It’s Tuesday morning, 10 a.m., and Souls in Rhythm vocalist Scott Henderson is readying a group of young performers for the stage in Calgary as the world prepares to say goodbye to one of his greatest influences.

Michael Jackson’s memorial has just got underway in L.A., but Henderson is too busy to keep tabs on the situation, knee deep, as he is, in a sound check for the Calgary Stampede talent competition.

“I think inspiration is everything. I think that’s where you have the biggest influence, is when you inspire,” he said, as a young voice belts out singer Robbie Williams’ hit “Angel” in the background.

That’s a bit of what he’s hoping to do for the kids in this competition. In addition to playing in Souls and Rhythm, Henderson is also teacher at Theatre Works in Calgary, used to helping shape aspiring artists.

This competition was part of his own route to success and he’s clearly engaged in ensuring they get the same chance he did, shouting out directions to the 12 to 21-year old kids preparing for semi-finals.

“There’s no American Idol-style ridicule to it,” he said. “It’s all pretty supportive.”

Support has been critical for Henderson who says everyone from his mother’s opinion to his friends and industry bigwigs counts when he’s trying to build a song.

And clearly its works. In the 1990s he was a part of Earthtones, a vocal group which scored five Top 20 billboard hits, toured extensively in the United States and Asia and brought him to Beverly Hills.

That’s where he was last week, in music meetings with Capitol Records trying to re-establish connections for Souls in Rhythm, when the man he was to meet with announced MJ’s death on his facebook account, throwing the trip into chaos.

“It was unavoidable. I’m sure it was the same way up here, but it was all over the radio stations. Michael Jackson all the time,” Henderson said.

Descriptions of their latest album tracks on line include a homage to the King of Pop with a song called Girl Work, which he claims was heavily influenced by Jackson’s work and punches along with that same high-energy, ‘80s beat.

“He was such a percussive, deliberate vocalist, that it really really pushed me to be much more passionate about my vocals,” Henderson said.

The song is a fun approach to the “I want you baby” songs, that as Jackson might have put it, really ought to beat it.

“This seemed a totally fun way to approach the ‘lets get it on’ mode,” their website boasts.

“There was a lot of funk in the ‘80s so thank God for Michael.”

From Sly and the family Stone to Stevie Wonder and Prince, Henderson says he grew up listening to the doo-wop, soul and funk that forms the foundation of their work.

But the band itself is still quite different from other funk acts running. “We live in funk but we’re really a song writing-based band,” he said. “A lot of funk bands are kind of groove-based and they kind of jam out on stage. We do some of that, but we’re a little bit more traditional in that song writing is where we’re centered.”

As to how his own song’s influence people, well, that’s really where the fun lies, he says. “I kind of disguise a lot of the lyrics in my songs,” he said. “Once you write a song, what it means to other people is up to them. You want people to have ownership over what a song will do to them.”

To hear Souls in Rhythms work for yourself check out their act at the Minstrel Café July 17, 8 p.m., 4638 Lakeshore Rd.

jsmith@kelownacapnews.com