Bootsy Collins will be performing tonight.

On Friday, April 6, don't miss a uniquely funky opportunity as 1997 Hall of Fame Inductee Bootsy Collins plays an intimate show at one of Cleveland's great music venues, the Beachland Ballroom. This is the first of many musical performances during the Rock Hall's 11 days of events surrounding this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductions Ceremony on Saturday, April 14.

The charismatic Collins – easily identified by his singular fashion sense: star-shaped glasses, colorful suits and top hats, and  glittery "space bass" – was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic, alongside his mentor George Clinton (who'll headline the Free Concert for Cleveland with Kid Cudi and Kids These Days at the Q.)

Over the years, the bassist, singer, songwriter and Cincinnati, Ohio, native has released more than a dozen albums, including 2011's Tha Funk Capital Of The World, a deeply grooving history of funk as only Collins and his collaborators could curate. The musicians joining Collins at the Beachland Ballroom include P-Funk alumni and fellow Hall of Famers drummer extraordinaire Frankie "Kash" Waddy and Bernie Worrell, long recognized as a keyboard wizard and the co-author of such seminal P-Funk cuts as "Flashlight" and "Atomic Dog." Joining that dynamic trinity of funk will be keyboardist Joel "Razor Sharp" Johnson, guitarist DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight and bassist T.M. Stevens, who'll round out the Funk Unity Band, the rock-solid core of Collins' 2012 Funk Unity Tour.

Remember that I only reach out to the Rock Hall audience when there is wonderful music to be heard and not to be missed – and this Friday's Bootsy Collins performance is one of those concerts. Please join me in welcoming Bootsy and the Funk Unity Band to Cleveland as we kickoff 11 days that celebrate this music we call rock and roll. Bow wow wow yippee yo yippee yay!