Stubblefield and Skaggs have been playing at the King Club for about 20 years. Stubblefield moved to Madison in 1970, after visiting the city twice while on tour with James Brown. After one of those gigs, Stubblefield visited his brother, who at the time was bartending downtown. He liked the people and the pace of the city, and his impressions brought him back permanently about two years later. He met Skaggs years later and the two joined musical forces. Eventually Stubblefield asked for a weekly gig at the King Club, and Funky Mondays was born. Stubblefield said people always ask why he doesn’t live in a bigger city with a larger music scene, and he always has an answer for them.
            
“I was sick and tired of seeing all the taxis, and honking horns, and cops and people everywhere, and I said ‘I want a place where I can be comfortable and lay my head down and not worry about the noise and look out the door and see rabbits hopping in my backyard,” Stubblefield explained.
            
Gallagher says he and his wife, Lisa, who co-owns and manages the King Club, are proud that Stubblefield calls their club home. Stubblefield is known internationally for his funk beats; he has a pair of drumsticks in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and is one of the most sampled drummers in the world. Musicians from Madonna to U2, Sinead O’Connor to the Roots have sampled Stubblefield, according to Gallagher.
            
“The beats that Clyde lays down are so great, and you’ll see him playing them every Monday night. When you see someone who's a real pro at what they do, its such a pleasure to watch them doing it," Gallagher said. “You realize you're a witness to greatness."
            
Stubblefield, however, is quick to point out that he’s not the only one up there making the crowd move on Monday nights. He calls this band his favorite to play with and hopes that someday they’ll be able to tour with him and the FunkMasters.

Matthew Wisniewski/Curb
Keyboardist Steve Skaggs has been playing with Clyde Stubblefield since the beginning of Funky Mondays.

“I might take a job with a band, but it’s a thing where I’m just playing. I’m not trying to improve anything and get better; I’m just playing what’s natural,” Stubblefield said. “But with this band, I try to improve constantly, and when I try to improve, everybody else tries to improve, and then sometimes they outdo me.”
            
The band consists of Skaggs on keyboard, Bryan Husk on saxophone, Joe Wickham on guitar, Dave Goplen on bass, Alex Leong on trombone, Pete Nelson on trumpet, Paula on congos, and vocals by Carolyn Black, Kari Daley and Charlie Brooks. The group is a mix of musicians who have been with Stubblefield for years, as Skaggs has, and those who have only joined in the past few years. Regardless of their age or time with the band, though, every member has the most important thing in common: They know how to get funky. Skaggs puts the band’s mission each night plainly: “We either kick ass, or we have fun trying.”