Finding your music catalogued next to Peter Frampton in record store bins would be a hallelujah moment for most musicians, but for Chicago piano rocker Neal Francis, it also gave him an idea.
At Thalia Hall on March 24 and 25, he will stage “Francis Comes Alive,” that will see him attempt to create a live album a la the great “Frampton Comes Alive!”
“That was such a huge rock live record from the ’70s and is ubiquitous in everyone’s record collection, including my father’s. I’m excited to be doing this show, playing with a large 11-piece ensemble and to having our stylist Rachel who is designing all these costumes for everyone to wear. It’s really my childhood dream come true,” says Francis during a recent phone interview.
It’s a relic from the 30-something’s formative days growing up in Oak Park where he was raised on his audiophile parents’ record collection (Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, ELO, Muddy Waters and The Who being go-to spins) and where he began playing classical piano at the age of four before finding his way into Chicago blues clubs as a teen.
Francis’ two-night stand at Thalia Hall, just down the street from his current Pilsen living quarters, will be filmed and recorded and eventually released via his label ATO Records (also formerly or currently the home of Brandi Carlile, Brittany Howard and Black Pumas). ATO has been heavily pushing Francis the past two years, since signing the old-soul musician and releasing his R&B-blues-boogie-woogie-psychedelic-jam-arena-rock “In Plain Sight” in 2021.
In no time, Francis went from a standing Tuesday night gig at Rosa’s Lounge with friends Pete Galantis and Dave Herrero, to sharing the stages with My Morning Jacket and Marcus King, recording with Derek Trucks (who contributes an ear jam slide guitar solo on the “In Plain Sight” track “Can’t Stop The Rain”), earning an Emerging Act of the Year nomination from the Americana Association, and appearing on “CBS Saturday Morning.” Not to mention Rolling Stone giving him the impressive title of the one person “making piano rock cool again.”
Francis’ unique musician coming-of-age story is just poised to become a rock doc some day, a story that has always been sprinkled with a bit of “being in the right place at the right time” magic.
Like how, as a teen, he was able to connect with one of Chicago’s greats, Lincoln Park-based boogie woogie/jazz pianist Erwin Helfer, who furthered Francis’ music education. Or how, around the same time, Francis came into the graces of the late blues great and Muddy Waters’ piano player Pinetop Perkins. Francis’ father took him to see one of Pinetop’s famous showdowns at Rosa’s and the budding talent was hooked.
“I was super into Pinetop as a 12-year-old, and I realize how weird that was,” says Francis, laughing, though the relationship grew tentacles within the Chicago blues scene. And so, when Perkins died in 2011, Francis was enlisted to take over some of his gigs and soon became a regular at blues clubs just after turning the legal age to enter the clubs.
“I’m realizing more and more throughout my life that there’s all these synchronicities that have been happening that I could never have engineered myself,” says Francis.
Another came in 2019, when the artist found himself living in the parsonage and recording at the now-closed St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood. After touring to support his debut album “Changes” (his first solo effort since parting ways with Chicago funk band The Heard), Francis broke up with his girlfriend and had no home to turn to while also dealing with the grips of addiction.
Spiritual but not religious, he had taken a music ministry job at the congregation in 2017 on a whim and turned to St. Peter’s again in his time of need two years later. Doing so literally saved Francis and his career as he got sober and created the music for “In Plain Sight.”
“It’s really indescribable how important it was to have that space,” Francis shares.
The artist remains committed to Chicago, even as his growing career calls him to the coasts.
“I still go to Rosa’s on Tuesdays, I’ve also been going out dancing. I love house and disco, so I’ll go catch a set at Smartbar or Berlin,” says Francis. “Chicago is simply one of the best places in the world.”
After Thalia Hall, Francis will appear at the Winnetka Music Festival on June 17.
