Today was the greatest day of my life

Despite being under the weather this weekend, I am excited to share with you that today was the greatest day of my life.

I didn’t get married or have a child. No woman fell in love with me and I didn’t win the lotto. But today, someone I have long admired gave me the most extraordinary compliment about friendship when I found out that he dedicated a twenty year chunk of his creative life to me with his new record. This is the greatest honor that has ever been bestowed upon me. Thank you Stewart Francke.

His new record "Midwestern" will soon be available at all worldwide digital stores and in retail stores. If you’ve never heard his music, you are missing out on something special; just ask Bruce Springsteen who was a fan before he recorded with Stewart a couple years ago or ask the legendary member of the Rolling Stones, Mick Taylor who said Francke was the best songwriter he’d heard in a long time after we played a gig at the legendary Bottom Line in New York City. Or closer to home, ask Bob Seger, who handpicked Stewart to open for him on his Downtown Train tour in 2011 and again in 2012.

Wheeeew. . .My back is achy after dropping all those names and having to pick them up again. But unless something extraordinary happens to me in the future, I do not see how this day could be topped.

The greatest day of my life? Yep. I am sure of it, and I hope something like this happens to you too.
Thank you for letting me share this note with you and your friends.

"This world will wash you away just for asking something of it."
From "All the Love in a Day"

In the past twenty years I have had the privilege of being closer to Stewart Francke’s music and career than anyone else has wanted or dared to be.

In 1994 I coaxed him out of “retirement” to record “Where the River Meets the Bay.” It was a record what was embraced by commercial radio, public radio, television, the film industry, critics and fans and was the start of a career that has been nothing short of amazing. It has been a career filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows while the things found in between have shaped his life, his music, his character, humor, soul and wit. Twenty years in any field is a long time; an eternity in the entertainment business and in these last two decades I have seen many musicians come and go. But I am here to tell you that Stewart is still ascending.

Now, twenty years burnin’ down the road he is still making great music and getting ready to release what I can already tell you is another amazing collection of songs. But this one is different; this one is special and this one is something you need to hear about now so you can literally be a part of it as it is being made.

Though this is Stewart’s record, we began talking about this 20th anniversary retrospective a while ago. We kicked around some ideas and finally came up with one that we think you will love. Whether you are a longtime fan or have only heard him on the radio, TV or seen him live, the new compilation; “Midwestern” is culled from his 14 records released between 1995 and 2014.
Stewart is a rock and roll story teller and his music could be the soundtrack to your life as you encounter your hopes, dreams and fears. It is a song cycle that reminds me how lovely, funny, somber, interesting and beautiful life is. No other musician in Michigan has assembled such an incredible amount of quality work over the last two decades; not even Seger, certainly not Kid Rock, Jack White or Eminem. . .nobody. It’s a gutsy thing for me to say isn’t it? With the obvious omission of Seger in this statement, do you really think anyone will be “rhythmically reciting the ephemeral words of those artists I mentioned, around a campfire in the years to come?” The answer is no; but Francke’s songs and his career have become a model for perseverance, humility, creativity and integrity in a fickle business full of snakes, thieves and unscrupulous people. . .and those are the good guys.

This conviction and is not mine alone. It also comes from some of Francke’s own rock and roll heroes like Springsteen. Bob Seger hand picked him to open his 2011 tour. Mitch Ryder has recorded with him and Bruce Springsteen was a longtime fan before he recorded a duet with Francke on his record Heartless World. Francke’s last record was ignored by the Detroit media and will no doubt be overlooked when it comes time for the Detroit Music Awards. But rather than campaign within the DMA crowd for an award (he’s won plenty) or get "likes" on facebook, his sole focus remains being artistically relevant and continuing to remain connected with his ever expanding audience.

As a music journalist he wrote for dailies all across the country as well as the Detroit Metro Times. People forget that Stewart Francke is to thank for bringing attention to much of what was going on in the Detroit music scene back in the 80’s when nobody was paying attention. He was an ambassador of the music movement whose reporting of Detroit’s burgeoning music scene was paramount to the success of many great bands and some that weren’t.

Rock and Roll still holds trans-formative power to me...it still has the ability to not just send you; it can change your circumstances. Very few musicians can pull off one style of songwriting well, much less several of them over time. Francke has excelled at this throughout his career. He is singer/songwriter; heartland rock meets blue eyed soul meets something intellectual with the beauty of a Van Morrison melody and the complexity of the lush harmonies of Brian Wilson. There’s no songs with “love” and “dreaming of.” “sorrow” and “tomorrow” in his catalog and the faith he recites in his musical narratives has not been cheapened by overused clichés.

Those who know his music have seen themselves in his songs. From Gusoline Alley in Royal Oak to the end of a long drive up north, his characters have grown with us and become part of our lives. With the social consciousness of Marvin Gaye his soulful music will take you on a ride through Saginaw, where he grew up. Next you’ll journey to perhaps his favorite place on earth, the view from Point Lookout on Lake Huron and finally through on the back roads and blacktop where lovers meet by the pylons late at night and determine the price of their souls.

They are a sunflower soul serenade, revisiting the feel good sounds of Motown written and performed by one of Motown’s favorite sons. They are about being here right now and living between the ground and God.

Being in poor health earlier this year prevented Francke from playing a lot of dates to support his most recent record, “A Familiar Fire;” one that was recorded about with pre-sales raised from a kickstarter campaign. So many of you generously supported my last kickstarter and I thank you. I am asking you now to please hit the link to Stewart's new Kickstarter and support this project. To sweeten the deal I will send you a free copy of my latest book with a donation to Francke's project.

If there is one Stewart Francke record you need in your collection, this one will be it. This new CD will be the definitive song cycle, with each tune carefully sequenced and re-mastered presenting an intimate and detailed snapshot of the amazing body of work Stewart has created over the years. He is a living legend to folks of Saginaw, MI and remains a gift to the rest of us.

As a cancer survivor and advocate, Francke’s songs are a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. He’s survived the good times and fought back through the bad. Francke’s been there and chronicled his joys and struggles with his amazing body of work. He would not ask us to follow him into the mystery without first solving it himself. “Midwestern will be a record that is proof that he has.https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stewartfrancke/midwestern-the-very-best-of-stewart-francke-1995-2?ref=nav_search

Determining the Price of our Souls

I’ve had the pleasure of having a ringside seat in Stewart Francke’s career. As he gets set to release his 14th full length release I cannot help but marvel at the incredible amount and quality of work he has assembled over the years. I have never been disappointed in any of his records, though I must confess after hearing his latest, “A Familiar Fire” it did not meet my expectations.

It exceeded them.

It’s not often that I get to toot my own horn about my brushes with greatness and delicate geniuses (one of my many jocular nicknames for him) but after being blown away in the early 90’s by three cassette only releases, it was me who got him out of retirement in 1995 to make his first “real record.” The rest has been a body of work that has only become stronger with time as he has done what very few songwriters can do; compose and perform in several different styles, combining Motown, Bob Seger, Springsteen, Brian Wilson, Marvin Gay, Van Morrison and a little bit of Sondheim to round things out.

His first recordings were really nothing more than 4 track demos, but they embodied a sound and vision of a learned young man living life on rock and roll’s terms. Once he started making records and devoting himself full time to his art, he no longer had to make excuses or explain what he was really trying to say with his songs because their musical and lyrical prowess spoke for itself.

Early in his career Francke was taken under the wing of Boogie Bob Baldori, who was playing with Chuck Berry. He called Francke to play bass on some of Chuck’s gigs as a teenager and was schooled in Rock and Roll. Many people may not know this but Stewart is always writing music and constantly drawing on influences like those days playing with Berry. There are a lot of songs that have never been released while others have stuck with him and morphed into something else over the years. I always tell people that Stewart is one of the few people who is constantly ripping himself off musically and is not afraid to borrow a line, phrase, chorus or verse of a previous song and reinvent it. The opening song “Wave” on his new record is proof.

Through the years I’ve heard rough mixes over the phone, bits and pieces of songs played on piano or guitar in his living room or in mine as they were being written. Each one of them would leave me wanting more. In addition to the hundreds of live performances, I’ve been with him for long nights at the studio, in our homes, or on the phone talking about something important even when the talking doesn’t come easy.

The most recent example of this was being parked in my driveway listening to the final mixes of the new record earlier this week in the middle of the worst snow and frigid temps to hit Michigan in 20 years.

On this record Stewart returns to the sparse instrumentation of his earlier recordings (Where the River Meets the Bay and Expecting Heroes) and he recorded many of the guitar and bass parts himself. Co-Producer B. Rilley did a great job of putting the vocals to these poignant narratives up front in the mixes so nobody will miss a word; and you won’t want to. His voice is clean yet rugged; strong and honest and these new songs will stir your soul.

Unlike so many of his contemporaries, Francke has never been a songwriter who cheapens things like faith and love with thin, fluffy words for the sake of a perfect rhyme. There are no clichés and no fan is ever cheated when they shell out their $15 for a CD.

"Starlings gather in the yard the way they always do when they feel a storm is breaking
Darling this is very hard, that you & I are through, and I fear my soul is aching
I’m getting to know this loneliness. . .I guess."

-From “Love’s Very Marrow”

His story is not woeful, but rather empowering; something the national media could really sink their teeth into but won’t and something the Detroit area music media could sink their teeth into but hasn’t in several years and when they did they only gave us a taste. That’s the sad price we pay when editors are beholden to Kid Rock, Eminem. Jack White, ICP or whatever the new sound of the day may be. The people I just mentioned may have the numbers of Hollywood stars in their I-phone, but how many of them have Bruce Springsteen as a fan? Springsteen recorded with Francke on his record “Heartless World” in 2011 and it was virtually ignored by AAA radio and the Detroit media.

Stewart was an ambassador of Detroit music long before most of today’s Detroit stars were making music. He reunited the legendary Funk Brothers for their first recording session in decades (recording his music) back in 2004 after the release of the movie “Standing in the Shadows of Motown,” but has remained largely shut out of the Detroit Music Awards for years. I guess that happens when you’re not young enough or hip enough or don’t have enough “likes” on facebook. . .so much for possessing artistic acumen.

But for Francke, it’s not about awards and it never has been. It’s about the connection with his audience; one that has grown with him over the years and remained steadfast amid the clutter of people who have suddenly become musicians with drum loops, ephemeral writing and free downloads.

There’s a song on the new record called “Raining in Saginaw” which to me is more about the spirit of Detroit than it is the city by the bay. Let’s hope someone in the Michigan media picks up on it because Detroit could use something beautiful and uplifting about now. All the songs that make up “A Familiar Fire” have heart, guts and significance. They present something courageous and dare I say, “Poetic.” But they are not just a bunch of pretty ballads where “love” rhymes with “of” and “from the heart” rhymes with “from the start” like we’ve heard a thousand times on the radio. They possess something greater, which is the ability to change the way we think; which ultimately leads to how we accept this world and how the world accepts us. Within the songs are the secrets about how we live, what we keep, give away and the amount of grace we maintain when we lose.

"Now you say you’ve lost your faith;
You say you’ve lost love for the human race
You’ve had too much to carry and grief too large to bury
Suzanne this town is hard but you've gotta play your card
Your beauty's your lock and key; it still can set you free."

-From “Wave”

Francke weaves beautiful and unpredictable melodies that soar with story lines that go head to head with some of the great songwriters of our generation. They are created for the people who have followed him on his journey and allowed their journey’s to include him. He may not have moved units like Eminem, Kid Rock or the White Stripes, but instead he gives you something you can hold onto in this beautiful, messy and often slippery world.

"We are not what we were when but I’ve got this feeling that we’ll feel that way again.
Kiss me and I’ll whisper to ya what I’ve learned
Oh it’s nothing next to what I’ve burned."

–From “The Pylons”

Stewart Francke is one of Detroit’s most reliable gems and with each new record his story becomes fuller, richer and more deserving of wider recognition. Through his music he tosses questions into the wind that most people are afraid to ask, much less answer with honesty. And though some answers are implied, you’re going to have to discover that implication for yourself when the record comes out sometime in March.

Francke would not ask us to follow him into the pain-filled, joyful and mysterious places he’s been without first returning from them himself. “A Familiar Fire” is proof that he has.

Stewart Francke, new CD coming in 2014

I own the dubious distinction of getting Stewart Francke out of retirement in 1994.

He was a successful journalist making a living, but I thought he was a better musician.  “Come on man,” I said to him one day.”Get a band together, go to a real studio and make a real record.”

He listened.

In 1995 he released his debut CD as a solo artist. The reviews were over the top, the live shows exciting and very quickly the light lit on the national stage when the hit TV show “Melrose Place” licensed his regional hit “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.”  The song was the title episode and the exposure boosted Francke giving him instant notoriety as the bona-fid recording artist he already was. 

He continued to release award winning records until a leukemia diagnosis sidelined him. But it didn’t keep him down. Since then he has continued to release great music and earned the admiration of the toughest music critics in the world and performers like Mitch Ryder, Bob Seger and a guy named Bruce Springsteen. Bruce tipped his hat and recorded with him on his CD Heartless World.

Francke is back at it, finishing up a new CD for release in the spring. It is being funded through Kickstarter and I hope you’ll consider backing him on it. As a journalist he was an ambassador of the entire Detroit music scene before guys like Eminem, Kid Rock and the Whitestripes were getting attention and helped change the way the rest of the country looked at Detroit born Rock and Roll.  Please visit his kickstarter page to see how you can become a part of the next phase of his amazing career. 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stewartfrancke/a-familiar-fire-stewart-franckes-new-cd-project

Faith In Faith Itself; Stew and Bruce

About 3 or 4 years ago during a conversation over breakfast, Stewart Francke told me about the new songs he was writing for his next album. As a close friend, I consider myself fortunate to have been a part of his music for the last 20 years. Usually men have their most intimate conversations while driving, because they don’t have to look each other in the face. But the most rewarding part of Stewart’s friendship has been watching it grow by leaps and bounds as his ideas are born or revealed; face to face, friend to friend and heart to heart. Watching his work transform from its creation to completion has been nothing short of amazing. I know I’m one of the few people he listens to when it comes to the direction of his music and it’s an honor that I covet. I also like to laugh and remind him that it’s a damn good thing he listens to me, because I also listen to him. He’s seen me at my best and more recently, at my worst.

One of the many things Stewart and have in common is our incredible admiration of Bruce Springsteen. During the past several weeks I’ve been living on the sustenance of Stewart & Bruce; music that means something and for better or worse has sustained me, as I’ve been forced to get to know my broken heart. Listening to them feels so right because of where I and so many others I know find themselves; living in a town with a bitter wind, broken dreams out on the street and a fractured faith. Thank God their music brings hope within the helplessness and color even forms in the grey matter.

As Springsteen fans we had to wait 30 years for the tenderness and unfinished story that “The Promise” delivered. But looking back to that era, Bruce gave us a different kind of promise showing us that faith isn’t always happy or clean and it isn’t always pretty, but the results of it can produce an extraordinary beauty when revealed.

Tonight I'll be on that hill 'cause I can't stop
I'll be on that hill with everything I got
Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost
I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost
For wanting things that can only be found
In the darkness on the edge of town

Broad streaks of faith have always been on the face of Bruce and Stewart’s music and they'll generously reveal themselves to you if you want to listen. Lately, I’ve been looking for meaning in everything I do; hoping it brings a chance for me to reach a place where I can move forward instead of building bridges made of leaves over the emotional chasm I’m trying to cross.

The problem with writing about faith is that so many artists have cheapened it with songs that do nothing but make it memorable and easy to obtain, while using the same worn out rhymes. I don’t doubt the sincerity of the writers of those songs, but often question their depth. This is because faith isn’t something you talk about, have, find, get or buy into; it’s a verb.

It’s taking that uncertain step and occasionally looking behind you, not to be reminded of the past, but to see how far you’ve come. As I listen to The Promise, I hear two friends who understanding that in order to let go they needed to be moving toward something else at the same time.

All my life, I fought this fight. The fight no man can ever win
Every day it just gets harder to live, this dream I’m belivin’ in.
Thunder Road--- for the lost lovers and all the fixed games.
Thunder Road--- for the tires rushing by in the rain.
Thunder Road, remember what me and Billy we’d always say
Thunder Road, we were gonna take it all, then throw it all away.

2010 started with great hope and a lot of firsts for me. For the first time in my life I had a woman I loved and who loved me with a shared passion. She took me to my first Kentucky Derby, just after the stresses of my former employer sent me to the hospital to get injected with radioactive material and test my heart. My second book sold out and a second pressing was completed to fill the soft but steady “demand.” My third book was completed and pressed in June, I had my first play produced in July, and suddenly people were interested in other things I’d written.

As life ramped up with my girlfriend we began sharing hopes and visions more often, and we were close to fulfilling a lifelong dream we both had of buying that “little place in the UP” and living happily ever after with 3 months of bad sledding from June-August. But life started unraveling. In August, I was unceremoniously fired under the new “management” of the agency where I had worked without any disruption for almost 10 years and I didn’t take it lying down. In September, the UP dream fell apart. In October I lost the woman I loved, leaving me with a lot of time on my hands to contemplate life, its meaning left me wondering why I’d hit rock bottom but kept on digging. Through a miracle, I became reunited with my her at Thanksgiving. Suddenly, each day was a gift again and because we knew that love was a choice. It actually felt better than falling in love the first time because the heart can be incurably deceptive. I was seeing the world in wide screen and our relationship was ramping up every day. I began writing again and many people thought I was finally finding my own voice or relevance. I lost 50 pounds and was the happiest most productive and busiest unemployed person in the Midwest. I was hittin’ on all cylinders.

At Christmas, I was blindsided again when she got scared and uninvited me (via an email) for the holidays. It came the night before I was to leave. My bag was packed and a diamond ring was inside it, but it was not to be. I guess it was better than getting a text at the altar telling me “sorry ,but I can’t,” and after weeks of trying to keep my end of the promise alive, I’ve learned that nobody can’t chase a scared, unsure and runaway heart anymore than they can fix a broken one.

I’ve been trying to convince myself that that the opposite of love is freedom and not hate. But each day it’s like an addict trying to forget the smoke, the bottle or fine white line. It still feels like I’ve been robbed of everything except my pain, but I can finally feel a momentum shift. But for the grace of God, go I, but I still don’t buy green bananas and the first thing I do every day is to scan the obits for my name. If I don’t find it, it tells me God still has a plan for me and maybe today will be the day it is finally revealed.

I’m trying to hold my head high tonight, but faith in faith itself feels like a feeble crutch, because even faith has its weaknesses---like when I woke up this morning and realized it's is Valentine’s Day and I’ve got a really beautiful diamond ring in my dresser that’s never been worn.

Bruce Springsteen, 30 years gone and missin’ my baby

This past weekend I went to a Super Bowl party. It was the first time I’ve been out in weeks. There were some strangers there, but it was mostly friends I’ve known for 30 years. We were there for different reasons and most of us didn’t care who won the game . For some, showing up to a party was a good reason to catch up with friends and watch the game as part of everyday life, but I knew I was only there to take a break from my own.

I’ve been listening to Bruce Springsteen’s new record, The Promise, over and over. If you’ve read anything about it you’ll know its material he recorded but abandoned 30 years ago ---about the same time I first met the people at the party. It was written and recorded between Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town. As Bruce states in the liner notes, it’s “tough music for folks in tough circumstances” and it was custom made for that night. After a few heart to heart conversations with friends, we were right back in each other’s lives --- old friends who had never outgrown the circle.

The songs on Springsteen’s new collection, The Promise, are about love, tenderness, doubt, hope, passion, loneliness, discovery and trying not to give up on life even though sometimes it feels like every part of you wants to. After I left the party, I swear I could have selected any song and matched it to any one of my friend’s situation. The Brokenhearted, It’s a Shame, Breakaway, Because the Night, Talk to Me, Outside Looking In, Racin’ in the Street. The Promise. . . and on and on.

Being able to see people with whom I shared a special bond was a joy without measure. Yet slowly as the night went on, I felt the room filling with doubt and uncertainty. Many of us were wounded in some way or another; the end of a marriage, the loss of a parent, unemployment, illness, addiction, confliction and contradiction. After spilling guts like old friends can do, I’m pretty sure when we left, each of us retrieved our own burdens from the invisible pile that had grown in the middle of the room. Some acted as if they didn’t care while some washed away the pain with a beer and a shot, allowing their buried laughter to briefly surface. Some searched quietly for help and some knew they’d be ok in time; while others of us were still trying unsuccessfully to move on.

30 years ago when he recorded the material, Bruce was talking about some of life’s simple truths that I’d not yet learned. In the span of 30 years I grew to love him because of the undeniable connection his music forged with me as I grew up. Now, 30 years down the road, the subject matter has become the soundtrack to my life.

“Save My Love” was the first song I heard from “The Promise.” For my money, it’s the greatest 2:38 of music to be released in the last three decades. The first verse feels doubtful and fearful: “There’s something coming through the air, that softly reminds me—tonight I’ll park out on the hill and wait until they find me. Slipping through the ether, a voice is coming through. So keep me in your heart tonight and I’ll save my love for you.” The redemption arrives in the next blistering stanza “So turn up your radio, darlin’ dial me in close. We’re ridin’ through the airwaves and we’re traveling’ coast to coast. Over river and highway, your voice comes clear and true. Though we’re far apart tonight I’ll save my love for you.”

Having just gone through (and still going through) a sad and terrible break up with the woman I thought I was going to marry, it surprised me how the song gave me hope during the dying days of our relationship. I was still hanging on to the promise I made to her and her abrupt departure made me feel like a fool, until I realized promises sunk like stones when they’re only held with one hand.

The song resonated with me because it was once a reflection of the love we both knew. “Hold me in your arms and our doubts won’t break us. If we open up our hearts, love won’t forsake us.” It provided the sliver of hope that I needed, but now I know I’ll never talk to, or see her again. In a fantasy, I wanted her to dial me in close and hear the same bittersweet message the song held because we lived in different cities. I thought if she tried, she’d be able to feel it through the radio waves, in the wires, in the air, somewhere . . .anywhere.

People have told me there’s beauty in pain, but I have yet to find it. I love her and I hate her and some days I’m not proud of either one. The same people told me there’s a lesson to be learned somewhere in all of this, but the only thing I’ve learned is that losing someone you’re in love with robs you of everything except your pain.

“The Little Things My Baby Does” is a song that no woman in love could deny. It’s a Phil Spector-ish mid tempo rocker, reminiscent of The Ronnette’s “Be My Baby,” but a little slower. It is the perfect, cheek- to-cheek-sway-with-your- own- baby song. You feel the tenderness found in the sentiment like you feel your lovers heart beating next to yours as you dance.

“The way she kisses so tenderly, the way she gives her love to me
The way she sighs when I hold her tight. Good times or bad will be all right.
Faces on the street they push hard and they shove Then disappear with the little things my baby does.

The party has been over for a while and presumably everyone who was there is now home with someone they either love, missed or maybe hated; didn’t want to live with, never should have married yet can’t live without--- someone they’d give their life for or someone they don’t realize they are ignoring. Or maybe they just don’t know each other and haven’t given it enough time, or effort; or perhaps they don’t understand the significance of a promise.

It’s now going on 2:30 AM. This is the first night I’ll slept in my own bed since she said goodbye. Hers was always the last voice I’d hear telling me she loved me before we went to sleep. My baby’s voice is gone and she’s muted mine in the process. She’s probably at home, sleeping peacefully with her new dog taking up my side of the bed and getting on with her life.

I’m still restless and I can’t sleep. I look at the clock in front of me but it’s too blurry to read. The sliver of light coming through the window will no longer shine on her face as she turns for that one last kiss goodnight. Every kiss from her was the greatest one my life would know until her next one.

Bruce is still playing in the other room.

“When the promise is broken you go on living
But it steals something from down in your soul
Like when the truth is spoken and it don't make no difference
Something in your heart turns cold.”

And like Bruce, when the promise was broken, I cashed in a few of my own dreams.