FOR Collective is Friends Of Rosco.

ROSCO & FOR COLLECTIVE

It was such a rewarding experience putting together the original 'FOR Collective' album that I couldn't just let the concept die. Rosco & FOR Collective is now the overall brand for my songwriting, recording, and performance projects.

ROSCO & FOR COLLECTIVE III - 'SOME KINDA BLUES'

I've always loved blues...but my approach has never been traditional. This album features blues and blues adjacent songs that expand the form to include songs with choruses, bridges, some unusual chord changes, and a lot of funk.

ROSCO & for COLLECTIVE II - 'FOR FUNK!

In September 2019, I released 'FOR Collective II: FOR Funk!'. On this project, I recruited my favorite funky Michigan musicians to record a 5 song EP at Reed Recording Co. in Bay City, MI.  The album contains original songs I wrote and sing, with an all-star rhythm section and horns. This EP is much different than the first FOR Collective album. I LOVE that project so much, but I never could contain my music to any specific genre, and I've always loved listening to and playing funky jams. You don't get much funkier than drummer Steve McCray - then add in bassist Joe Clark, guitarists Scott Van Del and Michael Robertson, keyboardist Loren Kranz, horn players Jim Rosborough (sax)  and David Selley (trumpet, flugelhorn), and guest vocalist Honesty Elliott and Christin Nielsen and you get FOR Funk! Singing and playing harp over these grooves was exciting! Co-producers Andy Reed, Michael Robertson and I worked hard to get a greasy, old school feel on these songs. I love the results! The FOR Funk Band is amazing - this is a FUN album to listen to!  I can't wait to do more FOR Collective projects...

FOR Collective 1:

Great singers bringing my songs to life: that is the inspiration for this project. This is an album of songs I’ve written that feature some of the world class singers I’ve gotten to know as a sideman, band mate, and fan. Sometimes a song of mine doesn’t suit my voice, but I can hear it in my head being sung by, say, Paul Randolph…and it sounds great in there. Sometimes I hear a song I'm writing in a woman's voice, from a woman's perspective - like the first tune we recorded,  ‘You Were The One’ featuring Honesty Elliott. A note: If that recording session had not been such a fun and rewarding experience, I might not have done any more. Honesty absolutely nailed the tune and is a pleasure to work with, and that gave me confidence to continue – thanks Honesty! ALL the featured singers were generous with their time - and their performances are awe inspiring.  

I recruited my favorite musicians to create the perfect background for these amazing singers. F.O.R. Collective (Friends of Rosco) is a group of friends I have worked with in my many years in the Mid-Michigan music scene. Every town has its local heroes, but I believe we have more than our share of talent and we cross pollinate each other’s music. The musicians I worked with on this album represent a delicious gumbo of styles and strengths that blur the lines between genres. Everyone bought into the idea that the SONG and the SINGER were more important than ego. 

Andy Reed was my partner, co-producer, and engineer in every step of this project. We should all thank Andy for the musical energy that has coalesced around Reed Recording Company. He makes recording a real pleasure. I always turn to Michael Robertson to take my acoustic guitar folk chord demos and make them musically interesting. He does the same thing to my songs as these wonderful singers do: get the sounds out of my head and into the world the way I want to hear them. This album would not have existed without MFR and Andy.

I hope this album escapes the zeroes and ones of the digital wasteland and gets into YOUR interface: your ears and brains. Give these tunes a listen - or better yet, buy the album! I think you'll dig it.

Rosco