible and Sane, and is a collaboration with fellow banjoist Alison Brown.

Brown first came to prominence as a member of Alison Krauss and Union Station and, in 1991, became the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Association’s Banjo Player of the Year award. After a stint as Michelle Shocked’s band leader she launched a solo career blending bluegrass, jazz, Latin, and Celtic influences. She has received two Grammy nominations for Best Bluegrass Album, and two for Best Country Instrumental Performance, one of which she won for “Leaving Cottondale,” a collaboration with Bela Fleck. In 2015 Alison received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association for the furtherance of bluegrass music. She and Martin first collaborated on “Foggy Mountain Breaking” from her 2023 album, On Banjo.

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