Musicians Reveal with Joe Kelley

In Part 2 of this powerful conversation, drummer Michael Bland (Prince & The New Power Generation) goes deeper into the genius, intensity, and emotional complexity of working with Prince.

Bland shares incredible behind-the-scenes stories — from spontaneous studio sessions that became finished records, to the creative process that made Prince nearly impossible to replicate. He explains how Prince layered music, hid arrangements, and pushed musicians to operate at the highest level.

The conversation also turns deeply personal, as Bland reflects on Prince’s later years, his mindset, and the emotional weight surrounding his passing.

Along the way, Bland discusses:

• The making of 3121 and spontaneous recording sessions
• Why Prince’s music is so difficult to cover
• Life inside Paisley Park and the demands of working with Prince
• Touring stories with Maxwell, Chaka Khan, and more
• The emotional reality of losing Prince

🎙️ A rare and honest look inside one of the most iconic musical worlds ever created.

Drummer Michael Bland — longtime member of Prince and The New Power Generation — joins Musicians Reveal with Joe Kelley for a deep and revealing conversation about his journey through one of the most legendary eras in music.

In Part 1, Bland shares how he first connected with Prince through the Minneapolis music scene and what it was like stepping into Paisley Park during a pivotal moment in Prince’s career. He reflects on rehearsals, recording sessions, and the demanding environment that pushed musicians to their highest level.

Bland also opens up about life as a working musician, his time with Soul Asylum, and how the pandemic reshaped his perspective on music, touring, and the future of the industry.

🥁 This is a must-listen for Prince fans, musicians, and anyone interested in the discipline, creativity, and intensity behind one of the greatest bands in music history.

Funk and Roller Stevie Martin has led his band, Chocolate Music for several years. They bring an exciting brand of funk, soul and rock. The Los Angeles native was also an integral member of the bands Rio Soul and Kontroversy.

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/chocolate-music/85898728?ign-gact=3&ls=1

Scott Sharrard is an American musical artist widely known as the lead guitarist and musical director of the Gregg Allman Band. A prolific songwriter and talented singer, he has also released several soul-influenced albums of his own including three with his first band, The Chesterfields, followed by three solo albums and, most recently, the eponymous release by his current band, Scott Sharrard & the Brickyard Band, in 2013. In 2020, Sharrard was announced as a new member of Little Feat following the death of Paul Barrere.

www.scottsharrard.com

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Carson Daly dubbed him a “New York Institution!” For 3 decades, Milo Z has been bringing his own original style of music , “Razzamofunk” (a blend of Rock, Rap, R&B, Jazz, and Funk) to the Big Apple and the world. Born and raised on New York City’s Lower East Side, Milo got his start in music at the age of 13 after he and a buddy lifted some drums off the back of a U-Haul truck. “I didn’t know it at the time, but my juvenile delinquency actually led me to a place where I was to find some direction in my life, and that direction was music.”

Fast forward a few years from that fateful day and Milo would be all over NYC making his living as a drummer and part-time bicycle messenger. Soon, though, drumming wasn’t enough and Milo stepped out from behind the kit and began rapping as Milo Z the white rapper from Avenue D! This eventually led to singing and song writing and becoming a frontman/band leader and the rest is history.

Milo Z prides himself on his live show whether playing in a small club, a large amphitheater, or a corporate/private event. “It’s my goal to get everyone up on their feet and dancing and feeling like they got lost for a while. Then I know I’ve done my job.”

Milo Z has 5 CD’s to date. The first (Basic Need to Howl) was released on the Mercury Polygram label. He has 2 live CD’s, one of which (Milo Z Up On the Hill Live in Athens, Greece) is also a DVD that was recorded at the famous Lycabettus Theater in Athens! Milo Z is currently working on a new studio CD that will be released sometime in 2017. Milo also recently finished writing a book about his life growing up in the L.E.S. (now the East Village) and his journey into music that he is seeking to publish.

Milo Z continues to perform regularly in New York and abroad and to see him in action is to experience a true entertainer. Whether it’s directing his band, dancing like a mad man, or doing call and response with the audience, to watch Milo Z and his band in action is to experience something unique and original. Next time you visit a Milo Z show, prepare to be RAZZAMOFUNKED!

www.miloz.com

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Mike Garson is a legendary pianist and keyboardist who was a member of David Bowie's band for many years. Besides his solo work, he also collaborated with Nine Inch Nails and Smashing Pumpkins.

Recently, Mike has collaborated with artists including Sting, Gavin Rossdale, Joe Elliott, Duran Duran, Linda Perry, Gary Oldman, Perry Farrell and Andra Day. Mike can also be heard on Seal’s “Human Being,” St. Vincent’s “Marry Me” as well as a bonus track at the end of No Doubt’s platinum-selling “Return of Saturn” album.

www.mikegarson.com

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Larry Kirwan (born 1948 in Wexford, Ireland) is an expatriate Irish writer and musician, most noted as the lead singer for the New York based Irish rock band, Black 47.

Prior to Black 47, Kirwan and fellow Wexfordian Pierce Turner led the new wave band Major Thinkers, based in New York City.

Kirwan has also written and produced several plays which have been performed in the United States and Europe, most of which deal with Irish history and politics, particularly Northern Ireland. He has made statements in support of the Irish Republican Army.

Since April 2005, he has hosted "Celtic Crush," a radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio that features Celtic artists from a wide variety of genres.

www.black47.com

Leon Ware was one of the unheralded architects of soul music. The songwriter/producer/singer penned classics for such artists as Marvin Gaye, The Isley Brothers, Michael Jackson, Minnie Riperton, Quincy Jones ,Maxwell and many more. 

Born in Detroit in 1940, Ware became a Motown songwriter in his twenties. Soon, he was writing for the who's who of Motor City — including Marvin Gaye, whose funk-infused 1976 album I Want You was co-produced by Ware, who also co-wrote every tune on the release.

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Chris Frantz came to the forefront of rock as a drummer, songwriter, band leader, recording artist and record producer. He was the drummer and founding member of the Talking Heads and is the drummer with the band he and he and his wife bassist Tina Weymouth founded: The Tom Tom Club. As a member of the Talking Heads Chris was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. He has appeared on 20 albums that have sold over 12 million copies earning 9 gold records and 5 platinum records. Four Talking Heads albums are ranked in Rolling Stone magazine’s 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, including “Remain in Light” listed at #128. Frantz's driving beats fueled the enduring classic tunes of "Take Me To the River", "Once in a Lifetime",“Burning Down the House”, “Psycho Killer”, "Genius Of Love" and "Life During Wartime".

In 2020, Chris Frantz released a booked he penned "Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina". 

www.tomtomclub.com

Originally aired in the fall of 2005

Jason Peterson DeLaire is a singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist hailing from Minneapolis, MN. JPD is a member of the first family of music in Minnesota, (The Peterson’s), and he is a recent inductee into the MN Music Hall of Fame alongside his late grandmother, “jazz master”, Jeanne Arland, his mother Linda, uncles Billy, Ricky, Paul and his aunt, Patty Peterson.

JPD has collaborated with such luminaries as, Prince, Donny Osmond, Michael Bolton, Richard Marx, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Oleta Adams, Bobby Brown, and Alexander O’Neal. He is currently touring internationally with Michael Bolton as a saxophonist, keyboardist, and vocalist.

His new single called, “Love Can Heal the World” features Grammy nominated artist Oleta Adams, R&B legend Rockie Robbins, & international soul sensation Jarrod Lawson with contributions by The Steeles, The Peterson Family, and Glee! A Community Choir (Capri Theater, North Minneapolis). This song was inspired by the civil unrest in his Minneapolis in the summer of 2020 and the hope is to create healing and unity in our country and abroad through music. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb77I8W_0kM

www.joekelleyradio.com