tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. we begin with a conversation with emeli sande, who single spent most of the year dominating the airwaves. and then we will turn to a conversation with robert randolph. one of the 100 greatest guitar players of all time. hiwe are glad you have joined us. ♪

>> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: to say things are heating up for emeli sande would be an understatement. she has been dominating the british and european charts. her latest cd is taking off here in the states. let's take a look at her singing "next to me." ♪ ♪ when the skies are great and

all of the doors are closing handall i need is the i will find them find him next me met to next to me i will find him i will find him next to me ♪ tell me about your last name. >> my father is from zambia. tavis: you grew up in scotland. i felt like an outsider. we were the only mixed-race family in the village and it was

big news when my dad moved to the town. it was in the local paper. african teacher comes to the town. serious?e you lack man comes to town, beware -- lack man comes to town, beware. >> everyone embraced us. that is why i find such a big world of music. i was an introvert as a kid, but i loved the p&l. -- the piano. tavis: that is where you went to get away? >> i was very quiet until i got to the piano. lunch breaks, after school, before school, i tavis: was making music. first. heard your voice now i see why i like her so much.

nina simone does not get the love for the respect she deserves. >> she gets the love and respect from me. my dad introduced me to her when i was eight. he played me a song called the king of love is dead and it changed my life. -- i did notif it know if it was a man or woman. it brought me alive. i thought she was amazing. i have aspired to her artistry. tavis: what is about her voice or her artistry that is so moving to you? >> up until then, i loved the big vocalist. she was all about the tone and the subtlety of how she delivered one word. that subtle change

in the poetry. fascinated always because so much of what we hear is retrograde. so much of what we hear sounds the same. if you want to be a success, you want to sound like an artist who is already a success. it is a difficult thing for people to have their own song styling, their own sound. you are an original. i am wondering how that happened for you and how important for you to be that. you could have sounded like somebody else. tell me about the journey of yours to be an original. >> from when i was a kid, i wanted to write.

he was important to me that i was writing my own that serial -- it was important to me that i was writing my own material. the only time i could connect to people was when i was singing or on stage. it was a unique voice to me. very originala thing for me. it is the way i connect with people. i was not intentionally trying to create my path or be original, i needed to say certain things and to express myself. --is: tell me about the song a lot of people have great voices, but tell me about the songwriting journey for you. click songwriting is my main thing. i will do that for the rest of my life. singing, my voice will now. i was a songwriter before an

artist. i love -- i am inspired people by -- like joni mitchell. people who can change the world with their lyric. what i aim for. tavis: why the call for you to you shortly are cool content to circlethe world -- content to change the world? called theon why i events, iversion of wanted to find a way to speak for people. so many people spoke for me when i was a kid and made me feel less invisible. whoever is listening to my music, i want them not to feel so voiceless.

tavis: who do you think is underrepresented in music? >> i do not know if there is a specific group of people, but people that come to my shows are people that feel as outsiders. i do not feel sexy. connect. i feel so much pressure to do that. this keeps people -- you need seven-year-old kids that have been through crazy childhoods that somehow connect to these lyrics. i get letters from 70-year-olds. for me, keeping that lyric as open to people as possible is a gift. it feels amazing that people have connected. tavis: have you figured out what it is about that lyrical content , your songwriting style that

allows a song to work for a seven-year-old as much as a 70-year-old? songs, my ego is removed from the process. me.eally is not about -- i do not know where these songs come from. i feel a spiritual process and i think people connect to that. you are blowing up on the charts like you have been in europe for quite some time. how are you processing the fact that it is happening for you in the states? here with the mindset that we are starting from the very beginning. for me, it is exciting. every tiny thing that happens, i

get so excited about it. it is important for me to share my music. i am very excited. tavis: we are on the inside and you have been on the outside, i am curious as to your take about what you find different about of becoming a hit maker in our country versus someplace else in the world? >> the scale. it is massive. tavis: is it harder? >> it is harder in some ways, thinking about how many places you should go. people -- there is a real attention to melody over here. such a history of soul music

that goes back and back and back and gospel music. connecting on that level is easier. tavis: you write about -- there is a history in this country of melody. melody is becoming more and more invisible in this country. part of what people are connecting to israel music. -- is real music. >> melody is the first thing that comes to me when i am songwriting. i learned piano classically first. melody has always been the first. the special to different countries in europe where people do not speak english as their first language, they are connecting to the melody somehow. tavis: many artist have been trained classically first and

discover what ever else they were doing, jazz, r&b or pop. the value in the benefit of having been trained on piano classically first? >> it is melody. it is appreciation and attention to detail of phrasing and those sorts of things. studying people who have made hundred -- 300 or 400, that is music that is not going away. having not standard set for you at a young age can only inspire you. still is your father living? he made news by go into the village and you are making news around the world. what does dad say about all of this? >> he is very happy. he is a proud african man.

when he gets emotional, it is a big deal. happyvery happy and he is he has been a massive part of the journey. as am i. tavis: congratulations on your success. emeli sande. you will want to remember the name. you will be seeing it a lot. good to have you here. ♪ rolling stone magazine named robert randolph one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. keep leas one of the most difficult instruments -- he plays one of the most difficult instruments. he perfected his artistry in the pentecostal church. he is about to release his first

studio album in more than three years. let's take a look at a cut from that cd. ♪ ♪ get on board trains on the track back --leave you ain't, coming back ♪ ♪ tavis: i can shall today. ut today. how do you process that? every time you play, i think of "he scene in the movie "ray

where he is in the club and they jump on him. charles has that church backbeat behind it. when i hear that, i could go to church on that. how do you process hearing that? >> i have not stopped hearing it at all. i have a bunch of old uncles and aunts that call me up. you went to rock 'n roll this time. it is the roots -- our church was kind of like the rock 'n roll church. tavis: james brown. guitar and it loud incorporated some different things to make it work. tavis: how did you end up on

this instrument? >> our church has a long history guitars going all the way back to the 1920's. it is sort of like reggae or buena vista social club. guys before me were not allowed to go outside the church and lay. .- and play i was a younger guy and i said look, i am going out. it is something that has a broader sound and a broader appeal. tavis: did you struggle with that personally? how was the process for you for coming to that decision? so many great black artists who come out of the church and so many of had that struggle with how to make that transition. >> a lot of black artist can relate to this story.

our church is very old time. old-time rules. a lot of it really does not mean anything. you cannot play that music. for me, it has been a great thing to go out. we started playing at some small bars in new york city. 30 white people dancing. the guy came to visit our church, bob stone, you guys need to take this music out. he started to document the sacred steel music in the church. he went to the one in florida, new jersey. this thing has a bigger appeal. this thing could appeal to a bigger audience. you have to find a promoter and get the word out.

2002, we've are packing all of the bars and clubs before we had a record label. we were selling a lot of tickets at the irving plaza in new york. york.an plaza in new road. been a tough now i see the love and the support. tavis: i ask you how you chose the instrument, but how did you perfect the instrument? it is one of the most difficult to play. -- does a young guy in depth end up being really good at this? box i was a hard worker. -- >> i was a hard worker. church, we had some older guys, calvin cooke, the campbell nelson., henry

they dedicate their time to teaching a lot of the young kids. they spent a lot of hours with me giving me advice on how to be precise and how to connect with a spiritual thing. in our church, it is common to play the pedal steel. there are hundreds of kids playing. kids say i want to play that, i want to do that. it has been hours of hard work. tavis: tell me about this new project. >> i came up with the title from hanging around in nashville and alabama. we compiled a bunch of songs that have our spiritual roots. carlos santana on get a view of

songs. two of the songs. let's get it done. tavis: how do you process? in some ways, you are still that young kid from new jersey who many are starting to discover. you are playing with legends like santana and buddy guy. how do you process that? >> i have been fortunate to have these guys appreciate what i do musically. i really do not process until i am listening back. santanatling carlos during this song and we're going at it.

out came this great energetic piece of music. that is when it all hits me. we were in the studio with this guy and now i can't get them on the phone. that part is school. -- is cool. i have been fortunate to have been accepted into the fraternity of great musicians. eric clapton, dave matthews, carlos santana. karen clark. they have all accepted me into their great music fraternity. r fore you going to tou this? >> look at the schedule. you can follow me on twitter. i need more twitter followers.

tavis: is that your way of telling me i need to follow you now? >> tell your followers to follow me. -- who havehose of not been to a robert randolph show, how would you describe your show? from is like the scene "coming to america." you are not sure what you are supposed to do. you are not sure if you want to breakdance or shout. it is great. it is a mixture of james brown, sly and the family stone, the scene from blues brothers. oft is what you get out robert randolph and a family band show. tavis: you will not sit down.

end, you are like a workout tape. you do not do so stuff. it is all up-tempo. >> every once in a while, i tried to write a love song. i go, that is not worth it. tavis: leave that to stevie wonder. >> john legend. i like to make music that is upbeat and make she want to dance, but choose -- and makes you want to dance, but choose lyrics that are inspiring. as a young black artist, my goal in every song is to try to be a positive influence for younger artist. you can make great popular music while having something good to say. because i have seen the effect a lot of the negative hip-hop

music or r&b has had on our young kids. tavis: g work with young kids, too? -- you work with young kids, too? it has been a big battle trying to sift through all of the stuff with the board of education. tavis: it is politics. >> it has been a headache, man. that is the problem with our school system. have the robert randolph music and arts resource center coming soon. we'll be working with kids and .arents in the inner cities tavis: i assume there will be a music program. >> music and arts program. you will see a lot of kids playing pedal steel, organs.

songs he does not do love . if you want to have a good time, pick up the new project from robert randolph. it is an awfully good time. you will not put this thing down. congratulations. have a great summer. that is our show for tonight, thank you for joining us. as always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for conversations with lawrence brownlee and shemekia copeland. ♪

>> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. pbs.

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