Stewart Francke

Artist Information

Biography

"Yea I've heard Stewart Francke...he makes beautiful music." -- Bruce Springsteen, 2006.

BIO
From humble beginnings in the Michigan industrial city of Saginaw to bright lights on national stages, Stewart Francke’s creative work has transformed the lives of thousands who’ve listened to his songs or read his writing. Since releasing his first album in 1995, Stewart has created a body of work cited by critics as spiritual in tone and remarkable in its emotional breadth. In 2009 Saginaw recognized their favorite son by awarding him a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Saginaw County Cultural Arts Commission for “the enjoyment and insight his songs have brought to so many in his home town, home state and beyond.”

A bone marrow transplant survivor, Stewart has been recognized by the Points Of Light Foundation for his personal work in cancer patient support. The Stewart Francke Leukemia Foundation was presented the prestigious Partnership In Humanity Award by the Detroit Newspapers and he was named Volunteer of the Year by the National Marrow Donor Program in 2002. He's been recognized by his peers in his community through numerous Detroit Music Awards, including Best Artist, Songwriter & Album. Hour Detroit readers voted him most popular musician 2002-2004. He was awarded a Creative Artist Grant by Artserve Michigan in 2004.

He’s performed on bills with the likes of Sheryl Crow, Stevie Winwood, Steve Earle, Eddie Money, Huey Lewis & The News, Shawn Colvin, Hootie & The Blowfish, Chicago, Hall & Oates, Chuck Berry and many others, and fronts his own 10 piece soul band at venues across the country.

His first album, Where The River Meets The Bay (1995), contained the hit single, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," made famous through its use as an episode theme for the TV show Melrose Place. In the ensuing nine albums there have been other regional hits, including a duet with Detroit soul legend Mitch Ryder and several songs cut with the Funk Brothers, in what was their last session together. He’s sold over 50,000 copies of his nine albums through independent distribution and marketing, with his latest being 2009’s Alive & Unplugged At The Ark.

In 2006, Wayne State's Ridgeway Press released a collection of Stewart's lyrics and writing on music, life and Midwestern living titled Between The Ground & God. The book won two 2007 National Indie Excellence Awards, and led to an invitation to read at the New York Book Festival. A proud Detroiter for 30 years, Stewart’s now working on a new record with renowned soul producers Jon Tiven in Nashville and David McMurray in Detroit.

A writer for more than 20 years, Stewart is a contributing editor to Detroit’s Metro Times. His work in writing and music has led to him being interviewed on numerous high profile shows, including Sirius Radio, CBS TV, Fox Morning Show, the Mitch Albom Show, ABC News, NBC News, and the Fox Health Channel. Feature articles about him have appeared in Playboy, No Depression, ASCAP’s Playback and countless newspapers and periodicals. Cited by critics and his fellow artists alike as a vital American artist, Stewart has the unique ability to talk about his own work in an engaging, self-effacing manner.

His humorous, inspiring speeches have long been well received, whether speaking to cancer or business groups, including the National Oncology Nursing Society, General Motors Tech Center, the Henry Ford Cancer Survivor Celebration, the Karmanos Cancer Institute Survivor’s Day, the National Bone Marrow Transplant Link Symposium in Manhattan, and many others.

Stewart Francke lives in Huntington Woods, MI with his wife, Julia, and children.

“Thank God for Stewart Francke. Thank God for his
feeling healing music, for the sweetness of his soul, the sincerity of his songs, the strength of his vision.
His music is enriching, nourishing music – music as faith, music as celebration, music whose source is
clear and joyful love.” -- David Ritz, author of "Divided Soul: The Marvin Gaye Story" & "Brother Ray."

"Stewart Francke is one of a kind. A talent that encompasses both songwriting and prose writing appears rarely. How much rarer then is a songwriter whose sensibility includes Johnny Cash and Gore Vidal, Yoko On and the Funk Brothers, marriage and mortality, race relations and cancer treatment? Standing courageously at the intersection of rock and soul music, influenced equally by Marvin Gaye and Brian Wilson, Francke possesses all the tools: A sweet voice, a vision that’s grand without being grandiose and an undying love of sound for its own sake, along with an equally passionate engagement with everyday life and the people who live it. This music isn’t classic anything only because, like every real artist, Francke takes the world as he knows it and moves on his own course. Motor City Serenade is the most important blue-eyed soul record in a musical generation." --Dave Marsh, Playboy

"Listening to Stewart Francke's music is like waking up and finding yourself in an alternate universe. It's a place where rock and soul still speak to each other, where you catch glimpses of what the seventies might have become if we'd lived up to their long-forgotten promise. It immerses you in a soundscape where you hear Motown and Philly International communing with Pet Sounds and Fleetwood Mac. It's a good world to imagine, and, Francke promises us, it isn't really out of reach. Part of the sense of promise lies in the music itself. Whether you're coming at the music from rock or soul, you can close your eyes, relax and let it wash over you. When you come back to the world, you'll feel energized and renewed. Like the best music of he rock and soul era, this music believes. It believes that we can reach a higher ground, that the conversations between black and white, between blues realism and gospel redemption, remain as vital as they were before narcissistic irony swamped our shared hopes and dreams. Like Marvin Gaye and Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and Ani DiFranco, he knows that, if we find the strength to tell our own stories honestly and he courage to open ourselves to others, our burdens can be a source of hope, not despair. And, he insists, the only meaningful response is to love each other and to change the world. " -- Craig Werner, Gleason-award winning author of Change Is Gonna Come and Higher Ground

"As always, Stewart Francke's passion and raw, soulful singing strength are evident on Swimming In Mercury. Like all the best songwriters, Stewart writes from the heart and sings from it as well. The power of his up tempo tunes and the plaintive emotion of his ballads make for that rarest of musical accomplishments: a great songwriter who can rock!" -- Mitch Albom

"Stewart Francke is the best songwriter I’ve heard in 20 years." --- Mick Taylor, legendary guitarist & former member of The Rolling Stones.

"Returning to the warm healing waters of "Lets get It On" era Marvin Gaye, genre hopper Francke restores faith in the much besmirched world of blue-eyed soul... genuinely life affirming. Looking for a real soul revival? Don*t look any further."— Gavin Martin, Uncut, June, 2002

"Francke's finest songs reveal lives at stake in intimate tales where men and women struggle to understand each other. He always awards the lives in his songs with the generous, dramatic arrangements they deserve, what he calls all that beautiful noise." --- David Cantwell, No
Depression, March 2002


LABEL: Blue Boundary
MANAGEMENT: Pete Wurdock/Blue Boundary Prod.
RETAIL DIGITAL DISTRIBUTOR: Burnside/IODA, Portland OR
BOOKING: Sandee @ Lorio Ross 248 398-9713
orders@stewartfrancke.com

Now Booking 2010 dates for: Summer festivals,
Concerts (as Headliner and Support), Fairs/Festivals, Colleges,Corporate Functions, Commercial Venues, Private and Special Events.

Stewart Francke has performed with many renowned artists and played venerated national stages:

Stevie Winwood
Sheryl Crow
Warren Zevon
Earth Wind & Fire
Steve Earle
Hall & Oates
Shawn Colvin
Cowboy Junkies
Michael McDonald
Bryan Adams
Mick Taylor
Chicago
Huey Lewis & News
Eddie Money
Foreigner
@
DTE Energy Center, Auburn Hills, MI
Bluebird Cafe, Nashville, TN
Bottom Line, NYC
Makor, NYC
Lonestar Cafe, NYC
The Palace, Auburn Hills, MI
WSHE Function, San Francisco, CA
Willard's, Cincinatti, OH
Fox Theater, Detroit, MI
Schuba's, Chicago, IL
Kensington Listening Room, Troy, MI
Temple Theatre, Saginaw, MI

“Standing courageously at the intersection of rock and soul music, influenced equally by Marvin Gaye and Brian Wilson, Stewart Francke possesses all the tools: A sweet voice, a vision that’s grand without being grandiose and undying love of sound for its own sake, and an equally passionate engagement with everyday life and the people who live it. This music isn’t classic anything only because, like every real artist, Francke takes the world as he knows it and moves on his own course.” -- Dave Marsh

Instrumentation

Stewart Francke Revue

Stewart Francke: Vocal & guitar
Chuck Bartels: bass & vocal
Darryl Pierce: Drums
Brett Lucas: guitar
Chris Plansker: Piano
Horns:Baritone-Trombone-Trumpet-Tenor Sax
Barb Payton--vocals

Stewart Francke also appears as a solo performer, or in a duo or trio format.

Discography

FULL DICOGRAPHY: 1995--2010

NEW RELEASE: Alive & Unplugged at The Ark. Distributed by Burnside Distribution Co. Released 1/2009


1. UK Christmas single:
Safely Home, Zane Records, November 2006.

2. Motor City Serenade--Zane Records April 2005
featuring The Funk Brothers
Motor City Serenade
Got Your Back
American Twilights
SKin To Skin
For Want Of A NAil
Deep Soul Kiss
Upon Seeing Simone
Better Get To KNow Your Borken Heart
Prowlin
From Where Shall Comfort Come?


3. Wheel Of Life
Released in 2002 by Blue Boundary Records.
Produced by Stewart Francke & Michael King
All The Love In A Day
The Judas Kiss
Blind Spot
With You Once Again
A Hymn For Her
Give Love A Voice
Peace Like A River
Fall Into The Mystery
Anodyne
Summer Nocturne
Light At Dawn


4. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: Best Of Stewart Francke

Released in 2001 by Blue Boundary Records.
Tracks include:
Skin To Skin
2 Guitars Bass & Drums
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Upon Seeing Simone
American Twilights
House Of Lights
Letter From 10 Green
SunflowerSoulSerenade
For Want Of A Nail
The Gypsum Fair
Between The Ground and God
Better Get To Know Your Broken Heart
From Where Shall Comfort Come?
Deep Soul Kiss
Safely Home
Brick By Brick


5. What We Talk of When We Talk
Released in the winter of 2000 by Blue Boundary Records.
Tracks include:
What We Talk Of...When We Talk
Skin To Skin
Trilogy:
From Where Shall Comfort Come?
Surviving The Good Times
God I Need An Answer
interlude
American Twilights
Walking Down The Hallways Of A Diamond
Touching The Glory


6. Swimming In Mercury--Released in the fall of 1999 by Blue Boundary Records.

Tracks include:
Keep Your Faith Darling
Heaven And Earth
For Want Of A Nail
The Branch Will Not Break
Fathers and Sons
Letter From Ten Green
Prowlin'
Radio Road
You're So Good To Me
You're One Of The Good Ones
The Valley


7. SunflowerSoulSerenade
Released in 1998 by Blue Boundary Records.

Tracks include:
SunflowerSoulSerenade
Two Guitars, Bass and Drums
Have All the Good Things Come and Gone?
Something to be Said for the Light
A Place to Stand in the World
Every One Hurts and the Last One Kills
Sinners and Saints
Watertown
Right as Rain
SunflowerSoulSerenade (reprise)
Turning in the Twilight



8. 2 Guitars, Bass & Drums: songs for survival
Released in 1998 by Blue Boundary Records to benefit the
Stewart Francke Leukemia Foundation.
Tracks include:
Two Guitars, Bass and Drums - Stewart Francke
Starless Summer Sky - Marshall Crenshaw
Make God Laugh - Billy Mann
Got To Be You - Days of the New
The Terrorist - Mitch Ryder
Days That Try Your Patience - Pawnshop featuring Michael McDermott
Break My Fall - Karen Newman
Hillary's Song - Robb Roy
Does You No Good To Be Good - Jill Jack
Roll Like Thunder - WeatherVane
Love You Just The Way I Am - Michelle McCord
Frozen Wings - Mr. Radio
Tonight's The Night - Mary Cutrufello
Learning To Live - The Forbes Brothers with Earl Klugh
The Child In You - Brad Ross Fairman
The Human Bond - Kevin Sanderson
With You Forever - Charm Farm



9. You'd Better Get To Know Your Broken Heart (maxi-single)
Released in 1998 by Blue Boundary Records.

Tracks include:
You'd Better Get To Know Your Broken Heart (radio remix)
You'd Better Get To Know Your Broken Heart (live)
Between The Ground And God


10. Upon Seeing Simone (maxi-single)
Released in 1997 by Blue Boundary Records.

Tracks include:
Upon Seeing Simone - Album Cut
Simone, Brass & Ass Mix
Simone, The Minister's Wife Mix
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Good To Go Mix
Simone, Retro Mix
Simone, Sand In My Short Mix
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Fearless Mix
Simone, Hey Na Na
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Album Cut


11. House of Lights
Released in 1997 by Blue Boundary Records.

Tracks include:
Intro
House Of Lights
Little Miss America
Between The Ground And God
Upon Seeing Simone
You'd Better Get To Know Your Broken Heart
Farewell, I'm Bound To Leave You
Famous Times
Big Bed (Give The Girl What She Wants)
El Dorado
Rebecca
Fire In Gagetown
Livin' With The Law
The Opponent
Fraudulent Angel


12. Expecting Heroes
Released in 1996 by Wild Justice.

Tracks include:
King Of The Summer Hotel
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Dixie Drive
Into The Mystic
Expecting Heroes
In The Heart Of The Heart Of The Country
The Auto Trade
Union Town
Where The River Meets The Bay
The Gypsum Fair
Expecting Heroes (reprise)


13. Where the River Meets the Bay
Released in 1995 by Schoolkids Records.

Days Of Hope And Glory
Where The River Meets The Bay
Across Decker's Field
Union Town
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Gypsum Fair
Iowa
The Beautiful Go Blameless
The Light Of The World
Expecting Heroes


14. The Gypsum Fair (maxi-single)
Released in 1995 by Schoolkids Records.
Tracks include:

The Gypsum Fair
The Opponent
Dry September
Ridin' In The Moonlight

All Music Guide -- Thom Jurek on MC Serenade:
Stewart Francke's Motor City Serenade is a daring exercise in musical anthropology, cultural license, and Detroit aesthetic savvy. Francke has been on the scene a long time, regarded highly in Detroit, but basically underappreciated elsewhere. That may change with the issue of this album, released by Great Britain's Zane label - the crew that released great titles by Delaney Bramlett, Ellis Hooks, and Eddie Hinton. Motor City Serenade pulls out all the stops creatively. There are layers of singers - including the gospel group Commissioned, Barb Payton, and living rock legend Mitch Ryder - elegant yet edgy strings, spiky, taut horns, funky keyboards, and popping guitars in a mix so utterly open and ringing, it saturates the listening space in a swirl of color, texture, and grit.

But Motown isn't the only sound at work in Francke's mix; there is also the romantic sophistication of Brian Wilson and the wild abandon of Jack Nitszche. The title track is a lullaby to Detroit, romantically name-dropping some of its heroes, from Marvin Gaye and Nolan Strong to techno's "holy trinity" ( Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson) - all of it fueled by Motown's Funk Brothers backing Francke. His singing voice has grown deeper and wider over the years. It contains a kind of reckless maturity and nuance that is the badge of experience and beneath-the-skin expression. He's doesn't worry about anything but getting the song to be true to itself as song. He's got the necessary soul chops, but he is also a fine rock singer - when he and Ryder cut loose in "Upon Seeing Simone," over a rollicking horn section, they send chills down the spine. But sonics and vocal prowess only tell part of the story; Francke's true gift in his ability to write words so utterly and poetically impure, and melodies that project them from the mix to the consciousness of the listener.

For Francke, backyards, street cruising, the triumphs and tragedies of family, and fleeting love are all wrapped in the same bundle, all cards in the same slippery deck. He can find the divine in the heat of a kiss, or the supernatural in glare of city lights on wet pavement; he can discern the measure of morality in a broken heart. Tracks like "American Twilight" lament the craziness of the nation in the beating of a man on a suburban roadway. "Deep Soul Kiss" expresses the need to continue in relationship in the midst of struggle, all the while acknowledging the power of eros to transcend. Yeah, this is real people's poetry: it carries within it the rough mystery of the urban street and the mundane magic of suburban epiphanies and doubts. And it's as romantic as a muggy summer night. This is music that's more interested in asking pertinent questions than looking for quick-fix answers. And in its quest there lies unintentional moral instruction as in the utterly moving slip hop of "You Better Get to Know Your Broken Heart."

Motor City Serenade is a celebration of contradictions: the beauty found in the ruins and history of a city that has lost its mooring but not its will to survive, the tense experiences of the people who inhabit its surroundings, the anxiousness found in searching for pearls of wisdom and excitement in the grind of everyday life in what was once the city that articulated the American Dream. And Francke has brought them all to bear here, allowing the voices of doubt, faith, regret, despair, temerity, and desire to speak for themselves in a truly exciting set of 13 songs that is as tough, tender, and ass-shaking as the city it reflects.

Links

• Facebook
• Twitter
• official Stewart Francke website
• MySpace

Audio

• MotorCity Serenade
  Listen   Download
• Upon Seeing Simone--Live
  Listen   Download
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang--Live
  Listen   Download
• House Of Lights
  Listen   Download
• Safely Home
  Listen   Download
• skin to skin
  Listen   Download
• American Twilights
  Listen   Download
• Better Get To Know Your Broken Heart
  Listen   Download
• Little Miss America
  Listen   Download
• Fall Into The Mystery
  Listen   Download
• Let's Get It On--Live
  Listen   Download
• The Judas Kiss
  Listen   Download
• Sunflower Soul Serenade
  Listen   Download
• Letter From Ten-Green
  Listen   Download
• Faith In Faith Itself
  Listen   Download

Lyrics

• Everyone Hurts (and the last one kills)
• Dixie Drive/Auto Trade
• Days of Hope & Glory
• American Twilights
• Fall Into The Mystery

Video

Stewart Francke - Promotional Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• marsh review [+ Show ]
  

  Stewart Francke's What We Talk Of .. When We Talk is the most important blue-eyed soul record in a m...Stewart Francke's What We Talk Of .. When We Talk is the most important blue-eyed soul record in a musical generation...
  
  ... the sound scape is based on his reading of Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, and Gamble/Huff records that defined the border between soul and funk, right down to the wah-wah guitars. The topic is our culture's most enduring: What happens when fear is steeped in racism. With help from the excellent gospel group Commissioned, Francke finds a voice that lets him ask the right questions...
  
  What We Talk Of .. doesn't toy with amateur deep soul. Instead, it borrows quite explicitly from the soul of the early '70s: the perfect string confections of Barry White, the sophisticated horn, rhythm and vocal arrangements of Stevie Wonder and Maurice White. It's also explicit in attempting to recapture that music's social and political atmosphere. As Craig Werner writes in the liner notes, this music comes from a place "where you catch glimpses of what the seventies might have become if we'd lived up to their long-forgotten promise." Francke is not indulging nostalgia for a polyester past; he's using abandoned musical resources to make a statement about the world we live in right now. He casts his own challenge - "All this wasting of time / when we should be writing our story / we're perfecting our lines... when we could be touching the glory." He meets it, too.
  
  Funny thing is, Francke on his previous five albums made some of the blondest music I know. His apparent influences were the Beatles and Beach Boys, Springsteen and Bob Seger. His occasional work with the greatest of all blue-eyed soulman, Mitch Ryder seemed just a Detroit boy's way of honoring roots.
  
  Somehow there's nothing affected about what Francke does on What We Talk Of.. Among his collaborators is the fine gospel-hip-hop group, Commissioned, and his ability to sing with them is startling. This album's best song, "Skin To Skin," is a duet with Barb Payton that takes us to the heart of the matter-race mixing, at all levels.
  
  What We Talk Of.. itself is a metaphor for the missing cross-cultural dialogue, about pain and glory and how black and white people each experience them, that doesn't exist -- I'd say, the dialogue we lost. Except in these Ashcroft days, it's not real clear we ever had it. That's not fair though. We have had it. It animated the singing of the civil rights movement and, in a less conscious way, of early rock'n'roll. It thunders in the background of Righteous Brothers and Young Rascals records. It existed in the success of Jimi Hendrix, of Ryder, and of bands you've half-forgotten or never knew: Earth Wind and Fire, Mother's Finest, Living Colour. In a perverse way, it's part of the collaboration between Dr. Dre and Eminem right now.
  
  If you think that's off-the-wall, consider this: Stewart Francke's eyes snapped open on how to deal with race and music because he was dealing with cancer. A bone marrow transplant saved his life, so Francke established a foundation to offer help to others who needed transplants. What he learned was that African and Asian Americans have twice as much difficulty in finding a bone marrow match, because there are so few black people in the donor pool. So he began working with Detroit's African-American community to change that. From that, came an association with black musicians so intense that the blondest musician I know has now made this intensely soulful record.
  
  What Francke did is a long way from easy. You can't get to the place he reaches on What We Talk Of.. without paying a great price. Still, it's a lot cheaper than the one you pay for not going there.
  
  - Dave Marsh
  
  

• reviews
  

  please go to www.stewartfrancke.com for major reviews.

• 2005 Detroit Free Press Review [+ Show ]
  

  Francke's full of Motown love, funk May 29, 2005 The centerpiece of this comm...
  
  Francke's full of Motown love, funk
  
  May 29, 2005
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The centerpiece of this committed collection of 13 tracks is the title song, a love letter to the hardworking, music-loving city that Stewart Francke so clearly adores. A virtual compendium of Detroit references -- think Stroh's, Mitch Ryder, "the techno holy trio," Stoney & Wojo, Soupy Sales -- "Motor City Serenade" is built on a bass line and string arrangements that practically scream Hitsville, appropriate considering that members of Motown's fabled backing band, the Funk Brothers, played on the track.
  
  
  Actually, the entire album is almost bursting with Motown and other '70s R&B and soul cues, particularly the string and horn charts and Francke's voice, which has taken on a slightly raspier and earthier tone as he's aged. All this might be a surprise to those who remember the longtime musician's earlier material, which was in a more traditional pop-folk vein. But the transition that began with 2001's "What We Talk Of ... When We Talk" and was roughly concurrent with a life-threatening bout with cancer feels complete -- and legitimate -- as Francke exhibits a wiser, sometimes weary, but ultimately heart-a-bursting persona. He's so obviously genuine about the material that he isn't afraid of engaging in a little foreplay with sentimentality, though he smartly stops short of going schmaltz all the way.
  
  
  Among the especially effective (and affecting) tracks are "Skin to Skin," which has a playful, tender sensuality; the pleading "God I Need an Answer"; "Upon Seeing Simone," a humorous tale of a man who's sweating it when a certain someone shows up unexpectedly; and "American Twilights," which conjures the vibe of "What's Going On"-era Marvin Gaye -- no easy trick and indicative of the skillful touch that Francke and his players bring throughout the disc.
  
  
  By Steve Byrne, Free Press staff writer
  
  
  
  
  Stewart Francke performs Thursday at the Ark, 316 S. Main, Ann Arbor. $12.50. 734-761-1451. With the Rick Nease Band. Doors at 7 p.m.
  
  
  A collection of Francke's writing, "Between The Ground & God: Lyrics, Essays & Interviews, 1990-2005" will be released June 15. See www.stewartfrancke.com for details.
  
  

• UK Independent Review of MC Serenade [+ Show ]
  

  Album: Stewart Francke **** Motor City Serenade, ZANE By Andy Gill 01 April 2005 ...
  
  
  Album: Stewart Francke ****
  
  Motor City Serenade, ZANE
  
  By Andy Gill
  
  01 April 2005
  
  Like Remy Shand, Stewart Francke is a blue-eyed soul boy who has
  steeped himself so thoroughly in the details of his chosen bsession -
  in his case, the classic soul sound of his hometown Detroit - that his
  best work could almost pass as authentic. It helps if you have access to Motown's old Funk Brothers studio crew, as Francke does on a couple of cuts here, notably the title track. But there's a generosity of spirit and articulate social conscience in operation that sit as well on his shoulders as they did on those of Marvin, Curtis and Stevie, particularly on the protest-soul numbers such as "American Twilights" and the three-part suite that concludes the album, starting with "From Where Shall Comfort Come": "Let the four winds blow from the White House to the slum/ Good times are vanity when they're only good to some," sings Francke. Apart from the Southside Johnny-style R&B of "Upon Seeing Simone" and the melancholy "Better Get to Know Your Broken Heart", the album marshalls the requisite clavinet, electric piano, organ, strings, horns and wah-wah guitar with consummate skill, building up a meticulous Motown repro sound best exemplified by "Motor City Serenade" itself, which celebrates Detroit's multi-faceted musical heritage.
  
  
  
  “Standing courageously at the intersection of rock and soul music, influenced equally by Marvin Gaye and Brian Wilson, Stewart Francke possesses all the tools: A sweet voice, a vision that’s grand without being grandiose and undying love of sound for its own sake, and an equally passionate engagement with everyday life and the people who live it. This music isn’t classic anything only because, like every real artist, Francke takes the world as he knows it and moves on his own course.”
  
  Dave Marsh, 2005 Zane Records website
  

• London Times Review of MC Serenade [+ Show ]
  

  April 02, 2005 Soul Stewart Francke **** Motor City Serenade (Zane) This sin...
  April 02, 2005
  
  Soul
  
  Stewart Francke
  
  ****
  
  Motor City Serenade (Zane)
  
  
  This singer-songwriter from Detroit stands out from the crowd because of his soul-hardened voice and collection of thoughtful, user-friendly songs. His debt to his home town is revealed in the title track, which pays tribute to a raft of Motor City artists (see feature, page 18), including Marvin Gaye and Nolan Strong. And just to reinforce the feeling, he is backed on that track by Motown’s original Funk Brothers, including Jack Ashford and Joe Hunter. Another Detroit legend, Mitch Ryder, also lends vocal support on the 13 numbers that vary from the deft late-night stylings of Deep Soul Kiss to the altogether more funky Prowlin’. An artist who has battled leukaemia, Francke has a cutting edge that has already made his name in his native Michigan. With luck, he could do the same over here.
  
  
  
  
  John Clarke
  
  
  

• Various reviews [+ Show ]
  

  UK The Independent Stewart Francke **** (4 stars) Motor City Serenade, ZANE RECORDS 01 April 200...UK The Independent
  Stewart Francke **** (4 stars)
  Motor City Serenade, ZANE RECORDS
  01 April 2005
  
  Like Remy Shand, Stewart Francke is a blue-eyed soul boy who has steeped himself so thoroughly in the details of his chosen obsession - in his case, the classic soul sound of his hometown Detroit - that his best work could almost pass as authentic. It helps if you have access to Motown's old Funk Brothers studio crew, as Francke does on a couple of cuts here, notably the title track. But there's a generosity of spirit and articulate social conscience in operation that sit as well on his shoulders as they did on those of Marvin, Curtis and Stevie, particularly on the protest-soul numbers such as "American Twilights" and the three-part suite that concludes the album, starting with "From Where Shall Comfort Come": "Let the four winds blow from the White House to the slum/ Good times are vanity when they're only good to some," sings Francke. Apart from the Southside Johnny-style R&B of "Upon Seeing Simone" and the melancholy "Better Get to Know Your Broken Heart", the album marshalls the requisite clavinet, electric piano, organ, strings, horns and wah-wah guitar with consummate skill, building up a meticulous Motown repro sound best exemplified by "Motor City Serenade" itself, which celebrates Detroit's multi-faceted musical heritage.
  By Andy Gill
  
  London Times, UK April 02, 2005
  Soul
  Stewart Francke **** (4 stars)
  Motor City Serenade (Zane)
  
  This singer-songwriter from Detroit stands out from the crowd because of his soul-hardened voice and collection of thoughtful, user-friendly songs. His debt to his home town is revealed in the title track, which pays tribute to a raft of Motor City artists (see feature, page 18), including Marvin Gaye and Nolan Strong. And just to reinforce the feeling, he is backed on that track by Motown’s original Funk Brothers, including Jack Ashford and Joe Hunter. Another Detroit legend, Mitch Ryder, also lends vocal support on the 13 numbers that vary from the deft late-night stylings of Deep Soul Kiss to the altogether more funky Prowlin’. An artist who has battled leukaemia, Francke has a cutting edge that has already made his name in his native Michigan. With luck, he could do the same over here in the UK.
  
  Detroit Free Press
  Francke's full of Motown love, funk --Motor City Serenade. Zane Records
  May 29, 2005
  
  The centerpiece of this committed collection of 13 tracks is the title song, a love letter to the hardworking, music-loving city that Stewart Francke so clearly adores. A virtual compendium of Detroit references -- think Stroh's, Mitch Ryder, "the techno holy trio," Stoney & Wojo, Soupy Sales -- "Motor City Serenade" is built on a bass line and string arrangements that practically scream Hitsville, appropriate considering that members of Motown's fabled backing band, the Funk Brothers, played on the track.
  
  Actually, the entire album is almost bursting with Motown and other '70s R&B and soul cues, particularly the string and horn charts and Francke's voice, which has taken on a slightly raspier and earthier tone as he's aged. All this might be a surprise to those who remember the longtime musician's earlier material, which was in a more traditional pop-folk vein. But the transition that began with 2001's "What We Talk Of ... When We Talk" and was roughly concurrent with a life-threatening bout with cancer feels complete -- and legitimate -- as Francke exhibits a wiser, sometimes weary, but ultimately heart-a-bursting persona. He's so obviously genuine about the material that he isn't afraid of engaging in a little foreplay with sentimentality, though he smartly stops short of going schmaltz all the way.
  
  Among the especially effective (and affecting) tracks are "Skin to Skin," which has a playful, tender sensuality; the pleading "God I Need an Answer"; "Upon Seeing Simone," a humorous tale of a man who's sweating it when a certain someone shows up unexpectedly; and "American Twilights," which conjures the vibe of "What's Going On"-era Marvin Gaye -- no easy trick and indicative of the skillful touch that Francke and his players bring throughout the disc.
  By Steve Byrne, Free Press staff writer
  
  
  On "Keep Your Faith, Darling," the opening track on Stewart Francke*s brilliant fifth album, the singer-songwriter sets the musical and thematic tone for the 10 songs to follow. Cradled in vocal harmony, riding a delectable melody, Francke recalls the mantra his wife whispered to him as he lay in the hospital last year recovering from leukemia: "Keep Your Faith, Darling/Everything*s gonna be all right tonight." Swimming In Mercury is easily Francke *s best effort to date, the most potent expression of his longtime faith in hope and the human spirit. The album conveys the humility, triumph and enlightenment that accompanied his cancer battle, but is imbued with a poetic grace that keeps it from reading like just another mushy tale about dignity and hardship. Taking its sonic cues from 1998's SunflowerSoulSerenade at times--with its spiritual overtones and adept pop grooming--it comes off like some great lost George Harrison LP from 1971. Elsewhere--on songs like "Fathers and Sons" and "The Branch Will Not Break"--Francke recalls the plaintive earthiness of his earlier work. Keeping the faith, indeed.
  
  ~Brian McCollum~
  Detroit Free Press
  On the opening chord and angelic chorus of Swimming In Mercury, former Saginawian, cancer survivor, and undeniable musical talent Stewart Francke sets the tone for a collection of new material that chronicles his own tale of Hell and Redemption. To say that this new release is a 'masterpiece' would be tritely dismissive; rather, it consciously delves into classic archetypes of Rock & Roll with a majesty that could only be born out of tribulation and hard-won triumph. Francke's fifth release on his Blue Boundary label is both a culmination of his previous 'confessional' style of songwriting, and a breakthrough in terms of staking new territory on that rather tenuous space between heaven & hell that rockers (and humanity in general) tends to tread. Indeed, if the overall 'tone' of this work is concisely capsulized, it occupies that ubiquitous space between challenge and achievement, with the power of collective realization more an incidental 'frosting' on the cake of individual truth, which in Francke's case embraces the notion that it is equally important to have faith in the tangible blessings of this earthy world as it is to have faith in the intangible promise of heavenly redemption. Swimming In Mercury is a major contribution by an important and emerging artist. Full of melodicism, soul, passion, horror, fear, courage, and the 'politics' of disease, it is rendered in a transcendent manner that not only soothes and stirs but also inspires the soul.
  
  
  ~Robert E. Martin, Editor & Publisher, Review Magazine
  
  
  
  
  In Craig Werner's wonderful book A Change is Gonna Come, he writes about the gospel impulse, "the belief that life's burdens can be transformed into hope, salvation, the promise of redemption." Stewart Francke's "Swimming in Mercury" is no gospel album, but Francke's musical response to his own year of personal hell and redemption is currently Exhibit A in making the case that the impulse isn't tied down to the genre from which it gets its name.
  
  The fifth full-length album from the Detroit-area singer comes a little more than a year after his diagnosis with chronic myelogenous leukemia. He's currently cancer-free, something surely due in part to a painful bone marrow transplant, but also due to his own personal faith--in himself, in those
  around him, and in God. Swimming in Mercury captures these struggles and triumphs lyrically, and its sound is one of hard-won joy, full of choruses soaring toward heaven and rhythms as powerful as the human heartbeat. That he was able to transform his experience into music isn't unusual. That he
  was able to transform it into music so strikingly powerful and timeless is.
  
  Francke's aesthetic is a lot like Bruce Springsteen's, not so much because it echoes the Boss' sounds -- though "The Valley" would have fit nicely on Born to Run, with its majestic piano and layered backing vocals -- but because, like Springsteen, Francke reinvigorates classic rock and pop
  archetypes. The album opens with "Keep Your Faith Darling," which sounds like it could be the Beach Boys until its chorus, where the chords change in an interval that Brian Wilson never would have used. Suddenly, it's a Raspberries' power-pop classic. While such comparisons don't vanish -- you
  can hear Jackson Browne here, U2 there -- they cease to mean much in the face of music this unabashedly romantic and hopeful. "Keep Your Faith Darling" sets the tone for the album, which is all about holding on to the things you believe at the same time you stare into the abyss. As "Heaven and Earth" reminds us, it's just as important -- maybe more -- to have faith in earthly things as it is to have faith in God or heaven. Indeed, even as he's reassuring his wife to hang onto the good times they've shared, he makes it clear he's not ready to surrender to the afterlife just yet: "If I'm between heaven and earth/let me fall to where I'm from/let me fall to where I know I'm loved for sure." To paraphrase a line Springsteen's been using on his current tour, it's not about believing in life everlasting. It's about believing in life right now.
  
  "For Want of a Nail" could have been just a cliched rumination on how great events can turn on trivial happenings. Francke turns it into something anthemic, with a gospel-tinged chorus that repeats the line "love's falling down on everybody" with a Pentecostal fervor so high you can feel it
  drenching your skin. It's a level of emotional intensity he reaches often on Swimming in Mercury, sonic proof that he follows the directions he tells us he gave his kids: "Live with all your guts and soul and heart, every day." With "The Branch Will Not Break" and "Fathers and Sons," he explores the fundamental gospel impulse belief that our experiences are inextricably tied to those around us. For good or ill, none of us are ever really on our own. As tough as those relationships can be, Francke seems to be saying that, in the end, they're what truly define us. Francke draws his characters with the same degree of sympathy and detail with which he recounts his own experiences: the Latvian man who turns his confusion with America into rage against hip-hop kids, the rock 'n' roll girl who's as beautiful as she is hopeless: "her heels are too high; her hair is too high; she is too high."
  
  "Letter From Ten Green" deals with death most directly, but it's the most hopeful song on the album, recounting the 4 a.m. news that a little girl in his hospital floor has died. He turns his fear, rage, and confusion into the energy to write a manifesto to his children, one that sums up all of Swimming in Mercury's themes. Along with the liner notes, it's also where Francke shows his sense of humor, calling on his nurse ("Florence Nightenmare") to give him the narcotic Dilaudid: "Thank God for Dilaudid. Put the guy that invented the stuff into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or something."
  
  By the time the album ends with Francke's triumphant promise to himself and those he loves that he'll walk out of the Valley of the Shadow, he's reached out and touched our sense of mortality, our incorrigible spirit, our soul's interconnectedness with all the other souls around us. In other words, he
  takes us to places that it's easy to forget we've all got to go, and in the process heightens our appreciation for where we are. (Blue Boundary)
  ~Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen, Allmusic.com
  Four Stars.
  
  

Setlist

Live show is one 90 minute set, with the best of Stewart Francke's songs complimented by we-chosen covers.

A recent set list at a September 2009 show at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ was this:
Gimme Some more—(james brown)
Motor City Serenade
American Twilights
Safely Home
Prowlin'
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
MC Medley (Ain’t No Mt/Losin You/Devil Blue Dress/Wish it would rain)
Blind Spot
Skin To Skin
From Where Shall Comfort Come?
House Of Lights
Upon Seeing Simone
My Old School (Steely Dan)


COVERS:

Van Morrison
Into The Mystic
Domino
Wild Night
Real real gone
Brown Eyed Girl
Tupelo Honey
Jackie Wilson Said
Have I Told You Lately?
James Brown Medley
Elvis Medley
Chuck Berry Medley
Motown
Signed Sealed Delivered
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
Money
My Girl
Just My Imagination
Motown Medley
Can’t Help Myself
Ain’t Too Proud To beg
Marvin Gaye
Mercy Mercy Me
What’s Going On?
Let’s Get It On
Inner City Blues
Build My Whole World Around You
Sexual Healing
Stax/Wilson Pickett/Otis/Misc Soul
In The Midnight Hour
634-5789
Mustang Sally These Arms Of Mine
Dock Of The Bay
I’ll Take You There
you don’t know like I know
tired of being alone
Let’s Stay Together–Al Green
At Last–Etta James
Midnight Train To Georgia
Unchain My Heart
You Don’t Know Me
Land Of 1000 Dances
Me & Mrs. Jones
Try A Little Tenderness
Stand By Me
Aretha
Think
Respect
Rock Steady
Dr. Feelgood
I Say A Little Prayer
Bruce
10th Avenue Freezeout
Pink Cadillac
Independence Day
Badlands
Fire
Thunder Road
Glory Days
Beatles
In My Life
Don’t Let Me Down
Twist & Shout
Saw Her Standing There
Got To Get You Into My Life & many more...
Misc. dance songs: 1970s-2007
I Love Music
Young Hearts Run Free
Got To Give It Up
Give Up The Funk
My Old School
Love Train
Come and Get Your Love
What Is Hip?
Tryin To Live My Life Without You
Miss You
Jumpin Jack Flash
Every Kinda People
Devil With A Blue Dress-Mitch Ryder Detroit Medley
Down By The River
Flip Flop Fly
Great Balls Of Fire
Standards: 30s, 40s & 50s
Indian summer
Don’t worry bout me
The Still Of Night
I didn't know what time it was
East of the sun
The Way You Look Tonight
Why was I born
For all we know I’ll Be Seeing You
Got You Under My Skin
I Get A Kick Out Of You
Summer Wind
Fly Me To The Moon


STEWART FRANCKE SONGS:

1995/96 WHERE THE RIVER MEETS THE BAY/EXPECTING HEROES
Days of Hope and Glory
Iowa
The Beautiful Go Blameless
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Where The River Meets The Bay
Across Decker’s Field
Union Town
The Gypsum Fair
The Light Of The World
The Reasons We Marry
Dry September
Ridin In The Moonlight
Expecting Heroes
Dixie Drive
King Of The Summer Hotel
In The Heart Of The Heart Of The Country
The Auto Trade
1997 HOUSE OF LIGHTS
House Of Lights
Upon Seeing Simone
Little Miss America
Between The Ground & God
You’d Better Get To Know Your Broken Heart
Farewell I’m Bound To Leave You
Famous Times
Big Bed
El Dorado
Rebecca
Fire In Gagetown
Livin With The Law
The Opponent
Fraudulent Angel
1998 SUNFLOWER SOUL SERENADE
Sunflower Soul Serenade
Two Guitars Bass & Drums
Have All The Good Times Come And Gone?
Something To Be Said For The Light
A Place To Stand In The World
Every One Hurts and The Last One Kills
Sinner And Saints
Watertown
Right As Rain
Turning In The Twilight
1999 SWIMMING IN MERCURY
Keep Your Faith Darling
Heaven and Earth
For Want Of A Nail
The Branch Will Not Break
Fathers and Sons
Letter From 10 Green
Prowlin
Radio Road
You’re One Of The Good Ones
The Valley
2000 WHAT WE TALK OF WHEN WE TALK
What We Talk Of...When We Talk
Skin To Skin
From Where Shall Comfort Come?
Surviving The Good Times
God I Need An Answer
American Twilights
Walking Down The Hallways Of a Diamond
Touching The Glory
Safely Home
Brick By Brick
Deep Soul Kiss
2002 WHEEL OF LIFE
All The Love In A Day
Fall Into The Mystery
Peace Like A River
The Judas Kiss
Wheel Of Life
A Hymn For Her
No small mercy
Give Love A Voice
With You Once Again
Summer Nocturne
Anodyne
Born to love you
Light At Dawn

2005 MOTOR CITY SERENADE
Motor City Serenade
Got Your Back

Basic Requirements

Calendar