Rudy Love & The Encore

[Announcer] Coming up on Studio 3 LIVE it's Rudy Love and The Encore.

[Man] I think that's my biggest gift that my family gave me was music as a form of showing love, but also communicating and expression.

Yeah, yeah.

♪ You can't run from it
♪ You can't just stop and move on
♪ Stalling won't do nothing but put you right where you belong
♪ Your mama prays at the altar
♪ While you polish your crown

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(Electricity hums)

(Cheers and applause)

Good evening and welcome to Studio 3 LIVE. I'm your host, Mickey Davis. Tonight, we're joined by Rudy Love and The Encore. Born into a musical family, Rudy Love Jr. anchors the four-piece group, surrounded by long-time collaborators.

The Wichita-based band blends soul, funk, R&B, and hip-hop to create music that pulls from the past and pushes these genres forward into a sound that is all their own.

Please help me welcome to the stage Rudy Love and The Encore.

(Cheers and applause)

♪♪

♪ She sits on her hands, waiting impatiently
♪ Like she'd reach out and make me change my mind
♪ All her beauty, I'm trapped in her eyes
♪ Would it be okay if I left home tonight?

♪ Sailing for Paris
♪ To get away from the war 
♪ My body won't move but my heart is out the door 
♪ To the grave

♪ Or Paris with her
♪ To the ground 
♪ Or Paris with her
♪ I'm afraid if I leave I won't see home again
♪ Without her, I'll die
♪ So Paris it is

♪♪

♪ There is a light at the port that guides our way
♪ I held her close, but used her name in vain 
♪ All her passion won't keep me from mine
♪ Wouldn't be okay if I gave up the fight

♪ I'm sailing from Paris
♪ I'm going to war
♪ My body won't move, but my pride was out the door
♪ To the grave
♪ Or Paris with her

♪ To the ground
♪ Or Paris with her 
♪ I'm afraid if I leave I won't see home again
♪ But without her I'll die
♪ So Paris it is

♪♪

[Rudy] Thank you. That song was called "Paris."

(Cheers and applause)

[Mickey] Rudy Love and The Encore, thank you all for being here.

[Rudy] Thank you for having us.

[Mickey] Tell me how the four of you kind of came together. How did this iteration of this group get its start?

[Marrque Nunley, Rudy Love & The Encore] What's the short version? Okay. Short version... He and I (points to Rudy Love) have been playing together since our... We started our first band together 21 years ago this year. Wooph.

[Rudy] We were young whippersnappers.

[Jerome] Yeah. Knuckleheads.

[Marrque] And Jerome and I...

[Rudy] ...we were in Wichita, Kansas, just gigging around, and we started playing together. I don't know how long it's been...

[Jerome] It was post-COVID.

[Rudy] ...but it seems like it's all my life, man.

Me and Marrque met MJ in Los Angeles.

[MJ] On the internet. They were looking for a background singer and I was looking for anything to survive in LA.

[Rudy] It was Craigslist.

[MJ] It was a very happy accident.

[Rudy] The wild, wild west.

[MJ] Yeah.

[Rudy] No, she sang, for her audition, I think you sang Gnarls Barkley "Crazy."

[MJ] Oh, wow.

[Rudy] And it wasn't our band. It was a band that I was musical director for, for a record label that was doing a showcase, and um... And any chance I could get, I would have her come to the studio and sing songs that I was writing. And we did a weekly gig at Hermosa at the Lighthouse, the famous jazz club from "La La Land." And she would come and sing. So we somehow tricked her into moving to Wichita, Kansas at some point.

And we have a lot of members of our band, which is why it's so tough to tell the story because, you know, some of them are in Wichita right now. They're probably watching this. What's up, DJ? Hey, Willy, Sherdeill, Miguel, Sage, what's up?

(Laughter)

But we travel... We like to think that, wherever we go, we meet a new member of our band, you know? So, yeah.

It's called "King James."

(Saxophone playing)

♪ I was your king
♪ I was your hero, your savior
♪ Your leader
♪ In my heart, I know what's true

♪ Scream revolution 
♪ Say that I'm evil
♪ I'll take all of your hate
♪ I'll take the blame, I'll tie the noose
♪ Just throw your stones and aim for my heart 
♪ 'Til there is nothing left 
♪ But pieces of a crown I cannot use
♪ Scream, oh, push me against the wall
♪ I won't complain at all
♪ You see, it's the king who takes the fall
♪ Did I love too much?
♪ Did I not give you enough?

♪ I'll stand tall
♪ As I wave goodbye to all I know
♪ I am a king without a throne
♪ Throne, tragedy
♪ A king without a throne
♪ Is no king at all

♪ There's blood in the streets as they start to riot
♪ They're fighting for their peace
♪ But there will be no peace for me
♪ Now, I'm the tyrant, and that's not who I see

♪ But I'll suffer quietly
♪ Won't let it be, won't let it be
♪ Won't set me free
♪ I'll bear this cross alone 
♪ I'll take all of your broken bones
♪ I've never been afraid to die
♪ But I'm scared to live alone

♪ Scream, oh, push me against the wall
♪ I won't complain at all
♪ You see, it's the king who takes the fall
♪ Did I love too much?
♪ Did I not give you enough?

♪ I stand tall
♪ As I wave goodbye to all I've loved
♪ I'm a king without
♪ Whoa
♪ Whoa
♪ Whoa 
♪ Oh
♪ Whoa 
♪ Oh 
♪ Whoa
♪ Ooh

(Cheers and applause)

[Rudy] By the way, this is Marrque Nunley.

[Marrque] Hello there!

This next one is entitled "4 2nite." This one is a celebration of dance and expression and getting down in all general cases. Y'all got to love it. We gonna love it. We gonna kick it off.

♪♪

Y'all mind if I talk to y'all a little bit from back here? Y'all good with that? Alright, alright. I'm with it. Y'all look amazing. Thanks for coming through, supporting PBS. I love all of our public broadcasting.

[Man] Yeah!

[Marrque] Yes.

(Applause)

I'm gonna stretch out a little bit! Oh, y'all look ready. Okay. I wasn't ready for that.

(Laughter)

Ah, I said I love it.

♪ Love it, love it 
♪ Love it, love it.

♪ Love it, love it 
♪ Love it, love it.

♪ Love it, love it 
♪ Oh, do you?

♪ Love it, love it 
♪ I know you got to.
♪ Love it, love it

♪ Oh, we all... 
♪ Love it, love it 
♪ This is all the... 
♪ Love it, love it 
♪ We just gonna... 
♪ Love it, love it 
♪ Here we go with... 
♪ Love it, love it 
♪ It's all...
♪ Love it, love it 
♪ We on it.

♪ Love it, love it 
♪ You know you... 
♪ Love it, love it 
♪ Yeah, we got to... 
♪ Love it, love it 
♪ Yeah, yeah.

♪ Love it, love it 
♪ Yeah, yeah.
♪ Love it, love it 
♪ Yeah!

♪ Love it, love it
♪ Sun's gone down and it feels so nice
♪ Fingernail moon with a starlit sky
♪ And they all look aligned, y'all look divine!
♪ I'm working up serving up a cause for your spine

♪ To get to bendin' and rolli'' and poppin' just a little
♪ Roota to your toota
♪ Rockin' up the middle
♪ I ain't made the wave I just amplify the signal
♪ Tune in to get down, all channels visible
♪ Full spectrum, expression
♪ I'm a staunch advocate, committed and passionate 
♪ Creativity's the image we were crafted in
♪ Go create, make mistakes, keep fashionin'
♪ Celebrate what's innate, yeah, it's challengin'
♪ But art made is God state, and that's immaculate
♪ And every work is miraculous, fantabulous
♪ Pick an adjective, gon' and run it back again
♪ One, one time
♪ It ain't often we do this
♪ Gettin' lost in the music
♪ Goin' off on that high tier, right here
♪ We gon' make it quite clear
♪ One time 
♪ We'll stay up and keep movin'
♪ Feelin' somethin' then use it 
♪ You got just what you need inside 
♪ Let it out, let it ride
♪ Y'all got one
♪ One for tonight, one for tonight, one for tonight
♪ Y'all got one 
♪ One for tonight, one for tonight
♪ Hey
♪ Y'all got one 
♪ One for tonight, one for tonight, one for tonight 
♪ Y'all got one 
♪ One for tonight, one for tonight, yeah 
♪ It feels like ages since I've seen this ground 
♪ Felt this wind heard these sounds 
♪ Almost a dozen years just to bring it back around 
♪ To the band that's now, keepin' the music goin' 
♪ They passed it down 
♪ So we on the relay, signal chain gotta bang
♪ Work with the delay 
♪ Measure rate, syncopate the beat 
♪ Gotta keep it straight 
♪ Or bend to the rhythm you feelin'
♪ Gon' and be great, what we say goes 
♪ If there's music, then I'm movin' at the show 
♪ Quick or slow, you better know 
♪ I'm gonna roll, ha, maybe even tootsie 
♪ But please don't push me, my knees ain't rookies
♪ But I gets down goodly 
♪ School of Heavy D and Chubb Rock 
♪ Fat rappers cuttin' rugs on a bop 
♪ So if I'm gettin' it, don't just witness it 
♪ C'mon, get into it, the water's fine, dip it in 
♪ One, one time 
♪ It ain't often we do this 
♪ Gettin' lost in some music 
♪ Goin' off on that high tier, right here 
♪ We gon' make it quite clear 
♪ One time
♪ We'll stay up and keep it movin'
♪ Feelin' somethin', won't you use it?

♪♪ ♪ You got just what you need inside
♪ Let it out, let it ride
♪ Y'all got one
♪ One for tonight, one for tonight, one for tonight
♪ Y'all got one
♪ One for tonight, hey
♪ Hey, hey
♪ Y'all got one
♪ One for tonight, one for tonight
♪ Y'all got one
♪ One for tonight, one for tonight, yeah
♪ It's another one that's on "11."

Entitled "Who Will."

Gonna give you a little taste of it.

♪ Oh 
♪ Oh
♪ Whoa
♪ Whoa, oh
♪ Whoa 
♪ Whoa, whoa
♪ Whoa, oh 
♪ Oh, oh, oh 
♪ Whoa, oh, oh
♪ Whoa 
♪ Whoa, oh, oh
♪ Whoa 
♪ Whoa, oh, oh 
♪ Oh 
♪ Whoa, oh, oh
♪ Oh 
♪ Hey!

♪ Whoa, and if I don't
♪ Well, tell me who will
♪ Pick you up when you feel low
♪ I'll love you still
♪ Oh, and if I don't
♪ Tell me who will
♪ Pick you up when you feel low 
♪ I'll love you still 
♪ Whoa, oh, oh  
♪ Whoa  
♪ Whoa, oh, oh
♪ Whoa 
♪ Hey!

♪ Whoa, oh, oh 
♪ Oh ♪♪ ♪ Whoa, oh, oh 
♪ Oh 
♪ 'Cause who will 
♪ Who will 
♪ Yeah

That's Jerome Porter on sax.

Let's go, Jerome.

♪ Whoa, oh, oh
♪ Whoa
♪ Whoa, oh, oh
♪ Oh
♪ Whoa, oh, oh
♪ Oh
♪ Whoa, oh, oh 
♪ Whoa

Rudy Love Jr!

♪♪

♪ Whoa, oh, oh 
♪ Whoa, oh

You can sing along if you want.

Yes!

Yes, you want!

♪ Whoa, oh, oh ♪ Come on!

♪ Whoa, oh, oh 
♪ Whoa 
♪ Whoa, oh, oh
♪ Whoa

(Cheers and applause)

Talk about your creative process, working out of Wichita versus LA, and then how you kind of interact with the larger music industry, not being based in LA, but still trying to gig and tour and be pretty relentless in your work.

We get to rehearse at home.

Yeah, yeah.

In Wichita.

Nobody's studio apartment.

Which is...yeah, it's something else, man.

They don't tell us to turn our music down.

Sometimes, they come by and say "turn it up."

I think, um, no, there's more space, and there's more opportunity to... I think, be freer in our creativity, where it's like, I wouldn't knock Los Angeles, but I think the way that it went the last few years we were in LA is I'd come pick him up, and we'd drive down to the gig, and we'd talk about life a little bit on the 2-hour drive.

To go 15 Miles.

Through traffic.

We'd sort of talk about the set and then we'd play the gig and go home.

Whereas, you know, we're able to, like, like, dream big, and you know, a place that's got a big horizon, you know, wide open space, I think is, creatively, it's representative of that.

And yeah, I'm talking too much.

Y'all go ahead.

I think in LA, For me, it's a lot more... ...configuring what you're going to do and how you're going to do it because you're having to deal with so much traffic and there's so many people, just the logistics of doing things.

It requires so much intention.

I have to be here by this time, so that means I need to leave here by now, because I know we're going to run into traffic here and the traffic there.

And you are one missed check away from being homeless.

Yeah.

You know?

Can Confirm!

Actually, you don't even have to miss a check to be homeless.

Yeah, you could just be... That's true.

I was full-time.

They could be coming in on time.

Now, that's not everybody's experience, but it is all of ours.

(Laughter)

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

♪♪ Hey!

♪ Just wait a little bit
♪ Something coming in a minute
♪ Just wait a little bit
♪ Something coming in a minute
♪ Soon, your time is coming, it won't be long
♪ You can't run from me
♪ You can't just stop and move on
♪ Stalling won't do nothing but put you right where you belong
♪ Your mama prays at the altar
♪ While you polish your crown
♪ Your daddy raised you much better
♪ Don't let pride bring you down 
♪ Oh, oh
♪ What goes around is headed right back around
♪ What you put in, you get out 
♪ It can you build you up or break you down 
♪ Gon' get, you gon' get
♪ You're gonna get what you deserve
♪ You're gon' get, you gon' get
♪ You're gonna get what you deserve
♪ Gon' get, you gon' get
♪ You're gonna get what you deserve
♪ Gon' get, you gon' get
♪ You're gonna get what you deserve 
♪ Just wait a little bit
♪ Something coming in a minute 
♪ Just wait a little bit 
♪ Something coming in a minute
♪ Just wait a little bit 
♪ Something coming in a minute
♪ Stalling won't do nothing but put you right where you belong 
♪ Your mama prays at the altar
♪ While you polish your crown
♪ Your daddy raised you much better 
♪ Don't let pride bring you down
♪ Oh, what goes around is headed right back around
♪ What you put in, you get out
♪ It'll build you up or break you down
♪ Gon' get, you gon' get
♪ You're gonna get what you deserve 
♪ Gon' get, you gon' get
♪ You're gonna get what you deserve
♪ Gon' get, you gon' get 
♪ You're gonna get what you deserve
♪ Gon' get, you gon' get
♪ You're gonna get what you deserve 
♪ Come on!

♪ This here ain't for the weak
♪ So, tell me, are you strong?

♪ You tried to be right
♪ How could it go wrong?
♪ This here ain't for the weak
♪ So, tell me, are you strong?
♪ You tried to be right
♪ How could it go wrong?
♪ This here ain't for the weak
♪ So, tell me, are you strong?
♪ You tried to be right
♪ How could it go wrong?
♪ This here ain't for the weak
♪ So, tell me, are you strong?
♪ You tried to be right
♪ How could it go wrong?

♪♪

(Cheers and applause)

Rudy, you grew up in a musical family.

You know, that's kind of in your blood.

Can you talk a little bit about that experience, kind of what you were surrounded by growing up and how that shaped you as a musician?

I grew up in a family where everybody was more talented -- is more talented than I am.

So, I learned quickly that it's not about stealing shine or having... It's about trying to create as bright of a light as possible and give and support.

And I think music was more of a way to communicate with people.

You know, there's so many times in my life where I played music, not to entertain people, but to communicate and to have fun with my family.

And I think, when I meet a new musician on the road, it's like, you know, there's so many times where I've met some of my favorite people and we didn't say anything to each other.

We just started playing.

And you learn that person in that moment.

And I think that's my biggest gift that my family gave me was music as a form of showing love, but also communicating and expression.

Yeah, yeah.

And uh... And yeah, uh, I could go on and on about what all they have accomplished, but just take it from me.

I come from just the... I'm just lucky to be in that family, you know?

So, yeah.

You know, I know your dad, along with being a great musician and worked with a lot of amazing people, he was also a songwriter, right?

And a lot of his songs ended up being recorded by others.

Yeah.

What about his songwriting has inspired the work that you do now with this group?

Everything.

I mean, you know, we all... the majority of the band learned from Dad.

You know?

I mean, we started off as his band.

I started off playing for my dad.

That was my dream.

The only reason I learned how to play keys was to be able to play for him, and so... Structure of songs, melodies, chord progressions, um... Ad libs.

Ad libs.

All the...anything... I can't... There's no part of my music that I can say he didn't have anything to do with, you know.

So, I think that it heavily influences us.

And I mean, it's the reason why we named ourselves.

I am Rudy Love Jr.

But we call ourselves Rudy Love and The Encore as a tribute to him.

You know, I consider us as the encore, you know?

So, myself a part of that, because he had such a heavy impact on us.

Nunley: Oh, yes.

We got any fans of old-school hip-hop in here?

A little bit of Whodini, a little bit of Run-D.M.C.?

Okay, I see you.

Yeah, we gonna kick it one time for them.

A little homage.

Gonna keep it on '80s, right?

Yeah.

Hey, hey.

♪ Bring on the climb, y'all 
♪ But I keep a fresh step without Pinesol
♪ Cool cats do that all the time, y'all
♪ Never mind the same rhyme, it's the right song
♪ All along, all aboard ♪♪ ♪ Get a grip, we gon' pick it up more 
♪ And if you can't hang on while the car is moving
♪ Just wait 'til the music start to move it
♪ We on a mission off of the wall
♪ A thriller with a bad hitter come to call
♪ I'm dangerous, I got a history
♪ I'm on the dance floor 'til my feet start to bleed
♪ I'm invincible, this is it, you know
♪ This the grown-up run, no tippy toes
♪ So, flat footed and 10 toes down 
♪ We finna flash punk and rock it from the ground
♪ Like, please don't mind when I slide by
♪ 'Cause I'm scaling up
♪ So, we expand
♪ While less hands build the next dance
♪ Scaling up
♪ Oh, contact with the contract
♪ What we call that?

♪ Scaling up
♪ Higher and higher and higher
♪ Oh, yeah!

♪ Expansion, multiply when I buy, get grander
♪ Where's the stand?

Up where you can't see it
♪ Gotta give me more, otherwise, you never meet it
♪ I'm increasing, the line, indecent
♪ Up and down and out, that's the treatment
♪ Up and round and round, keep repeatin'
♪ 'Til you're proud to shout you can freak it
♪ And you ain't gotta wait for the night
♪ Don't hide it under cover, let it fly
♪ If maggots only eat what's not alive
♪ Free your mind, get to movin' your behind
♪ The booze printed, the crew litted
♪ That's the point, you should do it with me
♪ I love company, so just trust in me
♪ Tight squeeze, head first, whole body, let it work
♪ Please don't mind when I slide by
♪ 'Cause I'm scaling up
♪ So, we expand
♪ While less hands build the next dance
♪ Scaling up
♪ Oh, contact with the contract
♪ What we call that?

♪ Scaling up 
♪ Hey!

♪ Higher and higher and higher
♪ Funky fresh, photo press
♪ All impressed, all my best
♪ Funky fresh, photo press
♪ All impressed, all my best
♪ Funky fresh, photo press
♪ All impressed, all my best
♪ Funky fresh, photo press
♪ All impressed, all my best
♪ Please don't mind when I slide by
♪ 'Cause I'm scaling up
♪ So, we expand
♪ While less hands build the next dance
♪ Scaling up
♪ Oh, contact with the contract
♪ What we call that?

♪ Scaling up 
♪ Hey!

♪ Higher and higher and higher 
♪ Jerome, go and talk to 'em.

♪ Hey!

Hey!

♪ Higher and higher and higher ♪

(Cheers and applause)

Thank you.

Thank you all so much.

You released an album last year called "11."

Can you tell us a little about the writing and recording process of that album?

MJ.

Take it away.

No.

No!

Come on, MJ.

You know what's crazy?

A lot of the songs on that album are older.

I think musicians have that happen often where, like, you make something, and you're so excited, and then you hate it, and then you leave it alone for like 3 years, and then it comes on and you're like, "Wait, what?"

Did I write that?

Yeah, like, that's... Kind of cool.

So, we, I mean, there were a few that I think they were thinking about doing, the band was thinking about doing, and then a few that we sort of were like, "Rudy, what about this one?"

And he's like, "I don't know."

And then we recorded it and it worked.

That process was really cool.

I think even just the title of the album, 11 has been a number that was really prominent in the Love family.

It was Rudy's dad's favorite number, Rudy's is 22.

It's the thing, you know?

Also, it's your birthday, right?

Birthday, um... my cousin and my uncle both passed away, playing basketball, that number was on their chest.

My father died at 822 Nims, was the address.

It is a blessing, but it's also been a... It means a lot to the Love family.

And so, 11, you know, strangely enough, you know, he was born in 1948, and in 1955, that's what he wrote down as his favorite number.

And to find out that, you know, 22 would have such an impact later on, and it's off of the building blocks of that time.

Also, a lot of the music that she's talking about, when we decided to get back together as a group after everybody sort of moving and living in different places, we looked at it and saw it as this sort of 11-year odyssey of, like, we started working on this music back then, and we got to finally complete it, I think, because I did record demos and I produced and writing, so I did a lot of the stuff by myself, but whenever I would play it out, it would be with the band, you know?

So, this was finally getting the opportunity to record it in the studio together in a way that we were playing it live for years.

And we're much better now.

(Laughter)

That's true.

♪ Come on, let's go 
♪ Hey!

♪ Take me all the way
♪ You're so amazing 
♪ Won't you please come tell me how you do it, babe?

♪ How do you do it, babe?

♪ Just say that you want it and you can have it
♪ Why are you waiting?

I'm all about action
♪ There is no time like right now
♪ No reason for patience, you are first in line
♪ Make your move and don't start hesitating now
♪ And if this night was your last one
♪ Tell me, where would you wanna be?

♪♪ ♪ 'Cause I can't even lie
♪ If the world was on fire
♪ I'd be burnin' it up with you
♪ I'd be burnin' it up with you
♪ I'd be burnin' it up with you
♪ Said I can't even lie 
♪ If the world was on fire
♪ I'd be burnin' it up with you 
♪ Studio 3.

♪ Let's keep movin', yeah
♪ 'Cause I just wanna dance, yeah
♪ Oh, it's so hot in here
♪ But as long as I'm with you, I don't really care
♪ I don't really care
♪ Just say that you want it
♪ And you can have it
♪ Why are you waitin'
♪ I'm all about passion
♪ There is no time like right now
♪ No reason for patience
♪ You are first in line
♪ Make your move and don't start hesitating, oh
♪ Said, if this night was your last one
♪ Tell me, where would you wanna be?

♪ 'Cause I can't even lie
♪ If the world was on fire
♪ I'd be burnin' it up with you
♪ I'd be burnin' it up with you
♪ I'd be burnin' it up with you
♪ Said I can't even lie
♪ If the world was on fire
♪ I'd be burnin' it up with you
♪ Said that I can't even lie
♪ If the world was on fire 
♪ I'd be burnin' it up with you
♪ I'd be burnin' it up with you
♪ I'd be burnin' it up with you, yeah
♪ Said I can't even lie
♪ If the world was on fire
♪ I'd be burnin' it up with you

♪♪

Thank you guys so much.

(Cheers and applause)

Y'all just recently released an EP.

Can you tell me a little bit about that and kind of the writing and recording process there?

Love: Yeah.

We decided to go... We went weird with this one, man.

We have a love for '80s synth pop, and... I mean, we're all '80s, babies... Are you '80s?

I'm '93.

'93.

Yeah.

But I do love "Stranger Things."

Davis: Yeah.

Close enough.

And I don't, yeah, I can't say I was... alive for most of the... I wasn't conscious of the '80s, but I've always loved it.

I'm in love with synthesizers, as you probably can tell.

But we wanted to do something that was sort of like a love-hate letter to the... the sound and the culture and all of the things.

You know, I always look at 'the 80s as, like, this interesting time that, like, it became sort of commonplace for the average American to... be okay with being greedy.

You know what I mean?

And so, cupidity... though, like, you know, love is always a thing that we talk about, cupidity is actually about greed, you know what I mean?

And sort of like, you know, large corporations and franchising and you know, big at the expense of, you know, but at the same time, you have this, you know, all this technology sort of influencing music in really interesting ways that leads to, you know, your Princes and your... you know, all these amazing minds that used it in a way that, you know, you'll never have that again in that same kind of way.

And so, I think it was a beautiful time to focus on.

And we just had all these songs that were kind of living in that world.

And we pieced them together thematically to tell an interesting story.

At least, I think it is, you know.

Who were some of the artists that you all, maybe individually, were listening to the most around the time of recording this?

Ooh, yes.

Marrque, please.

I was listening to Spoonie Gee, Whodini, Spoonie Gee and the Treacherous Three.

Let's see... Melle Mel, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

It was really just... It was all hip-hop between 1980 and 1984.

You know, really just digging, I'd never dug into that aspect of hip-hop.

I'd always assumed it was all, you know, Whodini, and that was it.

And so, just learning about -- learning the... how lyrical a lot of artists were at that time, or what I like to call proto-lyricists, you know, those that came before Rakim and KRS-One and Chuck D, and just really digging into the electro-funk era.

You know, Shirelle and just all sorts of more obscure stuff that wasn't, you know, playing on the hits when I was a kid.

You know, stuff that I had to listen to album cuts and get and be like, oh, they were really experimenting a lot with this technology and what they could do with drum machines in addition to a real drum player going with him.

And so, yeah.

And then, Zapp and Roger's another big one for me.

And I actually grew up on that.

And so, just really being able to go through my childhood a little bit and be like, "Oh, I remember that."

"I remember that!"

"I was driving here when I heard this the first time!"

I was just going.

And so, just, there's a lot of... just great music that I revisited in the creation of this record.

And it was a pleasure to re-familiarize myself and find some new stuff, some new gems that I'd never heard before, you know?

You know, it was just digging through that catalog and really exploring that sound and what they were able to accomplish.

And that's before we got to Phil Collins and them.

That was just my hip-hop aspect.

This song, we wrote while we were on tour last year, and it was a nature walk of sorts.

And it turned into something that sort of gives us comfort.

And I hope it brings you the same.

It's called "Lake Water."

♪♪

♪ Echoes are the words we used to say
♪ But feelings don't float away
♪ Gone is any cure to all this pain
♪ But I can still trace every line on your face
♪ I've been drinking in these remedies
♪ To keep me from screaming this melody
♪ But the truth is more than I can take
♪ So, I laid on the lake
♪ And I plead with the water
♪ I beg the waves
♪ To give me back my memories
♪ I hope the birds are loud about you
♪ Echoes are the words we used to say
♪ Echoes are the words we used to say
♪ But the truth is more than I can take
♪ So, I laid on the lake
♪ And I pleaded with the water
♪ I, I begged the waves
♪ To give me back my memories
♪ I hope the birds are loud about you
♪ I hope the birds are loud about you
♪ I hope the birds are loud about you
♪ Yeah, I hope the birds are loud about you
♪ Oh, I hope the woods are wild about you
♪ Too

(Cheers and applause)

Rudy Love and The Encore, thank you all so much for being here.

Together: Thank you.

Y'all are amazing.

Thank you, Andy.

Yeah.

Got you, Mickey.

♪♪ I just gotta talk real quick.

That's the love of my life.

Can confirm.

That's my brother right there.

I've been playing with him for 21 years.

This is one of my best friends in the world.

And there's nothing better than that.

(Cheers and applause)

♪ When I gotcha, caught ya giving glances ♪♪ 
♪ Thought our second chances ♪♪ 
♪ Like my youth was long gone ♪♪ 
♪ Now your head is on my shoulder ♪♪ 
♪ We said that it was over ♪♪ 
♪ But we say that when we're sober ♪♪ 
♪ So, right now, that sounds so wrong ♪♪ 
♪ I know this can't be the last time ♪♪ 
♪ That I am gonna run into you ♪♪ 
♪ See, I'm meant for you ♪♪ 
♪ So, who ya foolin'?

♪ You feel like I do
♪ How do you do it?

♪ I never got over you
♪ So, who ya foolin'?

♪ You know you feel like I do
♪ You put me through it
♪ But I never got over you
♪ Oh, you can't do this
♪ Over you ♪ ♪ Over you
♪ Over you ♪♪ ♪ I...
♪ Let's face it
♪ Think of all the time that we wasted
♪ The love we could have been making
♪ Please tell me if I'm wrong
♪ 'Cause, oh, this can't be the last time
♪ That I am gonna run into you
♪ See I'm here for you
♪ Like heartache and wine
♪ You're a good high on a bad day
♪ A rough flight on an airplane
♪ And as long as we keep on flying the same way
♪ Yeah
♪ So, who ya think you're foolin'?

♪ You feel like I do ♪♪ 
♪ How do you do it?

♪ I never got over you
♪ So, who ya foolin'?

♪ When you feel like I do
♪ You put me through it
♪ But I'll never get over you
♪ I can't get over you
♪ I can't get over you
♪ I can't get over you
♪ No ♪♪ ♪ Can't get over you
♪ Keep it together
♪ Gotta keep it together
♪ Yeah
♪ Can't get over you
♪ Can't get over you
♪ Can't get over you
♪ Can't get over you
♪ I can't get over you
♪ I can't get over you
♪ Said I can't get over you
♪ I can't get over you
♪ I can't get over you
♪ I can't get over you
♪ I can't get over you
♪ I can't get over you
♪ Together
♪ I can't get over you
♪ I can't get over you
♪ I can't get over you
♪ I can't get over you
♪ Can't get over you
♪ I can't get over you

(Cheers and applause)

Thank you guys so much.

Thank you, Studio 3, for having us.

It's been a wonderful time.

Thank you, guys.

We've been Rudy Love and The Encore.

Please continue supporting PBS.

Please continue coming and enjoying your time at Studio 3.

We appreciate you.

Davis: Studio 3 LIVE is also available as a podcast.

Get it wherever you get your podcasts.

♪♪

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