Funkee Boy Interview Page 4

Smitty:  But the other thing I thought of is this is the kind of song that you could put on in any room, in any office, in any home, and when people walk in their first question would be “Who’s that?”  You know?

BT:  That’s a very cool point, nice.

Smitty:  Because it’s that kind of song that will just grab you like a warm blanket on a winter night and say “Hey, have I got something for ya here,” and it’s got that kind of groove, and if you have any ounce of rhythm in your body, you will start to move with this.  (Both laugh.)

BT:  You gotta get funky.

Smitty:  You gotta get funky with the funk.  Hey, you gotta get funky with the Funkee Boy! (Laughs)

BT:  Gotta.  Yeah, you gotta.

Smitty:  And that’s what comes from that song.  I mean, we just had a little mini conversation about that one song and that’s what it evokes, you know?

BT:  Mm-hmm.

Smitty:  It’s a really cool track.  And I gotta tell ya, I love “Close the Door.”

BT:  Thank you.

Smitty:  I mean, once again, I think that would be my second single.  Now, not that I’m directing traffic here.  (Laughs.)

BT:  Yeah, no, it’s cool.  Again, one of the great artists, Teddy Pendergrass, and you do a song like that and you say to yourself, “Well, I could never do it better than Teddy did it because it can’t get better,” you know what I mean?

Smitty:  Right.

BT:  Or I could never do a song better than Stevie Wonder or Earth, Wind & Fire, but maybe I could do it in a way that might even bring some new listeners to that song and even go back and appreciate Teddy Pendergrass even more.

Smitty:  I like that.

BT:  And it’s almost the way that—I kinda got that philosophy when I saw Whitney Houston do that Dolly Parton song “I Will Always Love You.”

Smitty:  Oh yeah, yeah.

BT:  She brought a whole new audience to that song.

Smitty:  Yeah, yes she did.

BT:  Same song, same melody, just her stylings.

Smitty:  Yeah, absolutely.

BT:  And that’s all I tried to do with “Close the Door” where I kept a lot of the original groove and elements there but yet gave it a little bit of hipness to sound like today and change it up by making it a duet and used some incredible vocalists on that record.

Smitty:  Yes.

BT:  Between Leila, who we’ve talked about before whose voice is just passionate and as sexy as can be, and Lamone Andrews, who actually tours with Najee, they just fit it like a glove.

Smitty:  Yeah, man, and really brought a strong flavor to that song, yeah.  And that’s a great example with what you mentioned with what Whitney Houston did with the Dolly Parton song.  That’s very appropriate, yeah.

BT:  Yup, and exactly.  I’m not trying to recreate or do anything better.  I just felt like these songs need to have more of a tribute and have more attention to them. You know?  They just deserve another listen and they’re timeless from “Close the Door” to Boz Skaggs’ “Harbor Lights,” which is just one of my alltime favorites which I remade, and to the Kool & the Gang songs.  It’s just that, you know what?  If I could bring some new listeners to those kind of songs, you’re only gonna gain from it.

Smitty:  Absolutely, man.  And the title track, man.

BT:  “Rise.”

Smitty:  Whoo, “Rise,” yeah.  Man, what a track.  There again, another song that you can just hit the repeat button and just pour a glass of wine and just sit back and groove, you know?

BT:  “Rise” was a whole bunch of words that I had to say.  (Both laugh.)  You know?

Smitty:  But it was different, Bobbi.  It was like, hey!  At first I said “Okay, what is this?”  But then when I started to really listen, it was like “You know, I like this.”

BT:  Yeah, it kinda blends and we talked about reinventing things and bringing roots into it, but I’ll be the first one to admit I am not a jazz player.  I never even grew up listening to traditional jazz.  We talked about I grew up listening to Earth, Wind & Fire and Tower of Power, so again, what I tried to do was merge the things that I love today with what I loved then.

Smitty:  Yeah.

BT:  And I love some of the rhythms of today’s artists.  I mean, the Ne-Yos and the Brian McKnights and the India Aries, and those artists that really inspire me today.  Love ‘em, you know?  Love ‘em to death.  But yet how do I blend that with this whole vibe that I’m really engulfed in?  Which is mix in, like you called I think a while ago, this new pop jazz from years ago and now it’s just called smooth jazz.  How do I blend that?  And it was kinda cool when I started writing these words which I had to say.  I just felt like I had to get this off my chest.  There were things I wanted to say in the song from growing up to where I think music is heading and how I think we can all just come together and rise as humanity, and no one was gonna listen to that over a nice sappy ballad.

Smitty:  No. (Laughs)

BT:  Why not put it into a hot sounding track and have a rap bring that message across?

Smitty:  Yeah.  But I’ve never seen it done this well.  I mean, it is so cool.  It’s a perfect blend.  It’s like if you just told someone about it, they would say “I don’t know,” but if they heard it, they would say “Oh yeah,” I dig it!

BT:  (Laughs.)  Deep.  We want the word to be deep.  They would say “It’s deep.”

Smitty:  Yeah, and it is, it really is. And it’s not too intrusive at all.

BT:  No, it’s not preachy.  We don’t want it to be preachy.

Smitty:  Yeah, but it’s totally appropriate and on time today.  I mean, I hope everyone gets to hear this, man.  And speaking of that, Excellent segue.  How can people get the record?

BT:  You can go right onto www.cdbaby.com/funkeeboy and I’m proud to say that we sold out of inventory now four times in a row in the past month.

Smitty:  I believe it.

BT:  So even if they’re out of stock, rest assured it’ll only be a day or two lag time and they’ll have it.  We have a whole team that’s constantly shipping ‘em out, CDs.  You can go straight onto my Web site, which is www.funkeeboy.com and there’ll be a button on there that you can also get it directly from myself.  You can get the tracks individually off of My Space; I have a Sno Cap store.  iTunes has it.  So just go and Google Funkee Boy and you’ll find iTunes and CD Baby and all the top places where you can get it on the Net.

Smitty:  Yeah, well, I would imagine you’re gonna have another rush on this, so somebody better start pressing some more.  (Both laugh.)

BT:  That’s what we’re going for.

Smitty:  Because, man, this is a five-star record.  I give it five stars and I highly recommend this record.  I mean, this is one that I would stake my reputation on.  I mean, because this is some totally cool stuff.

BT:  Thank you.  Well, I’m gonna quote you on that, so you better get this article going.  (Both laugh.)  Because I’m gonna say “Well, Smitty said it’s five stars” and that’s good enough for anybody.

Smitty:  Absolutely, man.  Five stars plus.

BT:  Cool.

Smitty:  Well, hey, Bobbi, man, I tell you what:  This is a fantastic project, like I mentioned, and I mean from start to finish.  I mean, from the design when you first see this to the last song on the record, it is just fantastic and I’m just so excited to introduce you to a wider audience and I know they’re gonna love this record when they pick it up.  It is one worth going out and getting, so remember those outlets and pick this one up and then send Funkee Boy your thoughts on it.  E-mail him and tell him what you think.

BT:  That’s right, absolutely.  We have a really cool poll going.  If you go to my Web site, you can hear 60 seconds of each song and you could actually vote, the way you just told me what song you think is the best one to release to radio first.  I’m actually listening to my fans and to the public where they can give me their opinion on what song I should release to smooth jazz radio, so definitely send me your vote.

Smitty:  How cool is that?  Yeah, man.  All right, well, Bobbi, thanks so much for a fantastic conversation about your career, this great record, and all the wonderful things that you’re doing out there and best of everything with this fantastic record, my friend.

BT:  Thank you very much.  Thanks for having me.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit www.funkeeboy.com and www.cdbaby.com/cd/funkeeboy and www.myspace.com/funkeeboy and www.songwritingthatgetsresults.com and www.lyricsneeded.com