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I just wanted to be honest about everything, from my musical influences

to my story," muses Neal Francis. After years of dishonest living-

consumed by drugs, alcohol, and addiction-such sincerity is jarring from

the 30-year-old Chicago-based musician. Liberated from a selfdestructive past and born anew in sobriety, Francis has captured an

inspired collection of songs steeped in New Orleans rhythms, Chicago

blues, and early 70s rock n' roll. There is a deep connection between

Francis's childhood-his obsession with boogie woogie piano, his father's

gift of a dusty Dr. John LP-and the songs he's created. The result is an

astonishing collection of material without parallel in the contemporary

funk and soul scene. The influences are unmistakable: the vocal stylings

of Allen Toussaint and Leon Russell; the second line rhythms of The

Meters and Dr. John; the barroom rock 'n' roll of The Rolling Stones; the

gospel soul of Billy Preston; the roots music of The Band. Francis pays

tribute to the masters but has his own story to tell: "It's the life I've lived so

far.