Neal Francis Talks WinterWonderGrass, New Year’s Eve in Denver, and the Other Neil Frances…

Listen Here Denver!: How did Europe go?

Neal Francis: Oh, it was outstanding. It really exceeded our expectations.

Listen Here Denver!: How so?

Neal Francis: I think there was initially sort of like a bearish attitude on tickets. There was even discussion of canceling the tour at one point.

Listen Here Denver!: Oh, really?

Neal Francis: Yeah, but then we got over there and there was really great attendance. London was sold out! None of the shows were poorly attended. It was really solid and everybody who showed up was very excited to see us. By that point we were just really playing great because we had just been a well-oiled machine from the seven months preceding that. It was great.

Listen Here Denver!: I’m really glad to hear that! So, you’ve really found a sweet spot in the scene where you aren’t pigeonholed in the way that a lot of artists are. You’ve done runs with The Black Pumas, Amos Lee, and Marcus King. Pretty diverse artists there. And you’re booked on all kinds of festivals. How have you put this together? Who do you give credit to for this kind of real down the middle approach?

Neal Francis: I’m glad to hear you say that. I think I struggle with that a lot. It’s the dilemma of an artist – having to market yourself somehow. I think it just comes from the music. I’m just trying to make something I like, and the fact that it has appealed to a broad range of people is really great.

Listen Here Denver!: You look at the fact that we’re doing this interview because of the WinterWondergrass Festival. That’s a pretty progressive Bluegrass festival, but you’re clearly not a Bluegrass artist. And then there are more mainstream festivals with big Country headliners. Zach Bryant, Tyler Childers, those kinds of guys; and you fit right in on all these bills. I think you could have been in a situation where you were pretty pigeonholed into the Jam world, for instance, and that hasn’t happened. I think that’s great for you as an artist.

Neal Francis: Yes, I think so, too. If there is such a thing as the “jam scene,” I love the fans at those shows and they were really the first community to embrace us in some ways. But diversity is strength in terms of building something that’s long lasting. So I’m grateful.

Listen Here Denver!: So it’s funny, I was looking at the lineup of some of those festivals, and looks like you and the other Neil Frances are booked on the same day at the M3F Festival in Arizona. I’m just curious if you have any stories about the two of you getting confused or people thinking you’re one versus the other.

Neal Francis: That happens a lot, but usually it’s somehow beneficial to both parties. For example, we had two gigs in Florida after we flew back from Europe. I was outside our hotel in the morning, drinking coffee, and this guy came out to me. He’s like, hey, are you Neal? Saw you last night at the Green Parrot. I was like, “hey, dude, thanks for coming out. Good to see you.” And then his wife said “we actually discovered you because we were fans of Neil Frances, the other Neil Frances. We stumbled across you and we really liked your music.”

I think a lot of people on the way to one or the other stumble across the other flavor and end up enjoying the music. I think they make great music, and I think they’re great people, too. We were on the same festival bill in 2021 at Outside Lands, and we were actually back-to-back because promoters wanted us to benefit from people possibly being confused. At the last minute, before we went on, my amp shit the bed and wasn’t usable, and one of the duo – Mark – provided his amp for me to use without hesitation. They’re really sweet, guys.

Listen Here Denver!: That’s awesome. You’re pretty different artists, so it’s interesting that it crosses over and helps you out that way.

Neal Francis: Yeah. That was right after we released this tongue-in-cheek, faux WWE dis video. And when we met them, they were just telling us how funny they thought it was. It was pretty hilarious. It’s bizarre but they’re getting played on KCRW a lot. The station has to differentiate Neil Frances the band or Neal Francis the man.

Listen Here Denver!: So, I know you’re a Chicago guy, so you’re pretty familiar with cold weather, but I’m curious what you thought when you saw you were going to be playing an outdoor bluegrass festival in early March in Colorado.

Neal Francis: Well, we’ve done some dates in March in Colorado. It was at the Belly Up in Aspen so it was inside, but it took us like three full days to drive from Austin to Aspen because our van broke down in Amarillo and me and my tour manager had to drive to Lubbock to get a part and then come back and then wait for them to install it. But by the time we left, there was a storm in the panhandle that turned into snow by the time we got to New Mexico. They closed all the roads into Colorado so we had to find lodging by backtracking 50 miles into Oklahoma. It took us like 5 hours to drive 50 miles. Then, the next day, it was a 13 hour drive for us to get to Aspen because the roads were so shitty and it was so treacherous. I can’t believe we made it.

Listen Here Denver!: It’s always interesting. I know a lot of the guys that play at Winter Wondergrass complain about their acoustic instruments being out of tune all the time. So, I think you’ve got a little bit of a leg up there with the keys, but we’ll see how it goes.

Neal Francis: Yeah, I’m stoked because I can actually wear this big Chinchilla coat I have on stage for the first time.

Listen Here Denver!: The winter fashion up there is out of control. It’s a ton of fun.

Neal Francis: I’ll try and convince Piper to come. She’s my girlfriend and she’s got some fab winter clothing. She grew up in New Mexico, in Santa Fe, so she’s no stranger to that.

Listen Here Denver!: It’s a great time. It’s a really unique festival. I’ve never been to anything like it.

Neal Francis: We are actually playing two WinterWondergrass festivals next year.

Listen Here Denver!: There’s the one in Steamboat and then the one in Tahoe. I think the one in Tahoe is a little warmer from what I’ve heard. It’s a little later and you’re out in California so it’s typically a little bit warmer. Steamboat can be pretty chilly.

Neal Francis: I was talking to this other woman who was writing for some local ski publication and she asked, “what are you most excited about WinterWondergrass?” I said, “I don’t know. I don’t know anything about it, but I know that Colorado has rabid, amazing music fans.”

Listen Here Denver!: Absolutely true. You show up here pretty frequently, and you’re going to be out here for New Year’s again this year.

Neal Francis: Yeah, this is the second year in a row, so it feels like this is becoming a thing. It’s going to be sick! We’re all going to have some rest and then we’re going to have a day of rehearsal and then we’re going to really just rock New Year’s Eve.

Listen Here Denver!: Yes. Have you played Cervantes’ before?

Neal Francis: The Other Side and that was ripping. We did like a couple shows there actually. We opened for Delvon Lamar and Jimmy James [guitar, Delvon Lamar] is a really good friend of ours. Badass guitarist, one of the greatest living, period, and one of the funniest motherfuckers we’ve ever met. But we also did this impromptu jam with like DJ Williams and Parris Fleming and some other Denver cats. It was Scott Morrill’s idea to do a free Monday night jam on the day of and it was packed. I was like, this is awesome! We just have a nostalgia for that place.

Listen Here Denver!: It’s a great room and Scott, Duncan, and Diana and the whole crew are awesome over there. Sometimes you don’t find that kind of passion at venues like that.

Neal Francis: Yeah, Scott’s a great dude. Seems like he cares and he’s a good hang.

Listen Here Denver!: So tell me a little bit about the Sentimental Garbage EP that you released recently. (Listen Here!)

Neal Francis: I’m excited that it’s out and I actually want to shout out ATO Records because it’s cool to be on a label where I can come to them and just be like, “hey, I have these seven unreleased tracks and I’d really like to present them in this cool way.” Without hesitation they just did everything to facilitate that and they promoted it in a really first class way.

It’s just stuff that was in the can and I knew was worth hearing, so I wanted it to be presented to the world. I have this sort of drive to release as much music as possible, especially this coming year when we’re off the road a little bit more. If you look at a band like CCR who released two records a year, right? In the late 60’s and early 70’s they were all badass.

Listen Here Denver!: Well, look at King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. You know, those guys released something like five albums this year.

Neal Francis: That’s another category. I wonder about how they’re able to do that and I’m in awe of them. I love that band.

Listen Here Denver!: They’re great. It really just doesn’t make sense to me. It’s out of control what they’re capable of.

Neal Francis: Well, they’ve got their set up wherever they are and when they have an idea they just get in for the day and they record it. I’m sure since they’re squeezing it in between tours, it can’t take them long. Also, just because of how mature they are as a band, an idea can come together so quickly. That’s something I’ve begun to see, it’s like if we decide to record a song, we can actually get away with one rehearsal and bam will still come pretty close to nailing it. Just because we’ve been playing together for so long, we have that intuitive bond. I don’t know if there is material out there about King Gizzard and their recording process, but I’d love to learn more about it. I don’t feel the need to be prolific at that level. I tend to get lost. I’m like, fuck, I haven’t listened to their last three releases. I was really digging this one album and I stopped paying attention for a second and they’ve got four new records out.

Listen Here Denver!: Exactly. I know you were talking about being prolific and not being on the road as much next year. So what’s the story with new material? Are you always working on it or how does that process work for you?

Neal Francis: I just started taking the inventory yesterday and I have over 70 demos that have just accumulated from stuff that wasn’t used for In Plain Sight or other material I’ve been developing. Then, in addition to that, I’ve got like 350 voice memos and some of them are songs, some of them are just me humming something fairly unintelligible into the phone. But yeah, all through this period, whenever I get an idea I’m recording it some way. I hope to have something out by this time next year, if not like two or three records.

Listen Here Denver!: We’re definitely looking forward to that, man. So before I let you go here, I think one thing that stands out to a lot of people the first time they see you live is that giant whammy bar, or whatever you want to call it, that you have on your organ. I’m curious, how do you describe that, and how did you begin using that device? You don’t see one of those very often.

Neal Francis: It is a rare bird. The instrument is called a Clavinet, and it was manufactured by Hohner, the company that makes harmonicas. Mine was modded to include the Whammy Bar by my friend Max Brink, who got a kit from this guy, Ken Rich. He based his design off of this thing called a Castle Bar. I first became aware of this in probably like 2011 or 2012 because I saw a video of George Duke playing Clavinet with a Whammy Bar (Listen Here!) that was like a plexiglass case. He’s wearing a white suit and he just takes like a short solo. It’s worth watching.

I didn’t think about it much for a while, and then I finally found a clavinet available that was kind of a beater and I had my friend Max start restoring it. As he working he asked me “do you want to put this Whammy Bar on?” I said “no,” but he countered with “I’ll do it for the price of the parts” so I didn’t really have much of a choice but to say yes. So he proceeded to install it because he wanted to learn how to do it.

And so there we have it. I thought it was going to be a bit of a gimmick but then I really enjoyed the amount of expression it provides me.

Listen Here Denver!: It’s a cool thing, the sound is great and it also brings a unique kind of visual intrigue to the show.

Neal Francis: Yeah, people are just mystified by it, and I’m always getting that question, and I’m not at all annoyed or shy answering it because I’m glad they dug it.

Listen Here Denver!: Nice. Awesome, man. Well, I know I’ve taken a bunch of your time here, and I do appreciate the conversation. It’s been nice chatting with you for a little while.

Neal Francis: Yeah, man, you too. Nice talking to you.

There is still time to pick up tickets to Neal Francis with Karina Rykman on New Year’s Eve in Denver and also to see Neal with an incredible line-up at WinterWonderGrass in Steamboat in March.

Neal Francis w/ Karina Rykman
December 31st, 2022
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WinterWonderGrass Steamboat
March 3-5, 2023
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