Troy andrews picked up his first trombone when he was 4 years old, when he was 8, he was leading his own band. At 10 he was touring the country. Today in louisiana native is the band leader and front man of you know trombone shorty. And only the avenue the new album marks date bu frefrtebut album. It is called parking lot symphony. How you living . Im doing good. Good to you have back. Youve been busy. You wrapped a tour with the red hot chili peppers. Yeah we did three months with them. Incredible. Did you enjoy it . I wish quo have gone longer with them. Were still in a lot of music and learning a lot of things we can borrow from them. Give me a sense of what that means, that sounds like when youre learning something from them . So every night when they came out on stage i would go out in front to see how they approach the stage, see at the beginning of the show they start to jam out. Then they introduce the song. But theyre just jamming and improvisation, so im learning how do to do that and the hit songs and also just they do thing fwookz back. They go back to jamming. So just watching them and how they control the crowd and entertaining. So im picking all those Little Things from them. So youve been out with the chili peppers and Lenny Kravitz. Who else . Zach brown band, country. Hall oats. Yeah. So when you get a chance to tour with individuals and groups that are that brilliant and that diverse, the whole thing is like a learning experience for you. Everything is a learning experience for me. When im watching them on stage, im always just trying to see what theyre doing, what i can learn, what can i take back and put into my music. Even when we get off stage, im watching them. I get in the crowd. It is always a learning experience. Thats the way my music sounds. Im always trying to pick up things for the great people that are good in the genre of music so i can put that with what im doing. Cool. When you get these invitations to go out again and in front for these groups and perform with them and theyre this diverse, these individuals and groups how do you know what is a right fit . How do you know that your stuff is going to work for Lenny Kravitz crowd or a chili peppers crowd. How do you know what is right for you and your band . You know we i was aware of the band. And were going out with. So if you watch all the shows, we play about an hour and 90 minutes to two hours. And throughout the show well go from youll hear our influence of rock youll hear from r b, folk or we just go out there and play. I think our mizic coming from new orleans, we get to be placed in different genres of music, different arenas of music. So we play blues festivals and jazz festivals, raggae. So the chili peppers, we did our rock set. So its what we do. And sometimes well do we play before geo scott and then the next night we play in front of the fu fighters. It all works out for us. Its a blessing to be across all the bands like that. Question play our music differently. If we have a rock song or playing before geo scott, im like thank for funk and r b. We still do the same music. So we bring it in and rearrange our music. But its still fun. It works out really well. You are gifted to do that. You are blessed and gift tobd able to do that. Thats what happens when you go in new orleans. You get a little bit of everything. It is that musical gumbo. Thats right. Just being able to be with even in new orleans, i grew up around the nefl brothers. That is a different style of new orleans music. And my father we grew up in the brass band community. And then there is the rock side with cowboy mouth and people like. That i got a chance to play with all these people as a kid. I pull all that in there. And then also being on tour with Lenny Kravitz out of high school that i took that and put that back with the new orleans gumbo thing. And its always just keeping my ears open and my mind open and learn and just to me music has no boundaries. I dont really know what to call certain types of music. Its just music to me. Quincey said its two types of music, good and bad. Good and bad. Thats it. Thats what q says. Hes right about that. What is the joy i sense every time i see you or talk to through is a sublime joy that you get out of being on the road. Now at some point you may not feel this way when youre 80 or 90. But theres a joy you get out of being on the road wlachlt is that for you . It feels great. I get a lot of invitations to play festival ands different clubs. And we just talked about touring, it just feels great for people to want me to perform for them and come in from new orleans, severing a joy. Its a big party. So when i play even if some people never heard of us once the music starts i see them dancing, thats what keeps me going. We can just say from new orleans, they dont even know what we sound like and i found out that new orleans has its own fan base. So to see the people dance and forget about whatever it may be and music bring the unity to people all arent world, thats what keeps me going to be able to share that with the world. And they give it right back to me. So its just an incredible feeling. Yeah. Talk about this new project. Parking lot symphony. Yeah the debut on blue note records. Great label. Yeah great label. Its really funky. Its a lot of fun. We did a redid a song by the meters called aint no use. And a guy that wrote it he actually in the studio that day when we were doing it. I didnt have no idea he was there. So we had his guitar that he used on that recording did he with them back in 77. That little intimidating when hes in the building . Maybe for my guitar player. But not for you. Not for me. It was crazy. The bass player we had on in tony hall he sold that guitar to him years ago. We didnt know he was in the other room. We were doing this song. And he was like oh, man this is the guitar lee will use on it. And someone said leo is down stairs. I was like its only right that we have him come play on his song and bless us with his talent. He just popped upstairs and did it. I said, man, were recording aint no use. He said i have to be on there. So he came up there and he did it. Originals. But it was all fun. I was doing the album, i went in the studio by myself for two weeks off and on. I set up all the instruments and the circle. Just went from drums to bass guitar and i just created erything before i let the band me in because i already knew i nted to sound like. Had a picture of what i wanted be and after i got that out e way, then i allowed the band come in and see if they want change anything, which way ey will play. Is but it was a lot of fun. Yeah. Its a lot fun. You mentioned allen tucson. E death angel has been busy in e music community. Cf1 o its been a while since allen ss add way. At hit me. At broke my heart. Know you knew him better than d hes been a guest on the ow a few times. Ing a new orleans native, that st have been a profound loss r the city. Very pro found. Was on stage and fell bad or mething right after. At i was actually in europe d i was just telling the crowd were somewhere and i forgot ich it is yishgs but his name s on the list to be there a ek after we were there. Was just telling the people, all got a lot of new orleans opl coming in the house and len is going to be a great ow. Was hard for us. s a trasure to us. I learned a lot from him coming upo cf1 always came and ill just see m sneak onsid of the stage d just smile and keep giving encourage ment and different ings. That was ery hard for us. s a king to us. Yeah. You said is that a moment ago ati love and i think it is ue. Ich is that you cn show up mewhere in the country and the r bad from new orleans. Thats right. Pyoure going to get a crowd. U have that kind of reputation sically around the country and ound the world . I think its great. Its a wonderful thing from uie armstrong to fats domino d little wayne. Have so many people in the ddle. U can hear all the influences ch one of their usic cluding my music and hear a ttle bit ofdown south or hip p in there. Just think its just a nderful place. Dont know what america will without new orleans and the sic. Go home and im coming from e airport. Get closer to neighborhood. See a kid playing i had umpet or someone beating on a th book or practicing or some pe of brass band down the reet. Sic is a heartbeat and the way live down there. To have the respect of the rld and people be excited out the city and whats coming om. At i get to represent that to certain extent. s such a beautiful feeling. Yeah. How is your mom doing . Shes doing well. Ll tell her you said hello. I will. I told you, i came by. I was in new orleans about six weeks ago. I was in new orleans. And i was with a friend of mine. Wb. Yeah. So Everybody Knows wb. Winston burns. I was with him in new orleans. I said did you talk to shorty lately . He said no i havent, man. I said where is his house . Lets go by and see. And he did a uturn. I rolled to your house and you werent home. I went to your momma house and she wasnt home. I just rang the doorbell. Nobody was home. I was going to surprise you all and say whats up . But i got surprised. Nobody was home. Nobody. She would have laughed. That she loves your show and loves you. I did remember saying some man was there. She got it on her phone now. She can see who is at the door. She said some man came by i couldnt get a clear picture of him. Ill let him know it was you. It was me. Now shes going to be upset she wasnt. There. Trust me ill come back to new orleans as often as i can. Come on down. Ill come back again, check on you and your mom yachlt youll be in europe some. Where maybe your momma can feed me something. Shell take you over to my grandmothers. Everybody knows where to go dont they . Trombone shortys new project is parking lot symphony. I love this brother and love his music. You will too. If you never heard it youre in for a treat. Trombone shorty. Glad to have you back. Take care of yourself. The founding memberst grammy award Country Blues group. Shez is out with freedom highway. She recently launched her Spring Summer tour in california before. Our conversation though lets take a look at her performance of the title track freedom highway at sing sing correctional facilty. The freedom highway oh, yeah marching each and every day made up my mind that i wont turn around made up my mind that i wont turn around i remember reading about this in the New York Times when you actually did this. Why sing sing and tell me what the experience was like. I mean it was intense. It was an experience of a lifetime really. Id been there to see one of the programs that carnegie had done working with the prisoners. I saw the result of that. There is a concert that they were working on all year and the prisoners saw them. They were singing their own songs and working with the musicians from the outside. I was affected by a couple things just the program which is amazing and also by the color of the people in that prison. I walked in and something that you know here but to feel it here and to see the results of our prison system and centuries of institution. By caller you mean color. Yeah. You know a sea of that. And to see that, you know it struck me. And became a song. I was no longer living in new york. But to bring my own show as just like yes, you know to bring what we are trying to say, the message that is in this record the message that has been in my music the whole time could bring that to the inside and to the to have the experience with those guys. We had a work shop with them that day. We did one of their songs. It was a rough day. It is interesting. We got to hear this project. The lyrical contact whether one considers that so much of your writing here was taking from slave narratives and turning it into song. Tell me about that process. It was really intense. You know . Part of carolina chocolate draw ive always been into the history. And doing this historical music and playing instruments like this this is a replica of a bank yoe from 1858. What was 1855 . What was the fim like for us . And so going back and reading about the civil war, reading about, you know the circumstances and read bgt atmosphere and then just reading the stories was really profoundly affecting to me. What i wanted was a way to tell those stories but im a musician. And they wanted to become songs. I didnt have a choice really. I started playing the bank yoe and the first one came out. I read the story and the book and it became a song. And i found kind of my mission. You know its always been around the sorts of things. But my particular why im here you know what i do that no one else is doing and the way im doing it is connecting the past to the stories and bringing them into the now. In a way that is different. If it sparks somebody to read a book or just think about what happening today, there are millions of people held in slavery today. Its a way to connect its like an emotional short cut. You know you can read a book and kind of feel it up here. But a song can go straight to the heart of the matter. And the best way to do that is pick one story and to get in that persons mind and to have empathy for that person and then you know it spreads to the whole thing. I havent had a chance to kauch on tour. Im curious to know hopefully ill see, im curious to know what the Audience Response is given the material on this project . How is the awed yns taking this in . What is the show like . Its interesting. Weve done europe and australia and now were just starting here. You dont know yet. State side. It is really we did a Stagecoach Festival and the Country Music festival. You know im not Holding Anything back. Were just doing what we do. And i think people its heavy stuff. You know . It s thats why im asking. You know i put it in the context of a show. So its not all that. It has to be these moments of really intense emotion and then you go to a dance song. Then you go to because its like thats going to bring the experience. Its not just slavery. The africanamerican experience is this myriad you know array of highs and hoes just like anybody else. And so, you know, presenting it in the context of that i think makes it more powerful because its you know you get to that song and youre like whoa. And then okay. Were doing some other parts. And then we get back to this you know really intense stuff. And i think that seems to serve it well. You just try to reach people in the best way that you k my issue is mostly that i havent been able to reach much of the black community. The black press ignored the chocolate drops ignored most of what ive done. You know, trying to put us at our rightful place and genesis of American Music with the black string men music, there is so much work that needs to be done there. Thats been my frustration is the makeup of the audience is mostly and i love everybody comes to the show i love. But, you know, now im like ok, how this is at the heart of American Music. And we did. This its frustrating to me because im on an Educational Mission too. Yall really, we need to understand a lot more about why things are happening now if we look in the city. We dig into the city. We get in there. We bring our allies in there and say how can we make something of this . How can we understand why 60 years it was the most popular form of music. Why is that at the heart of every american genre that comes after it. Its in every american entertainment and this is reflection of what is happening in the culture. And so what is now happening in the culture, you can understand all of it. And it is happening in our culture. It is happening. But im like im out there doing the work. Write an article. Like you know what i mean . This is a beautiful thing. We need to embrace the beauty of this time too. Yes, im going on. Im passionate about it. I read it before. It is a butful thing and youre beautiful and what youre doing is but f her latest project is called freedom highway. Her name of course reanna gid ens. Catch her on tour this summer. Now shes going to grace us with some playout music from the project. Glad to you have back. Have a great summer. Love seeing you on nashville. I wrote a song on that too. You have to bring this. You spread the word on tv. Doing my best. Thanks for watching. Keep the faith as always. Good night from l. A. And here comes rihanna. Julie julie wont you run i see down beyonder the soldiers will come julie oh, julie cant you see the devils come to take you far from me mistress oh, mistress i wont run because i see down beyonder soldiers are come mistress oh, mistress i do see and ill stay right here until they come for me julie oh, julie you wont go leave this house and all you know julie oh, julie dont leave here leave us who love you and all you hold dear mistress oh, mistress i will go leave this house and all i know mistress oh, mistress i will leave here with what family i got left for theyre all i hold dear julie oh, julie wont you lie if they find that chunk of gold by my side julie oh, julie tell them men that chunk of gold is yours my friend mistress oh, mistress i wont lie if they found that chunk of gold by your side mistress oh, mistress that chunk of gold is what you got when my children you sold mistress oh, mistress dont you cry the price of staying here is too high mistress oh, mistress i wish you well but in leaving here im lefrgaving hell [ applause ] good evening from los angeles. Im tavis smiley. Tonight a conversation with rapper lodgy. He is one of the tomp streaming artists in the world. He just released his latest project called everybody and marks the highest opening week of his career. The project has a unique could be concept and some surprising collaborations. Rapper lodgy coming up in just a moment