Funk Aficionado

Bringing a whole lot of fresh influences to a highly established music scene in Sioux Falls is no easy feat. But with a bass guitar, a collaborative nature and a wealth of ideas in tow, Reuben Rodriguez might just be the person to do it.

The musician is one you’re likely to recognize, having performed with a variety of established quartets in town headlined by the likes of Joel Shotwell and Brian Hannigan, as well as with local artist Denham. And he most recently found himself a part of the house band for live, local talk show Late Night Boomin.

And this variety is by choice.

“I’m such a lover of R&B and funk. Jazz is a dialect of music that I speak well enough that I can get by playing with jazz people, but I wouldn’t consider myself a jazz player,” Rodriguez said. “When left to my own devices, I’m listening to Jackson 5 and Earth, Wind & Fire.

“If I could, I’d play more funk music, but it’s hard to find the funding to put together a three-piece horn section, two keyboards and some gospel singers… but I’d definitely consider myself kind of a funk guy.”

A Sioux Falls native, Rodriguez’s foray into bass-playing was out of sheer necessity.

“I started as a trumpet player through most of high school, but freshman year at Washington (High School) they didn’t have a bass player and asked, ‘Does anybody know how to play?’”

Rodriguez raised his hand, as he did, in fact, own a bass. The only problem was he didn’t know how to play it. “They were like, ‘All right. You’ll do great.’ And by random happenstance, I did end up being pretty adept at it.”

The musician found himself away from the area for a time when he left to pursue a music performance degree from McNally Smith College in Saint Paul, Minn. But after 10 years, he made his way back and found a city whose population—and music scene—had grown tremendously.

“You used to not be able to find a show even once in a week, but now you could find them almost every day if you look hard enough—which is absolutely incredible.”

This evolution has brought on the normalization and embrace of more genres and styles, according to Rodriguez, who sees it as an enduring opportunity to bring his own influences and interests to his playing.

“In order for things to catch on, it takes people that are comfortable with it,” he said. “I joke with Joel (Shotwell) that whenever we play jazz in Sioux Falls we have to decide whether we’re playing ‘jazz jazz’ or ‘sunny side of the street jazz.’

“People whose exposure to jazz is limited might walk away from the stuff that’s really out there—stuff like Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew or John Coltrane’s Africa. But like anything it just takes a while for people to get used to it.”

When it comes to his own creative side, Rodriguez has found himself dabbling in writing his own pieces more and more often.

“When a melody gets stuck in my head or I start humming something at work or at the grocery store, I come back to it later and start working it out,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and written a song top-down. It’s always been kind of a work in progress—and when it’s finished it’s either because I’m tired of it or I’ve taken it as far as I can.”

These original pieces typically find themselves in a genre Rodriguez would refer to as “pop alternative,” a sub-genre he finds has some sophisticated roots in catchy, alternative funk music.

“I’ve started compiling some of my original stuff that I might want on an album, and I want to start working with some musicians that I’ve played with over the years who have been largely influential to my musical experience.

“Putting out an album—that’s my next big goal.”

And between exploring self-proclaimed “out there” offshoots of his favorite musical genres and gigging on a regular basis, the inevitable debut recording from an artist as complexly attuned as Rodriguez will surely help continue the music evolution that has blissfully overtaken Sioux Falls.

“Don’t be ashamed of what you like,” he said. “It can influence you in a lot of myriad ways that a lot of closed-minded people may not understand quite yet.”